Themes: Mad Scientists, Haunted By the Past, Filmmaking
Main Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Bellamy, Carrie Fisher, Griffin Dunne, Steve Guttenberg
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
The 1987 portmanteau comedy feature Amazon Women on the Moon lampoons several film genres in general and the 1954 sci-fi cheapie Cat Women of the Moon in particular. Other sketches in Amazon Women include an opening bit with Arsenio Hall; a vignette titled "Son of the Invisible Man" wherein a naked Ed Begley Jr. runs around in full view of the nonplussed supporting cast; the It's Alive parody "Hospital", which offers the spectacle of Michelle Pfeiffer giving birth to Mr. Potato Head; and a Siskel & Ebert takeoff, featuring Arche Hahn as a TV viewer whose entire life is given a "thumbs down." Directed by several hands, including Joe Dante, Carl Gottleib, Peter Horton, John Landis, and Robert K. Weiss, Amazon Women on the Moon also features a satire of the Kroger G. Babb school of "sex hygiene" exploitation cheapies, with syphilis victim Carrie Fisher being counseled by unctuous doctor Paul Bartel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sybil Danning - Queen Lara ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Russ Meyer - Video Salesman ("Video Date"); Monique Gabrielle - Taryn Steele ("Pethouse Video"); Kelly Preston - Violet ("Titan Man"); Steve Forrest - Capt. Nelson ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Joey Travolta - Butch ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Ed Begley, Jr. - Griffin ("Son of the Invisible Man"); Henny Youngman - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); Steve Allen - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); Paul Bartel - Doctor ("Reckless Youth"); Arsenio Hall - Apartment Victim ("Mondo Condo"); Howard Hesseman - Rupert King ("Titan Man"); Lou Jacobi - Murray ("Murray in Videoland"); B.B. King - Himself ("Blacks Without Soul"); Forrest J. Ackerman - U.S. President ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Matt Adler - George ("Titan Man"); Jenny Agutter - "Antony & Cleopatra Promo" - Cleopatra; Belinda Balaski - Bernice Pitnik ("Critic's Corner" "Roast Your Loved O; Raye Birk - Vanya; Vivian Bonnell - Theatre Customer #3; Mark Bringelson - "Antony & Cleopatra" - Theatre Customer #1; Stanley Brock - Customer ("Hairlooming"); Bill Bryant - Male Republican ("Blacks Without Soul"); Corey Burton - Anchorman ("Murray in Videoland")/TV Announcer ("Amaz; Charlie Callas - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); T.K. Carter - Host ("Silly Pate"); Lana Clarkson - Alpha Beta ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Andrew Dice Clay - Frankie ("Video Date"); Robert Colbert - Blackie ("Amazon Women on the Moon"); Frank Collison - Grizzled Pirate ("Video Pirates"); Bryan Cranston - "Roast Your Loved One" - Paramedic #1; Donald Gibb - Graceless Pirate ("Video Pirates"); Garry Goodrow - Checker Player ("Son of the Invisible Man"); Martin Goslins - "French Ventriloquist" - French Ventriloquist; David Alan Grier - Don "No Soul" Simmons ("Blacks Without Soul"); Archie Hahn III - Harvey Pitnik ("Critic's Corner," "Roast Your Loved O; Larry Hankin - Man in Pub ("Son of the Invisible Man"); Tracy Hutchinson - Floozie ("Reckless Youth"); John Ingle - Felix Van Dam ("Art Sale"); Chuck La Font - Trent ("Son of the Invisible Man"); Sarah Lilly - Prostitute ("Bullshit or Not"); Mike Mazurki - Dutch ("Reckless Youth"); Marc McClure - Ray ("Video Date"); Terry McGovern - Salesman ("First Lady of the Evening"); Dick Miller - Danny; Donald F. Muhich - Easterbrook ("Pethouse Video"); Kellye Nakahara - Theatre Customer #4; Joe Pantoliano - Sy Swerdlow ("Hairlooming"); Michelle Pfeiffer - Brenda ("Hospital"); Robert Picardo - Rick Raddnitz ("Roast Your Loved One"); Philip Proctor - Mike ("Silly Pate"); Willard E. Pugh - Speaking Cop ("Video Date"); Henry Silva - Himself ("Bullshit or Not"); Le Tari - Pimp ("Blacks Without Soul"); Rip Taylor - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); Angel Tompkins - First Lady ("First Lady of the Evening"); Jackie Vernon - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); Herb Vigran - Agent ("Reckless Youth"); Corinne Wahl - Sherrie ("Video Date"); Slappy White - Himself ("Roast Your Loved One"); Erica Yohn - Selma ("Murray in Videoland"); Steve Cropper - Customer ("Titan Man"); Phil Hartman - Baseball Announcer ("Murray in Videoland"); Peter Horton - Harry, Brenda's Husband ("Hospital"); Tino Insana - Mr. Sylvio ("Video Pirates"); Roger La Page - London Bobby ("Son of the Invisible Man"); Ira Newborn - Fred ("Silly Pate"); Bill Taylor - Gruesome Pirate ("Video Pirates"); William Marshall - Pirate Captain ("Video Pirates"); Roxie Roker - Female Republican ("Blacks Without Soul"); Frank Beddor - Ken ("Reckless Youth"); Christopher Broughton - Fan Club President ("Blacks Without Soul"); Lohman and Barkley; Robina Suwol - Woman; Karen Montgomery - Karen ("Silly Pate")
Credit
Alex Hajdu - Art Director, Kevin Marcy - Associate Producer, Robb Idels - Associate Producer, Gary Holland - Boom Operator, Sally Dennison - Casting, Julie Selzer - Casting, Taryn de Chellis - Costume Designer, Mira Zavidowsky - Costume Designer, Debra L. Wright - Costume Designer, Carolyn Clark - Costume Designer, Daniel Schneider - First Assistant Director, Deborah Love - First Assistant Director, David Sosna - First Assistant Director, Joe Dante - Director, Carl Gottlieb - Director, Peter Horton - Director, John Landis - Director, Robert Weiss - Director, Malcolm Campbell - Editor, Tracy S. Granger - Editor, Marshall Harvey - Editor, Bert Lovitt - Editor, Florent Retz - Editor, Laura Graham - Editor, Pattye Rogers - Editor, Jack Hilton - Editor, George Folsey, Jr. - Executive Producer, John Landis - Executive Producer, Lynne Eagan - Hair Styles, Rick Rothen - Location Manager, Pamela Morrow - Location Manager, Ira Newborn - Composer (Music Score), Robin Siegel - Makeup, Michael McClary - Camera Operator, Ivo Cristante - Production Designer, Daniel Pearl - Cinematographer, Robert Weiss - Producer, Debra Combs - Set Designer, Julie Kaye Towery - Set Designer, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Bobby Cummings - Stunts, Noon Orsatti - Stunts, Paul Sherrod - Stunts, J.D. Silvester - Stunts, Lincoln Simonds - Stunts, Eddie Hice - Stunts, Christopher Doyle - Stunts, Brian Carson - Stunts, Monty L. Simons - Stunts, Rick Barker - Stunts Coordinator, Curtis Powers - Stunts Coordinator, Roger La Page - Unit Production Manager, Michael Barrie - Screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb - Screenwriter, John Landis - Screenwriter, Jim Mulholland - Screenwriter, Bruce Richardson - Sound Effects Editor, David Spence - Sound Effects Editor, William Jacobs - Sound Effects Editor, Gary Wright - Sound Effects Editor, Cindy Mary - Sound Effects Editor, Robert Blair - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Keith Bauer - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, S.C. Dacy - Publicist, Patricia Whitcher - Production Coordinator, Gregory Wolf - Properties Master, Nick Alphin - Re-Recording Mixer, Larry Stensvold - Re-Recording Mixer, Paul Wells - Re-Recording Mixer, Jackie Saunders - Script Supervisor, Richard Foreman, Jr. - Still Photographer, Nanette Marie MacCaughern - Assistant Makeup, David E. Harshbarger - Assistant Properties, Peter Mark Weiner - Assistant Properties, Margaret C. Mayer - Costumes Assistant, Gary A. Hecker - Foley Artist, Dan O'Connell - Foley Artist, Harry Middleton - Leadman, Bob Lemchen - Production Accountant, Gary Gillingham - Production Controller, Jeff James - Scenic Artist, Peter Mercurio - Second Assistant Camera, Jerold E. Chan - Second Assistant Camera, Robin Oliver - Second Unit Assistant Director, Robin Holding - Second Unit Assistant Director, Jennefer Pray - Set Dresser, Victoria J. Auth - Set Dresser, John Hammer Maxwell - Set Dresser, Todd E. Weisman - Set Dresser, Leonard Morganti - Storyboard Artist, Sean E. Markland - Swing Gang
Amazon Women on the Moon is a 1987film written by comedy duo Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland.
The film is a compilation of twenty-one comedy skits of various lengths by a group of highly regarded directors. Many of the segments are parodies of late-night television and low-budget movies from the 1950s and 1960s, meant to simulate an insomniac's channel surfing through late-night television, before finally settling on one late-late-late-late movie (and suffering through the commercials). Some of the skits are in black and white, including the "Reckless Youth" parody of Sex Madness (featuring a cameo by Carrie Fisher).
Joe Dante proposed the title The Greatest Movie Ever Made, in order that the advertising could quote critics citing the title, but the idea was rejected by the other filmmakers.
Landis also directed The Kentucky Fried Movie, a 1977 release that used the same anthology/faux broadcast format of Amazon Women.
An in-joke title card for the film within a film Amazon Women on the Moon names Samuel L. Bronkowitz as director, who is credited as producer for several of the film parodies in Kentucky Fried Movie.
