Joe Bob Briggs, the world’s favorite Drive-In and B-Movie guru, returned to Austin for a special 30th anniversary screening of Dead Heat, a pathetic attempt at making a hybrid Horror Comedy for Eigthies’ audiences. On the upside, it was the last film to give Joe Piscopo top billing like numerous other ex-SNL cast members. He was funny on TV yet he just didn’t connect via movies unless he was a supporting character as per Johnny Dangerously. Be afraid though, after being a Vegas spokesman for the Station Casino chain in the Nineties, cartoon voice work (Batman: The Animated Series), guest appearances (trying to teach Data to tell jokes on Star Trek: Next Generation) and various made-for-Basic Cable flicks…Joe is considering a run for the US Senate in his home state of New Jersey, as a Republican of course, it’s the party of bitter has beens (Jerry Doyle, Frankie Muniz, Melissa Joan Hart, Victoria Jackson and Dennis Miller).
As for the movie, it’s craptacular on numerous levels: awful dialog, mediocre special effects and a plot written by a 13-year-old boy hooked on Horror. The trailer already spells it out so I’m not spoiling anything here by giving a quick synopsis: LA has been plagued by a string of robberies being committed via “invincible” crooks who are really dead. Following up on a lead at the expected mad scientist’s corporate HQ, Treat Williams is accidentally killed. Joe Piscopo has his partner resurrected but the “cure” only lasts briefly, therefore they need to solve the crime before Treat dies permanently. One big reason why Heat is painful as per Joe Bob, the movie’s handlers thought Piscopo could ad lib funny stuff.
Obviously we were not there to see a terrible picture, we went to hear Joe Bob’s pearls of trivia regarding Heat. Alamo gave him a choice of five movies that were hitting 30 and this seemed to fit the bill for his expertise. He nailed the film’s problem, when mixing the two genres, it needs to be closer to 80% of one and 20% the other, a 50/50 split never works. Even though I’m not a fan of Ghostbusters, it is predominantly a Comedy with touches of Horror or Sci-Fi which is another reason why it is loved by a general audience. Nailed it Joe Bob. Beyond Heat, he answered questions regarding his unexpected success via Shudder (more streams were coming) and how fun it was to work with Robert DeNiro in a scene for Casino.
Can’t wait for him to return to Austin again! What will the movie be next time? I’m torn between something from one of his two great books, Profoundly Disturbing and Profoundly Erotic, or a totally from left field choice.
Alamo Extras: Trailers for Evil Dead 2 (duh), Cemetery Man, Dead/Alive, Return of the Living Dead, Zombie Cop and Maniac Cop 2; bits from Joe Piscopo’s HBO special including him playing a drum kit pretty well and another he’d be hanged in public over, a Bruce Lee imitation; one of the many Miller Lite commercials Joe Piscopo did in the Eighties; and footage from a horrible talent show.