Drop Dead Fred

Well, looks like we’re in for another stinker today. I’m of course talking about none other than the 1991 atrocious film, “Drop Dead Fred.” Boy do I remember seeing this on TV when I was a kid, but only parts of it. Then I encountered it again on TV later on when I got older, but only saw one part of it. When I saw Nostalgia Critic’s review on this mess of a film, I can’t believe what I had seen, especially when I went back and saw the entire film on YouTube. I had no idea why this film was made, and more specifically, who it was made for.

Anyways, the story is about Elizabeth Cronin, played by Phoebe Cates, who’s having a very bad day. Her flirting husband, played by Tim Matheson, leaves her, she loses her job, and her car and purse get stolen. Looking as if she has lost, she moves back home where her controlling mother Polly, played by Marsha Mason, lives. She goes back to her childhood and reunites with her imaginary friend Drop Dead Fred, played by the late British comedian Rik Mayall. Now that Elizabeth has freed Fred, they decide to go off and pull a series of pranks to help her feel better, while her co-worker plots revenge on those who have hurt Elizabeth.

“Drop Dead Fred,” like I have already mentioned, is a film that can’t decide whether it wants to be for kids or adults. It seems to go down the middle and misses the bull’s-eye. It looks like a cartoon comedy slapstick that adults will cringe at since the film tries to deal with adult themes, like losing your husband and your job and going back to your childhood. This will not be a good movie to have your children watch, especially since this is PG-13.

There is something very demanding about creating havoc with your imaginary childhood friend. However, “Drop Dead Fred” is not the film to exploit that. There is nothing likable here. Every single one of Elizabeth and Fred’s pranks, like sinking her friend’s houseboat, covering her mom’s furniture in dog droppings, and baking a mud banquet, are DISGUSTING, BORDERING ON MENTAL!!!!!

Despite what the film is given, there is always potential for the performances to make the film get out of the swamp. Unfortunately, that is not evident here. Carrie Fisher, who plays Elizabeth’s best friend, is as firm and loyal as ever, but the two main characters are a real let-down. Phoebe Cates is lost wide-eyed through the film looking like she can’t seem to fathom how she got into this film.

Sadly, Rik Mayall’s Drop Dead Fred is the real disappointment. Mayall was a talented comedian, which you should check out the British television sitcoms he was in, like The Young Ones, Blackadder, and The New Statesman, but his attempt to give another supernatural, fast-talking, comedic rebel (like in “Beetlejuice” and “Little Monsters”) DOESN'T WORK!!! According to a blog I read, the person called Fred a “one speed-manic and not only is it annoying, it’s just not funny.” However, Mayall can do some serious stuff. For instance, if you look at the end of the movie when he tells Elizabeth that he has to leave, he is doing a good job there, but that won’t save him from the horrendousness that he gave the audience before throughout the duration of this "sickeningly" loathsome movie.

Good news is, this film is going to be remade, which I wonder when they will actually make it. I just wouldn’t even recommend that you actually see this movie, because you will seriously feel like you need to take a bath. My guess is that it was trying to capitalize on Phoebe Cates’s career, especially with how great of a job she did in “Gremlins,” and was just trying to see if they could pull another successful job that “Beetlejuice” did, but just like “Little Monsters,” it failed miserably. This is another film where I have to rate with a big, fat 0 because there is nothing in this movie that will save it at all!!! Let’s just hope that if they ever do the remake, which I’ve been hearing talk of for a very long time, it does a much better job.

Whew, I finally got that over with. Look out tomorrow for the continuation of “Halloween Month.”