It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 comedy film compiling clips from a plethora of B movies. Written by Dana Olsen (Wacko; The ‘Burbs); Tales from the Cryptkeeper: ‘Hide and Go Shriek’) and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several popular American comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong.
Despite being just a compilation of old movie clips, with comedy linking sequences of dubious merit, the film took a surprising $2,573,342 at the US box office.
Sections of It Came from Hollywood focus on themes such as gorilla pictures, anti-marijuana films, brain movies and the works of Ed Wood. Michael and Harry Medved are listed as consultants and this compilation seems to have been inspired by their sneering at B movies humour – featured in books such as The Golden Turkey Awards – and later co-opted by The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 team.
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Reviews:
“The hosts are all right in their introductory segments; Radner has a great moment barricading her door against gorillas, and Aykroyd turns up in Glen (or Glenda’s) white angora sweater. But the movie makes the annoying decision to let the hosts speak during the scenes from the bad movies, one-upping the original footage with wise guy comments that should be left for the paying audience to make.” RogerEbert.com
“Sure, there’s kind of a sneering hipness to the comedy, a smug, let’s-laff-at-the-squares mindset that you’ll find in any revival-house screening of Reefer Madness. But ICFH manages to overcome its superiority complex, chiefly through a long Ed Wood career retrospective that proves you can admire the troubled filmmaker’s moxie while simultaneously laughing at the finished product. Also, Dan Aykroyd proves he can walk the walk in an angora sweater and Maidenform bra.” Dave Merrill, Compone Flicks
“Anyway, it’s a clip show, pretty well edited and possibly the slickest of the 80s bunch of them! (Only Terror in the Aisles gives it a run there!) The inclusion of good movies is off-putting whatever the motive, and whatever the psycho-emotional dangers of not doing so! And, the natural charms of their enactors notwithstanding, those sketches are a heavy debit!” Ha Ha, It’s Burl!
Films featured:
Sunny Side Up (1929)
Maniac aka Sex Maniac (1934)
Wonder Bar (1934)
The Lost City (1935)
Reefer Madness (1936)
Marihuana (1936)
Perils of Nyoka (1942)
Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943)
Musical Movieland (1944)
The Monster and the Ape (1945)
The White Gorilla (1945)
Blonde Savage (1947)
Street Corner (1948)
Daughter of the Jungle (1949)
The Flying Saucer (1950)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952)
Glen or Glenda (1953)
Robot Monster (1953)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Bride of the Monster (1955)
The Violent Years (1956)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1956)
Runaway Daughters (1956)
Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)
Don’t Knock the Rock (1956)
Rock Baby: Rock It (1957)
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Dragstrip Girl (1957)
The Deadly Mantis (1957)
The Giant Claw (1957)
Beginning of the End (1957)
The Cyclops (1957)
From Hell It Came (1957)
The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
Teenage Monster (1958)
The Bride and the Beast (1958)
The Cool and the Crazy (1958)
Attack of the Puppet People (1958)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
High School Confidential! (1958)
High School Hellcats (1958)
The Space Children (1958)
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
The Fly (1958)
Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
The Party Crashers (1958)
The Blob (1958)
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Frankenstein’s Daughter (1958)
Monster from Green Hell (1958)
The Trollenberg Terror (1958)
Missile to the Moon (1958)
The Hideous Sun Demon (1959)
Battle in Outer Space (1959)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Prince of Space (1959)
Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
The Killer Shrews (1959)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
The Tingler (1959)
First Man Into Space (1959)
The Loves of Hercules (1960)
The Hypnotic Eye (1960)
Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)
Reptilicus (1961)
Rocket Attack, U.S.A. (1961)
Married Too Young (1962)
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962)
Matango (1963)
The Slime People (1963)
Evil Brain from Outer Space (1964)
The Creeping Terror (1964)
Atomic Rulers (1964)
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964)
The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)
Bat Men of Africa (1966)
Mars Needs Women (1967)
The Weird World of LSD (1967)
The X from Outer Space (1967)
Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Octaman (1971)
The Thing with Two Heads (1972)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973)
Black Belt Jones (1974)
A*P*E (1976)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
The Incredible Melting Man (1978)
