This indie came and went very quickly in early 1994, when an art house theater in my town booked it for a week and by the time I was ready to trek into town to see it, it was already gone. Luckily the film surfaced on VHS a year later and apparently that is the only medium the film exists on. Too bad. The film, although cheesy at times, has moments of brilliance that equal the comedy in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries.
Two filmmakers, a pompous producer with a typical gigantic ego and a more low key but absolutely clueless director, decide to make a movie about the "best selling book of all time:" The Bible. A motley crew of writers, actors, editors, cameramen, grips, is assembled and they set to it. With a low budget, filming Biblical highlights like the parting of the Red Sea proves challenging. The resulting film is so horrible it becomes a midnight movie phenomenon, on par with Rocky Horror.
It's been years since I've seen the film but moments that stand out are the meeting near the beginning of the film, where all the filmmaking experts are gathered in the room, and one of the crew members starts the meeting, only to be rudely chastised by the producer that HE'S in charge and HE will start the meeting, thank you very much. The room gets uncomfortably quiet as the producer and director make their self-serving speeches. As soon as the producer and director leave the room, the filmmakers busily start talking specifics.
Other memorable moments and characters include the hopelessly inept Italian cameraman who is utterly obsessed with Ingmar Bergman's cameraman Sven Nykvist; the actor who plays Jesus claiming he lives the character even offscreen, while smoking cigarettes, and then hilariously tries to walk on water; and the producer hiring some relics of '60s and '70s TV (including Eve Plumb, Lou Ferrigno, and most memorably Soupy Sales, who plays Moses). Near the end, the filmmakers run out of money, so they have to resort to product placement, which results in Moses coming down the mountain holding a six pack of Coke.
This is not a comedic masterpiece but is a fun, scrappy little movie that is great for a party. If you can find it...
Two filmmakers, a pompous producer with a typical gigantic ego and a more low key but absolutely clueless director, decide to make a movie about the "best selling book of all time:" The Bible. A motley crew of writers, actors, editors, cameramen, grips, is assembled and they set to it. With a low budget, filming Biblical highlights like the parting of the Red Sea proves challenging. The resulting film is so horrible it becomes a midnight movie phenomenon, on par with Rocky Horror.
It's been years since I've seen the film but moments that stand out are the meeting near the beginning of the film, where all the filmmaking experts are gathered in the room, and one of the crew members starts the meeting, only to be rudely chastised by the producer that HE'S in charge and HE will start the meeting, thank you very much. The room gets uncomfortably quiet as the producer and director make their self-serving speeches. As soon as the producer and director leave the room, the filmmakers busily start talking specifics.
Other memorable moments and characters include the hopelessly inept Italian cameraman who is utterly obsessed with Ingmar Bergman's cameraman Sven Nykvist; the actor who plays Jesus claiming he lives the character even offscreen, while smoking cigarettes, and then hilariously tries to walk on water; and the producer hiring some relics of '60s and '70s TV (including Eve Plumb, Lou Ferrigno, and most memorably Soupy Sales, who plays Moses). Near the end, the filmmakers run out of money, so they have to resort to product placement, which results in Moses coming down the mountain holding a six pack of Coke.
This is not a comedic masterpiece but is a fun, scrappy little movie that is great for a party. If you can find it...