If one revisits the earliest years of cultural landmark 'Saturday Night Live' one will find that, even more than could be said of the show's recent years, the program struggled sometimes with big misses among its many swings. Some jokes just don't land, the acting and comedic timing might be stilted, and the fundamental editing and pacing of and between sketches might be disjointed. Jokes or gags that rely on recent cultural references will not age well, and even less so will be jokes or gags that carry a mean streak and punch down, or which lean on stereotypes or cliches. Why, even setting aside particulars, tastes in humor change over time, and what was stupendously funny at one time may fail to even elicit a smile at another. For that matter, these are problems that trouble sketch comedy at large. So what are we to think of a full-length feature of such a slant that was filmed in 1983, but which apparently didn't see the light of day until 2009? Who can overcome a gap in relevance of 26 years? More so than not, I'm sorry to say that the answer is "not 'Imps.'"
There are many recognizable names and faces who got roped into this, which is kind of impressive since filmmaker Scott Mansfield has completely vanished into the obscurity that he has called home for all his career. There are, I should say, a bounty of splendid ideas all throughout these eighty minutes, including parodies, plays on social situations, absurdism, wry and deadpan humor, situational comedy, sight gags and physical comedy, clever dialogue, the stated references, and much more. Some bits may last a few minutes, while others might be filler of only a few seconds. To Mansfield's credit, some of the intended frivolity is lightly amusing, some of it indeed elicits a smile, and sometimes the assemblage genuinely earn some glad laughs. However, sadly the fact remains that all too much of the length has difficulty even getting one or two happy neurons to fire off.
The issues I indicated above that can plague sketch comedy are proliferate in this film. For all the wit and intelligence that this can claim at its best, too much of the humor falls desperately flat. There are some bits that are altogether offensive in some capacity, or which are at least inappropriate and were never appropriate in the first place; some jokes which do indeed punch down in some measure, mostly with homophobia but also racism, xenophobia, and misogyny; tasteless and bawdy sex jokes, anatomical gags, or otherwise cheap ploys; some moments that are allowed to linger too long, or in which the timing is otherwise off; instances in which the cast is guided into performances that are ill-fitting in one manner or another; and so on. Simply put, the quality is highly variable, and nevertheless tends to languish on the much lower and unfunny side of the spectrum.
I won't say that 'Imps' is entirely without value, because that's just not true. Some of this is really enjoyable! What I will say that is that there is far, far too little value to actually make this worthwhile. It's well made, such as it is, with fine production design, costume design, hair and makeup, cinematography, editing, direction, and so on. Mostly the cast is just fine. None of this especially matters in a movie that's meant to make audiences laugh and fails to do so except in uncommon, scattered, irregular moments. It's possible that this would have met with more success had it actually been released in the 80s, but frankly I doubt even that to be true. What modicum of entertainment the picture is able to provide is all too regrettably small, and I feel bad for those who somehow got involved. It's hardly the worst thing I've ever seen, but there's just not remotely enough fun to be had to ever really earn a recommendation. Whatever it is that drew your attention to 'Imps,' I unfortunately must suggest putting it out of mind and finding something else to watch. If anyone, leave this to only the wildly curious cinephile, who will watch truly anything at all, and look elsewhere.
