I remember catching this one with some high school pals in an all-but-empty Times Square theater back when it was first released. Of course, back then, Times Square was still Times Square, which is to say you could still, um, treat your chemo-related nausea in a movie theater.
Contrary to what some of my friends maintain, that does not explain my undying love for this flick. It actually happens to be one of the greatest B-movies ever made — and I’m something of a B-movie buff. There’s at least two doctoral dissertations waiting to be written on it, one on its penetrating (if not NSFW) existential reflections, the other on its cast: Mr. T’s first movie, Bill Maher’s first movie, Charlie Barnett’s only movie, and of course, the one and only Gary Busey:
Unlike Gary, I’ll be working today. Happy Birthday, Elvis.