Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

bill_golden Of course this is a very bad movie by most conventional standards, but it did have a couple of redeeming qualities. First, the basic storyline, while a bit convoluted, does contain a kernel of authenticity: many artists of that era were blatantly ripped off by crooked managers, producers, promoters, record companies, etc. The scene in the ice skating rink I thought was surprisingly effective, in fact it almost didn't fit. And the closing shot of the teens doing the twist on the beach brought back memories of that era, since I was a kid growing up in Southern California at the time, and yes, people of all ages did the twist.

Scott Baldwin (Meven_Stoffat) 1. Girls in the 60s went for guys with incredibly bad hair.2. Guys in the 60s went for women who looked 20 years older than them.3. Movies can be about rockstars trying to make it big and have but only TWO performances of the protagonist's songs.4. Managers don't sign musicians, instead they "handle" them.5. The best way to perform a love ballad about your loved one on live TV is to be on a weird looking platform and have some stripper dancing around in the background.6. And speaking of the aforementioned love ballad, the best way of writing a song about your loved one is to repeat that person's name for half the song.7. TV studio security sucked back in the 60s (how the protagonist's girlfriend ran into the studio at 10 PM at night... WTF???) 8. No rockstar movie is complete without a hit-man subplot.9. Guys will suddenly start skating good when a girl shows off how good she is.10. You can run away from a groupie and somehow strangely end up back in the same room she first started creeping you out in.11. No love story is complete without the girl walking in on a guy being kissed by another girl.12. The softest kidnappers EVER go for the musician.13. Musicians apparently WANT to be kidnapped (Stockholm Syndrome much?) 14. The best excuse for #11 is that it was a publicity stunt...15. ...and the excuse in #14 totally works on a girl.16. Managers act like it's the end of the world when you tell them you're firing them.17. Telling the manager you're firing them will result in a fight scene that goes on for WAY too long.18. Musicians can fight. Good.19. No musician movie is complete without a music video!!! 20. Thankfully there will NEVER be a rockstar movie like this one again!

rooprect Well OK, maybe not the best movie ever, but definitely the best rock 'n' roll movie ever. Or at least the best r'n'r movie of 1962. How about the best 1962 r'n'r movie that has an Olympic figure skating scene? Settled.This is one of those films that's so bad it wraps around the scale back to the good side. IMDb voters must have a collective colon blockage if they can't appreciate the magnificence of this picture. It truly breaks all the laws (and I suspect deliberately so, knowing the bizarre, tongue in cheek humour of director/co-star Steckler).First you have an anti-antihero: a punk who comes motoring into town looking like Brando on a bad hair day, but as it turns out, he's about as square as a boyscout, polite as a busboy and has babyface cheeks you just want to pinch and say oogyboogyboo.Next you have a bunch of felonious thugs who are so endearing & hilarious you want to make them the best man at your wedding. We have a goofy chick who suddenly breaks into a world class ice skating routine. And finally--here's the clincher--totally out of left field we have director Steckler himself playing the role of "Steak", a psychopathic headcase who would make Jeffrey Dahmer turn in his meat cleaver. This movie has it all!!The story itself gives us a hyper-cynical satire of the filthy entertainment industry, but it's packaged in a neat, wholesome, early-Elvis type show. Still, there are indeed some moments of dark lucidity, especially in a particular scene where a drunk Willem Dafoe-looking fellow gives us a powerful prophecy of how all rock sensations die in LA. Throughout the film, we get camera shots from bizarre angles & creepy closeups, again giving us the impression of a bad acid trip. But somehow the film manages to stay squarely in the realm of campy fun.So I can't make up my mind... Is this film so bad that it's good? Or is it so groundbreakingly good that it's bad? In either case you need to check it out. If nothing else, you will remember it forever.

haildevilman Your typical 'wannabe rock star finds fame, gets his ethics tested, but finds his heart too' story.Arch Hall Jr. was very likable in the lead. Supposedly, he was a musician first and only made films because his father talked him into it. I think he's a retired cargo pilot in Colorado now.Arch Hall Sr. 's role as the manager was basically a sleazier version of himself.Steckler (aka Cash Flagg) as Steak was fun to watch too. Because he and Hall Jr. were supposed to fight in the end, and Hall Jr. was visibly larger, he played the Steak character as an evil sleaze too. This way no one felt sympathy for this little guy getting beat up by a big guy. R.D.S is a professional even if it's all low budget.Nancy Czar looked great too. She was also the lone survivor of that plane crash that killed most of a figure skating team a few years before.Classic 60's rock movie. It belongs in a time capsule.