"Dogs of the Week" Movie Reviews Part 8 (1981) - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

These are original "Dogs of the Week" as featured at the end of Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel from 1981.
Films reviewed are:
Sphinx
Cheaper to Keep Her
Goin' Ape
Holy Terror
Squeeze Play
Spaced Out
Polyester
Happy Birthday to Me
The Fan
The Burning
Final Exam
The Hand

[@errolbourgeois8230]

Happy Birthday to me was the last picture for Glenn Ford. A shame for a great actor.

[@steveprice2718]

The Burning featured future Stars Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander. The road to stardom was never paved with gold.

[@toymanreturns546]

It also rose the fame of Bob and Harvey Weinstein, since it was Miramax's first mainstream film.

[@Maniac1607]

Only reason to see it was because of Tom Savini's effects.

[@TheMav41]

I saw Going Ape in May of 1981 with my family and I can't remember seeing a movie that bad before or since for that matter!

[@rdoyle29]

"Alice, Sweet Alice" is a pretty great flick (yeah, I know Roger admits that)

[@xdmaster7888]

Very few critics could have made the point on that movie that Roger did: he didn't like the desperation or dishonesty of the movie's marketing dept. and he felt that they were doing wrong by lying in service of trying to launch a movie that had been thoroughly rejected by the public.

[@jimmyl324]

One of my favorite movies

[@karaoconnoraliasraidra]

With the deceptive marketing in the re-release of Alice, Sweet Alice imagine people, thinking it was a brand new movie, telling their friends, “Hey, we need to go see this! There’s a hot girl in it!” Then they go and the “hot girl” is only ten years old. That would lead to some awkward moments. By the way, I haven’t seen Communion/Alice, Sweet Alice but I know it was on Bravo’s list of the 100 (or maybe it was 101) scariest movie moments. The segment is available on KZbin if anyone wants to see it.

[@jimmyl324]

It’s a good cult movie.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

4:17 It was dubbed in afterwards. You know who by? Bob Saget. No, really.

[@JoeOConnellAllNew]

Roger Ebert's catch phrase on this show is "You know you're in trouble when...."

[@michaelj.r457]

Just realized that, like his review of the Ed Harris satire Walker, which was so bad that Ebert didn't even realize it was a comedy. "You know you're in trouble when you've made a comedy, and someone is asking: "Is this supposed to be a comedy?""

[@charleswinokoor6023]

“Do you think it signals its turns?” Funny line from Rodge re “The Hand.”

[@williamhowe1]

We will never see their like again.

[@littlecasino60]

In the movie "Alice, Sweet Alive' Brooke Shields wasn't the demented little girl, it was the other girl in the film (I think her sister).

[@jimmyl324]

Princess Taboo Brooke played Karen her sister.

[@JohnLouisBishop84]

Yeah, it was Paula E. Sheppard they were thinking of, whose only other film after "Communion" was "Liquid Sky," which I liked a lot better than Siskel & Ebert.

[@reneedennis2011]

It's a good movie.

[@johnclossick4053]

Tiger's diss of "Holy Terror" was particularly whiny.

[@XenIsWhen]

I wish Paula Sheppard had the successful career instead of Brooke Shields, but she quit acting after her second movie. She was great.

[@lerm2866]

So many movies from this era completely forgotten,unavailable anywhere.

[@daniverse9625]

Funny enough Going Ape was written and directed by the screenwriter of Every Which Way But Loose. Dude clearly had a hard on for orangutans.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I saw Happy Birthday to Me and I thought it was a lot of fun !

[@orbison]

The Burning is now only remembered as the movie debut of Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander.

[@plasticweapon]

well, it should be remembered as one of the few GOOD slasher movies. in a society where people had good taste, friday the 13th would have flopped, and the burning would have been a hit.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

I completely agree with Gene on 'Going Ape'. Oh man, was that just about the worst thing I've ever seen!

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

Siskel was on the money about Happy Birthday to Me. I knew who the killer was way before the end of the movie.

[@rosario508]

I remember those “odorama” cards. People used to leave them in the theaters before they showed The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[@derekp308]

"Sphinx" came out months before "Raiders of the Lost Ark", it could be the first rip off before the blockbuster ever got released. "Cheaper to Keep Her"went straight to the cable channels after its brief theatrical run. "Going Ape"-Sounds like a sitcom plot. "Holy Terror", yes, "Alice, Sweet Alice" was a very good movie, famous for it's bashing of religion. "Squeeze Play" showed they where making raunchy teen sex comedies long before "Porky's, which only made the genre more mainstream. "Spaced Out"-The type of stuff of they showed on the Playboy Channel. "Polyester" is the type of movie the audience either loves or hate", thats John Waters for you. "Happy Birthday to Me at least had a clever final plot twist. "The Fan"-What the hell where they thinking? "The Burning"-Actually one of the best slashers, in some ways it was better than "Friday the 13th" movies (it had a good soundtrack). And it can be called the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" of slasher films because of the impressive cast of future stars who were in it. "Final Exam"-Yes, it was the tamest of the slasher films. "The Hand"-Michael Caine sure had his share of bad movies in between good ones, but Richard Burton fared worse.

[@babybird871]

I saw "Cheaper to Keep Her" with my grandparents during summer vacation,,,,I thought it was funny but I was 12...the title does makes sense though its cheaper not to get divorced...

[@jedijones]

Sphinx says it was based on a 1979 novel. The way Ebert talks, he had seen a bunch of "mummy movies" with archaeologists, tombs, pyramids, etc. I guess there were a lot more no one remembers now. The Indiana Jones series at least distanced itself from anything related to the pyramids. Ebert's review is definitely ironic considering how highly he would rate Raiders later.

[@derekp308]

@@jedijones It was written by “Robin Cook”, who mostly wrote medical thrillers. There was also another mummy movie from 1980 titled “The Awakening” which starred Charlton Heston. Seemed like every other movie he made was a B movie adventure film.

[@wajidhussain5305]

The Fan was ok, but the Burning is a classic

[@rdoyle29]

It's kind of hilarious that he accuses "The Burning" as having the same plot as "Friday the 13th, Part II", but then goes on to completely misdescribe the plot of "The Burning". He is so amazingly right about "Final Exam", though.

[@OmarGarcia-ro3en]

I loved Going Ape ever since I was a little kid. Fight me.

[@orbison]

Interesting that Goin' Ape features not just one but two stars of Taxi, Danza, and Danny DeVito. Assuming Ebert also saw the movie, could he have guessed one of the stars of Goin Ape (DeVito) would end up being one of his favorite actors to see on screen? As for Tony Danza, all I can say is. She's Out of Control (aka the movie that almost drove Gene out of the movie review business).

[@curleed85]

I only recall having learned of “Goin’ Ape” because there was an ad for that movie to be played on NBC at some time in the mid or late 1980s.

[@jimmyl324]

Alice Sweet Alice is classic

[@reneedennis2011]

Yup.

[@XenIsWhen]

Yeah, Paula Sheppard was a real talent.

[@ezequielgomez7083]

I love Happy Birthday to Me is my number 1 slasher films of all-time in horror flim is not the worst flim for me in my opinion.

[@steveprice2718]

Maureen Stapleton would win the Oscar for Reds that was released the following year. WOW!!!

[@TheSecurityCamChannel]

SQUEEZE PLAY an early Troma sex comedy which wasn't that bad considering.

[@TheHoopyscoopy]

Thanks for the fake laugh @4:37 Roger.

[@TobeyStarburst]

Lol

[@CR41489]

I remember when “The Fan” opened and I was wondering why Lauren Bacall was in it. Surely she was smarter than to star in this garbage.

[@FloraWest]

A friend of the family was once in a pretty pulp movie and we asked him, "So, gotta ask, what was the deal with that?" And he said his daughter was in college and his son needed braces so and so the paycheck was handy. And I remember Michael Caine doing "Jaws III" because his basement flooded and he needed to pay for repairs. Sometimes it's just a gig to pay the proverbial rent.

[@FloraWest]

I don't know what Michael Caine's reason for doing "The Hand" was. : )

[@daniverse9625]

@@FloraWest Tax evasion!

[@FloraWest]

@@daniverse9625 Really? Well that is certainly a compelling reason to sell out.

[@daniverse9625]

@@FloraWest Yep he was living in California during the 80s specifically because of it. It's why he did a lot of bad B films in the 80s. he had to keep working.

[@psb1969]

In hindsight, I think it was unfair to call the worst movies "dogs." They are loyal and lovable pets. Maybe they should have called them 'stinkers' and have a mock skunk sitting next to them.

[@karaoconnoraliasraidra]

They did go on to have the worst movies of the year recap show called the Stinkers and had a skunk sit with them at the end. Look up “Siskel and Ebert stinkers”.

[@errolbourgeois8230]

I'm not scared to admit that I like the Fan very much. The story is lame ,but the actors carried me to the end. MY GUILTY PLEASURE

[@Mondomeyer]

If Siskel and Ebert can like crap like 'Excess Baggage' then I can call 'Squeeze Play!' a comedy masterpiece.

[@teejaye6226]

I asee that their crusade against slashers is in full effect. Just like blackspatiion and kung fu films, slashers ran their course in the late 80's.

[@jimmyl324]

Polyester is a great cult movie

[@jessecoffey4737]

As far as Odorama (which Ebert selected as the dog), the movie might as well have outlived it as a similar device was never used again until RUGRATS GO WILD was released in 2003.

[@theonlyguiltymaninshawshan7909]

I wonder when the senseless violence/slasher films are gonna stop.... 1982? '83?

[@cliffordshafran9250]

I wonder if The Hand is Thing, who escaped from The Addams Family.

[@reneedennis2011]

😁

[@babybird871]

It was written by Oliver Stone...

[@errolbourgeois8230]

The Hand is Michael Caine's worst movie ever ( Blame it on Rio was a little entertaining).The worst part of this movie was Oliver Stone wrote or directed the picture. SHAMEFUL

[@bunnybismuth]

Oliver Stone has a quick rise and an equally quick fall.

[@xdmaster7888]

Three words in regard to the worst-Caine movie ever question: JAWS THE REVENGE.

[@errolbourgeois8230]

@xdmaster7888 Jaws the Revenge is a close second to the Hand. (You must watch this movie). Blame it on Rio comes in at third ; all in my opinion .

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

Boy, living in those beginning of 80s, with all those disgusting exploitation slashers around, had to be very obnoxius, especially if you was a conservative middle-age person

[@TobeyStarburst]

The Hand was good

[@tessarusty8968]

Ebert being a total hypocrite with Final Exam. A slasher movie that tries to develop the characters and isn't very violent, yet he calls it boring and not exploitative enough. These two just hate most horror movies.

[@CaptainSpalding72]

Wrong. Its boring as fuck. Roger nails it.

[@tessarusty8968]

@@CaptainSpalding72 Reading comprehension sal. I wasn't talking about whether or not the film is boring. I meant that ebert rips all the slasher films for being nothing but violence and gore, then rips Final Exam for not being violent and gory. Just look at what he says about The Burning. Total hypocrite. Plus look at the crap that they do like. Meryl Steep talking in a funny accent: orgasm.

[@CaptainSpalding72]

@@tessarusty8968 they did not like slahsers. Period. Nothing hypocritical, just never liked slashers. They were big liberals and hated anything that put women in danger. I disagreed with them, doesn't mean they were wrong. Just their personal needs were not met. Like all art. if something is not met, we dislike it. They had great taste anyway.

[@patrickshields5251]

@@CaptainSpalding72 I'm not a fan of slashers either but Tessa Rusty actually has a point. There's really no consistency when criticizing Final Exam for not being violent enough, yet bashed others for being violent.

[@CaptainSpalding72]

@@patrickshields5251 yes it is because the film is boring as fuck and has nothing to offer. Ebert was never against them entirely, he just hated the very bad ones....