Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

garyrussell-00615 My best friend maintained for years he watched a movie called Evil Roy Slade when he was heading out on a two week National Guard simulated deployment in the 70's. He said he was sober but as he described the movie it seemed more likely it was something imagined by someone who was less than sober. MANY years later I came across the title accidentally while researching something else and wondered if there was something to what my friend had described. I secured a video taped version and I was not disappointed. It was everything, and MORE of what I expected; and remains what I fondly refer to as my favorite stupid movie of all time. Sneekin', Lyin, Arrogance, Dirtyness and Evil. How can anyone not love Evil Roy Slade?

FightingWesterner Orphaned as a baby and raised by buzzards (!) John Astin is the meanest (and quite possibly the dumbest) man in the west and a thorn in the side of railroad man Mickey Rooney. Falling in love for the first time, he vows to go straight and takes a job as a shoe salesman in Milton Berle's store!This made-for-television movie, co-written and produced by Garry Marshall, is probably the funniest ever made, with a seemingly endless barrage of hilarious sight-gags and one-liners, as well as a fun cast of comedic stars like Henry Gibson, Pat Morita, John Ritter, Ed Begley Jr., Penny Marshall, and Dick Shawn as a flamboyant rhinestone covered lawman.A few of the best scenes involve Astin's stagecoach fight with iconic little-person Billy Curtis, who's probably best remembered for High Plains Drifter and The Terror Of Tiny Town, and psychiatrist Dom DeLuise's attempts to cure him of his wickedness. The scene where he teaches Astin how to walk again, this time without guns, is a riot!This really should have been given a theatrical release. It's that good!

Woodyanders Mean hombre Evil Roy Slade (marvelously played with deliciously dastardly relish by John Astin) embarks on a merry crime spree in the Old West. Sweet young lady Betsy Potter (winningly played by the fetching Pamela Austin) becomes determined to reform Roy after meeting and falling in love with the ornery cuss during a bank robbery. Meanwhile, ruthless and vengeful railroad baron Nelson Stool (Mickey Rooney in fine spirited form) hires vain and ostentatious singing cowboy Marshall Bing Bell (a gloriously campy portrayal by Dick Shawn) to take Roy down. Director Jerry Paris, working from a witty script by Jerry Belson and Gary Marshall, ably milks the infectiously broad and wacky humor for maximum belly laughs while maintaining a snappy pace and zany tone throughout. The hysterically funny dialogue (favorite line: "My in-laws want me to hire outlaws") frequently hits the sidesplitting bull's eye. Moreover, there are plenty of inspired nutty touches, such as Roy calmly conversing with a pack of vultures, an ambush complete with pistol-packin' midgets, and a wedding ceremony that degenerates into a wild shoot-out. The cast attack the goofy material with great zeal, with stand-out contributions from Edie Adams as brassy floozy Flossie, Milton Berle as antsy shoe salesman Harry Fern, Henry Gibson as the cowardly Clifford Stool, and Dom DeLuise as patient, helpful psychiatrist Logan Delp. Popping up in nifty small roles are Penny Marshall as a bank teller, Pat Morita as Bing Bell's servant Turhan, Luana Anders as the cheery Alice Fern, Billy Curtis as a dwarf cowboy, and Ed Begley, Jr. as a dumb hick. Patt Buttram provides the amusingly wry narration. Both Murray MacLeod's jaunty score and the folksy country soundtrack do the harmonic trick. Sam Leavitt's crisp cinematography makes neat occasional use of fades and dissolves. A total riot.

Greg Eichelberger Evil Roy Slade (Made For TV, 1972, director: Jerry Paris) - I first saw this movie when I was a small child (in an era of rather clever movies of the week), and then a few more times after that. I have not viewed it in over 25 years, however, but I still recall it being one of the funniest films I ever saw. The humor was dark enough to attract my laughs, but not insulting or offensive (somewhere along the line, Hollywood forgot how to walk this delicate balance). Slade (John Astin, Gomez on TV's "Addams Family")is orphaned after a wagon train is attacked by Indians. No one (even the native-Americans or wolves) will aid him, so he ends up being raised by vultures with just an old teddy bear for a companion. Naturally, he grows up mean and vile, eventually becoming the leader of a gang of bank robbers. During a heist, he meets pretty schoolmarm Betsy (Pam Austin) and it's love at first sight.After he quits the gang, Becky tries to reform him, but railroad executive Mr. Stool (Mickey Rooney), hires retired singing sheriff, Big Bell (Dick Shawn, "It's A Mad, Mad Mad, Mad World") to capture the reforming outlaw. With Dom DeLuise, Milton Berle, Edie Adams, John Ritter (later to star on "Three's Company"), Pat Morita (of "Karate Kid" fame) and narrated by Pat Butrum (Mr. Haney on "Green Acres"), "Evil Roy Slade" was one laugh riot from beginning to end. Maybe it's nostalgia for those good old days, but with others out there expressing the same viewpoint, I believe this picture still holds up well today.Funniest line of dialogue that I remember: Betsy is trying to teach Slade mathematics. She asks, "You have three apples, and your neighbor has three apples. If he takes three of your apples, what do you have?" Slade: "A dead neighbor and all six apples."