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#488 - Hell Comes to Frogtown
Donald G. Jackson and R.J. Kizer, 1988
In a post-apocalyptic future where the world's population is mostly female and infertile, one especially fertile man is forcibly recruited into a mission to recover a group of fertile women from a town populated by frog-like mutants.
I picked up a DVD copy of Hell Comes to Frogtown for $2 a year or so ago but it basically sat around in my collection until I heard the news about the passing of Rowdy Roddy Piper and figured that that would be as good a time as any to finally check it out. Though it came out in the same year as Piper's most indelible cinematic outing, John Carpenter's staunchly anti-consumerism B-movie They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown is a far different beast. Piper stars as a character who is literally named Sam Hell (which would explain the title), whose most distinguishing character trait is the fact that he is an exceptionally fertile male human in a post-nuclear landscape where not only is most of the male population dead, but the majority of remaining humans are infertile. This makes Piper and his special purpose extremely plot-relevant to the point where he is fitted with an electro-shock chastity belt that monitors his activities. Before long, he is driven out into the post-apocalyptic wasteland in the care of two women - one a soldier, one a scientist - in order to fulfil his duties, which eventually involves a mission to rescue a group of fertile human women from Frogtown, a wretched hive populated by (you guessed it) frog people.
As another user pointed out, yes, that plot does share a few similarities with the plot of Mad Max: Fury Road (and more than a couple with the Y: The Last Man comic book series), but it's still wrapped in a pulpy '80s exploitation style with enough differences to distinguish itself. The film does play its absurd sci-fi premise for a lot of laughs thanks to Piper's turn as a cocky yet reluctant hero who is rather unwilling to help repopulate the Earth (never mind the implications of trying to do so using only one man, this isn't that kind of movie), leading to all sorts of goofy shenanigans that do occasionally get a little too dark (such as his scientist supervisor encouraging him to impregnate a traumatised and sedated Frogtown escapee despite him not being in the mood for it, though that is naturally glossed over). Things lighten up a little once the get to Frogtown, which basically looks like the inside of an abandoned factory but is compensated for by some relatively solid practical effects when it comes to the frog people themselves. The designs are ugly, sure, but they are at least semi-competent in a way that does make them somewhat charming and at the very least the characters underneath are capable of giving appropriately over-the-top performances.
Due to its low-budget nature, the film does take its time building up to any sort of viable action, and what does occur feels like too little, too late. Some distinctive elements, such as the fact that Piper and his comrades travel through the dangerous post-apocalyptic wasteland in a neon-pink hot-rod with a mounted machine-gun, do serve to distinguish the film somewhat, but even the explosive finale isn't quite enough to wholly redeem a film that is extremely mediocre even by '80s trash standards. It's fine enough if you're looking for something short and weird and sort of fun (with a bit of gender role subversion thrown in to boot), but there's too much working against it to really make it any kind of "good".
Donald G. Jackson and R.J. Kizer, 1988
In a post-apocalyptic future where the world's population is mostly female and infertile, one especially fertile man is forcibly recruited into a mission to recover a group of fertile women from a town populated by frog-like mutants.
I picked up a DVD copy of Hell Comes to Frogtown for $2 a year or so ago but it basically sat around in my collection until I heard the news about the passing of Rowdy Roddy Piper and figured that that would be as good a time as any to finally check it out. Though it came out in the same year as Piper's most indelible cinematic outing, John Carpenter's staunchly anti-consumerism B-movie They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown is a far different beast. Piper stars as a character who is literally named Sam Hell (which would explain the title), whose most distinguishing character trait is the fact that he is an exceptionally fertile male human in a post-nuclear landscape where not only is most of the male population dead, but the majority of remaining humans are infertile. This makes Piper and his special purpose extremely plot-relevant to the point where he is fitted with an electro-shock chastity belt that monitors his activities. Before long, he is driven out into the post-apocalyptic wasteland in the care of two women - one a soldier, one a scientist - in order to fulfil his duties, which eventually involves a mission to rescue a group of fertile human women from Frogtown, a wretched hive populated by (you guessed it) frog people.
As another user pointed out, yes, that plot does share a few similarities with the plot of Mad Max: Fury Road (and more than a couple with the Y: The Last Man comic book series), but it's still wrapped in a pulpy '80s exploitation style with enough differences to distinguish itself. The film does play its absurd sci-fi premise for a lot of laughs thanks to Piper's turn as a cocky yet reluctant hero who is rather unwilling to help repopulate the Earth (never mind the implications of trying to do so using only one man, this isn't that kind of movie), leading to all sorts of goofy shenanigans that do occasionally get a little too dark (such as his scientist supervisor encouraging him to impregnate a traumatised and sedated Frogtown escapee despite him not being in the mood for it, though that is naturally glossed over). Things lighten up a little once the get to Frogtown, which basically looks like the inside of an abandoned factory but is compensated for by some relatively solid practical effects when it comes to the frog people themselves. The designs are ugly, sure, but they are at least semi-competent in a way that does make them somewhat charming and at the very least the characters underneath are capable of giving appropriately over-the-top performances.
Due to its low-budget nature, the film does take its time building up to any sort of viable action, and what does occur feels like too little, too late. Some distinctive elements, such as the fact that Piper and his comrades travel through the dangerous post-apocalyptic wasteland in a neon-pink hot-rod with a mounted machine-gun, do serve to distinguish the film somewhat, but even the explosive finale isn't quite enough to wholly redeem a film that is extremely mediocre even by '80s trash standards. It's fine enough if you're looking for something short and weird and sort of fun (with a bit of gender role subversion thrown in to boot), but there's too much working against it to really make it any kind of "good".