A lot of fun.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Movie fans know well the name of John Landis. From the seventies to the nineties he made some of the funniest films ever created. While we all may recognize movies like ANIMAL HOUSE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, TRADING PLACES and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, few know the very first movie Landis made when trying to break into the business. That film was available in some truly bad releases on disc and to my knowledge never on blu-ray. That's all about to change.Back in 1971 a young Landis, discouraged by the Director's Guild, went to see a bad movie called TROG. Thinking he could make a similar movie but better that's what he set out to do. Two years later the film was done, he found a distributor and SCHLOCK! was unleashed on the world.The movie opens to a town filled with dead citizens and a trail of banana peels. It's the work of the dreaded "banana killer". Tracking clues the police find...nothing. The local on the spot newsman reports from the scene ending his piece by telling folks to stay tuned for today's afternoon movie "See You Next Wednesday".Local teens walk the area where the banana killer was last seen before heading to the local dance that night. They discover a cave and search it only to confront the banana killer, an ape of some sort. Two escape with their lives and bring back the police as well as a local professor who hypothesizes that this isn't the work of a killer but the missing link that's been sought for centuries, the schlockthropolus.I could provide more of the plot but that's pretty much all you need to know. Yes this movie is a spoof of all of those long gone monster on the lose films combined with the ape movies that were prevalent at one time. It's a formula that Landis would go on to use to perfection with his next film KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE. He was responsible for the script here and many of the laughs show his love of old movies using plenty of slapstick style comedy in scenes as well as some witty dialogue.Made for just $60,000 it shows but that was his intent as well. He wanted to show that he could direct a movie on his own having been working in the business for several years at this time. The production value for being such a low budget film is better than many that have long since been forgotten by directors with much less skill. That Landis could pull this off is a feat in itself.The film also served as a kick off to a friendship and working relation that lasted for a vast number of Landis films. Looking for someone to create the man like ape for him he couldn't afford anyone he knew in the business. A suggestion sent him to a home where a young man was living with his parents and also trying to break into the business but in make-up effects. His name was Rick Baker. The same Rick Baker who would transform David Naughton into a werewolf for Landis in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.Landis has said that the movie isn't very good and that more than anything it was a learning experience for him. But the fact is it's better than he might recall. No, it's not a blockbuster film by any means but it has its moments. More importantly when placed in viewing order with his other films you can see the burgeoning talent that is there as well as watch the progression of his abilities from one film to the next starting with this one.This new version of the film is being released by Turbine Media Group in an exclusive dual-format mediabook Blu-ray/DVD worldwide-playable combo set limited to 2000 copies. Not only are they releasing it in blu-ray for the first time but the extras are as interesting as the movie itself. They include an exclusive new introduction by Landis, a newly shot interview with Landis that's informative and entertaining, vintage audio commentary by Landis and Baker from the 2001 Anchor Bay DVD release, Landis take on the film from Trailers From Hell, the original trailers for the film including its re-release title BANANA MONSTER, the original radio spots and an informative booklet with text and photos. The film also is a bilingual edition in both English and German.So if you're a fan of Landis work you'll want to rush out to buy a copy before they're gone since the print run is only 2,000 copies. If you love movies you'll enjoy this as much as his fans will. It's a lot of fun and reminiscent of a time when mavericks could pull together enough money to make a name for themselves with something like this before making major films. Alongside movies like ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES, SCHLOCK will be one to remember.

I love this movie. I watched it when I was about 12 and laughed so hard my sides hurt. A movie about a blind girl who is the object of the 'Missing link's' affection and the chaos that ensues. (Pity about the ending... very King Kong) I have to mention some of my favourite parts in this movie, just to indulge myself and bore those who haven't seen it yet.The reporter's face when the old scientist explains terms that contain 'homo-' in them, is classically hilarious and something I will never forget, despite the fact that I saw this movie so long ago.The part when the crowd are standing around the hole where Schlock is believed to be, and Schlock himself joins them all out of curiosity. One lady looks at him and exclaims: "Why don't you get a hair cut? Why don't you get a job?" HILARIOUS!! - The part where Schlock fetches the stick for the blind girl, only to watch her throw it away again. This concept escapes Schlock's logic and he keeps fetching the stick every time she throws it away, wondering what the point is.A big thank you to Landis for starting off my Movie education with such comedy. It's completely stupid and painful to watch! I LOVED IT!!

So this is a shoe-string budget ($ 60.000) movie... It happens to be a brilliant movie for people who have kept alive the child in themselves. John Landis has a talent for making comedies.There are a number of fantastically executed gags in this one. Very deadpan. The body language of "Schlock" is absolutely hilarious.If you're only interested in today's slick, over-produced comedies as well as romantic movies in which Hanks/Stiller/Grant get their girl or if you need CGI, car chases, shootouts and explosions to entertain yourself then stay away from this.The bottom line and "theory" of this movie is symbolized in all the excerpts from "Blob" with a certain Steve McQueen. Here is a guy who evidently took himself serious and played some tough guys in his days.YET: Steve McQueen was in "Blob"... CONCLUSION: Don't take yourself so serious, people. Whether it's comedy or drama or action: it doesn't take 200 mio. dollars to be entertained.

*WARNING: MORE THAN ANY OTHER MOVIE THAT COMES TO MIND, THIS IS A TRUE CULT MOVIE! WATCHING IT COULD CAUSE DANGEROUS NEW THOUGHTS IN YOUR HEAD* DO you understand the above warning? If you don't get that statement, or don't like what it implies, you will HATE this movie. I sat alone in a theatre in a rotten, crummy little one-horse town in the Midwest and saw this movie in 1973. I laughed harder that night than I have since.The film violates every possible rule of good taste, all conceivable social norms, and is terrifically long on puns and non-sequiturs. It is a positive wealth of sight gags. this is not highbrow movie by any stretch of the imagination, but low comedy was one thing in the 70's and something less now: it is probably "too hip for the room" at the dawn of the 21st century.Think of this movie as a knowing "wink" at the audience. It says, "we're going to play a game here--I'm going to pretend to be a movie, and you're going to pretend to be an audience...all you have to do as the audience is to get the joke." "Schlock" is a satire of a lost genre of horror films: the "caveman" movie (specifically it is a first rate send up of one of the classic bad movies of all time: "Trog").If you watch bad movies for their unintentional comedy, if you think Mel Brook's first six movies are funny, then you're going to love this. On the other hand, if you think that the three funniest movies ever made were "Scary Movie I," "Scary Movie II," and "Not Another Teen Movie," then avoid this at all costs.