Evil Toons is a 1992 live-action animated comedy horror film written, directed and co-produced by Fred Olen Ray (Super Shark; The Unliving; The Tomb; The Alien Dead) with cinematography by veteran Gary Graver.
The movie stars David Carradine (Death Race 2000), Monique Gabrielle and Madison Stone.
The film was intended as a knowing spoof of traditional haunted-house films – with the female characters mocking their movies – combined with elements of The Evil Dead and the usual naughtiness associated with director Fred Olen Ray’s titillating oeuvre.
The movie includes in-jokes such as cult actor Dick Miller watching himself on TV in A Bucket of Blood (1959) and Michelle Bauer going off into her bedroom followed by the sound of a chainsaw revving (a reference to Ray’s Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers).
Fred Olen Ray initially pitched the idea for this picture to legendary exploitation movie producer Roger Corman, saying he could make the film for only $250,000. But even legendarily penny-pinching Corman turned him down because he reckoned this budget was too low to finance a movie with effects. Thus challenged, Ray subsequently made the picture for his own American Independent Productions for a mere $140,000.
Plot:
A group of attractive young women spend the night in an old house. On the night of their arrival, a strange man (Carradine)arrives, delivering an old book. Once he is gone, the girls examine the book, where they find a sketch of a Tasmanian-devil-like monster.
As time passes, the drawing emerges from the book and becomes a cartoon. At one point, after attacking one of the girls, it possesses her, and everyone in the house falls victim to the possessed girl, including her boyfriend Biff, the owner of the house, and two of the girls. Meg (the only surviving girl) and Gideon Fisk (owner of the book) destroy the book and the cartoon reverts into its normal self and promptly disappears…
Reviews:
“Unfortunately, the evil toon only gets a few minutes of screen time at best before it takes on Roxanne’s appearance. No doubt a result of being low budget.” Movie Muck
“It’s cheesy, sleazy, and just plain bad (and not necessarily in a good way). I just kept waiting for more “toons” to show up and was left disappointed. Unless all you need is excessive nudity and bad acting to enjoy a flick I’d advise skipping this.” Upcoming Horror
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“Borrowing elements from The Evil Dead (the book looks an awful lot like the Necronomicon from the Raimi film) and slapping them alongside an evil cartoon and some naked ladies is a very good idea on paper but this one takes a little too long to get going…” Rock! Shock! Pop!
“Apart from the girls, there are also a few cameos from the likes of David Carradine (who gets top billing despite a few minutes of screen time) and Dick Miller who pops up in another brief role in a low budget flick. Arte Johnson is quite funny as the sleazy neighbour who lusts after the girls.” Popcorn Pictures
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YouTube reviews:
Trailer [HD]:
Technical specs:
1 hour 22 minutes
Audio: Mono
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
