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Rodney Dangerfield's signature line of "I tell ya, I get no respect" is never more evident than in this bomb of a TV Pilot. Dangerfield finally hit the big time with BACK TO SCHOOL (1986), which was the sixth highest grossing film in the U. S. that year. How did Hollywood capitalize? By creating quite possibly the worst TV show pilot in history (which says a lot) in ...WHERE'S RODNEY. Dangerfield plays himself and is at the mental whims of a 14 year old obsessed with Dangerfield also named Rodney (Jared Rushton from HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS) who can zap Dangerfield to his side when he needs advice. We also get lots of "comedy" involving the kid's home life (with Jay Thomas as his dad). It is like the creators sat down and said "Let's make something that appeals to NONE of Dangerfield's fans." Insanity.

A family of four moves out of the bombed-out looking environs of Brooklyn to Safehaven 186, a guarded building offering safety from the bad world. Unfortunately, the place is run by a gang led by Preacher (Roy MacArthur). When the family father is falsely arrested, son Jeff (John Wittenbauer) must team up with brooding loner Pierce (Rick Gianasi) to take on Preacher and his gang. The Italians pretty much dominated the NYC post-apoc game, but it is interesting to see the American take on it. They shoot at the same bombed out neighborhoods the Italians did for ESCAPE FROM THE BRONX (1983), but the creation of the safehaven city is a bit weak. Gianasi, who apparently had the NY sci-fi leading man roles sewn up in the '80s, is good and it is funny the bad guys feel they can convey their badness by having British accents. Director Brian Thomas Jones had previously done THE REJUVENATRIX (1988) and this - which shot as BLOODSCAPE (huh?) in February 1988 - is the definition of a sophomore slump. There are some good qualities to it though and the last 30 minutes it gets it going.

It takes a special kind of talent to call your franchise reboot Jeepers Creepers: Reborn (2022) and promptly kill the series you are trying to resurrect. A young couple go to a horror convention (that is scary enough) and get selected to do an escape room house based around the local legend of The Creeper, the winged man-monster that shows up every 23 years. What they don't know is this is all a set up to make them the creature's latest meal.

For better or worse, Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers trilogy was a solid intro for a new "horror icon" (© every horror news site). It set simple rules and had its monster attack people. This follows that same set up, but tries to up it with some bizarre new plot twists. For example, this one features a cult that worships the Creeper and brings the victims to them. If you are hoping for more info than that, you will be sorely disappointed. The film literally has the cult trap the people in the house, one of them says, "They're all yours now" and then they walk away, never to be seen again. There is an interesting new idea where the Creeper can attach dead body parts to its own damaged body to regenerate, but again it is never fully explained. Heck, if it was it wouldn't even matter as the film is so cheaply made. A lot of criticism online has been about how damn cheap the film looks and I can't disagree. From the fake sets to the greenscreen work to the fake CGI, it looks more like a bad Youku movie. Director Timo Vuorensola made those terrible looking Iron Sky films, so it makes sense this looks just as bad. You know you've screwed up when the viewer is wishing for the more subtle style of Salva. I did get a couple of laughs from dumb bits like the phone in the decaying mansion still working (did the Creeper immediately start a phone plan when it was resurrected that morning?) and the bit where the hip Youtube crew (ugh!) following our leads find their cameraman dead minutes after they arrive at the house and one says, "It's fresh, whatever got him just got here." Of course it is fresh! You literally just got there with the man! Sadly, boneheaded stuff like that can only entertain so much.