Main Cast: Carolyn Brandt, Vin Saxon, Titus Moede, Mike Kannon, James Bowie
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 72 minutes
Plot
Lonnie Lord (Vin Saxon) is a rock & roll star who sells millions and loves to sing, anywhere and anytime. When a trio of psychotic hoodlums kidnaps his girlfriend, Cee Bee Beaumont (Carolyn Brandt), Lonnie and his faithful gardener sidekick, Titus Twimbly (Titus Moede), know it's time for action. They step into a closet and emerge as Rat Pfink and Boo-Boo, two costumed crime fighters who bear more than a passing resemblance to Batman and Robin: "Together they blaze a four-fisted campaign against the enemies of truth, justice and the American way of right!" They track down the evil doers and rescue the distressed damsel, but an escaped circus gorilla is on the loose and soon Cee Bee is in danger again. This bizarre low-budget mixture of crime drama and superhero spoof features great rockabilly non-hits like "Big Boss A-Go-Go-Party" and "Running Wild." ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Review
Rat Pfink A Boo-Boo is a schizophrenic viewing experience, but immensely satisfying for the psychotronic cinema devotee. The film perfectly illustrates the reasons why director Ray Dennis Steckler has gained his cult-figure fame; it has a ridiculous title, beyond-low-budget backyard sets, and a charming willingness to throw the script out the window and go off on whimsical tangents. That's the legend, anyhow, which explains why this dark-edged crime drama veers off into a half-baked Batman parody midway through the picture. Reportedly, Steckler became bored the day he was filming the scene in which Lonnie Lord mulls over his options regarding his girlfriend's ransom. Wouldn't it be funny if Lonnie and Titus suddenly jumped into the closet and came out as a couple of superheroes? Thanks to the freedom of bargain-basement film production, that's exactly the path Steckler decided to follow. The heroes were given cheap, makeshift costumes and the villains shifted from sinister, chain-wielding killers to slapstick knuckleheads. Toss in a guy in a gorilla suit ("Kogar, the Swinging Ape"), add some home movie footage of the stars goofing off at a children's birthday party, and that's Rat Pfink A Boo-Boo (the fractured title is the result of a credit sequence production error that Steckler couldn't afford to fix). There's also plenty of music courtesy of star Vin Saxon, (who had a minor rock & roll career under his given name, Ron Haydock) which will sound great to those with ears for vintage '60s surf and rockabilly styles. Fast, funny, and completely weird, this is no-budget ingenuity at its best, making up for Steckler's mechanical shortcomings with imaginative zeal. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Perhaps the most striking feature of the film -- beyond the low production values -- is a sudden switch in tone and plot that comes roughly forty minutes into the movie. As originally planned, the film was a straight-faced crime drama titled The Depraved, inspired by a series of obscene phone calls by which Steckler's ex-wife Carolyn was being harassed. During shooting, Steckler suddenly got the inspiration to make a parody of the campyBatman television series instead. As a result, in the middle of straight crime drama action, the star of the movie steps into the closet with a previously minor character and they emerge costumed as "Rat Pfink" and "Boo Boo", parodies of Batman and Robin.[1]
Why the title is Rat Pfink a Boo Boo and not the more logical Rat Pfink and Boo Boo is the subject of speculation. According to legend, Rat Pfink and Boo Boo was indeed the intended title, but when the artist creating the titles made an error and rendered the "and" as "a", Steckler's budget would not stretch to the $50 needed to fix the mistake. According to Steckler, however, the choice of title was deliberate: "The real story is that my little girl, when we were shooting this one fight scene, kept chanting, 'Rat pfink a boo boo, rat pfink a boo boo ....' And that sounded great! But when I tell people the real story, they don't wanna hear it, so you better print the legend." [1]
The film is also known as:
Rat Fink a Boo Boo - USA (alternative spelling)
Rat Pfink and Boo Boo - USA (working title)
The Adventures of Rat Phink and Boo Boo - USA (DVD title)
Music
Ron Haydock performs four songs for the film: "I Stand Alone," "You Is A Rat Pfink," "Runnin' Wild," and "Go Go Party"
Jerry Saravia gave the film one star, saying: "It isn' t that the film is bad as much as it has nothing to offer. At least Steckler's first film, "The Incredible Strange Creatures, etc." had a nervous energy and real style. This film looks to have been made by eight-year-olds in their own backyard! Maybe that was the point but there are funnier bad movies than this one." [2]
A printed media review is located in Freese, Robert. In: Psychoholics Unanimous (San Diego, California, USA), Jerrica Lee, Vol. 63, April 2009, (MG).
This film is featured in the TV episode: "TCM Underground: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies/Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (#1.33)" (2008).
