8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Killer hand-puppets? Smells like delicious B to us!, June 25, 2007
This review is from: Hobgoblins (DVD)
Where to begin? Hobgoblins is the prototypical B movie. The killers were litteraly hand puppets who growled and apparently bit people but who's mouths never moved. Beautiful! And it was an 80's B, so the characters were so nerdy and annoying, we were rooting for them to fall victim to the terrifying hand puppets. Awful acting doesn't scratch the surface for these losers. But it takes special people to enjoy this kind of humor. And Sid the Elf and all our fans are those kind of people. Granted trying to follow the plot for this one would be about as easy as finding the Bermuda Triangle, but thats what B is all about. If it makes sense then it makes it to the big screen, which we have no interest in. If you want to see a real movie please don't go near this one! But if you are a real man then pick this one up and subject yourself to 88 minutes of hand puppets doing nothing more then violent shaking. This one gets a true recomendation from Sid himself. Please don't pay too much attention to the negative reviews for this one. Obviously B is way over their head.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hoooooobgoooblins!, August 5, 2010
DISCLAIMER: I hate "Hobgoblins" with the passion of a thousand exploding suns.
It's kind of like "Gremlins," except it's not funny, not cute, not exciting, and the creatures are ridiculous low-budget puppets that just sit around cackling. Pretty much the only way this movie is tolerable is if you get together with a bunch of friends, drink a lot, and make fun of it in a darkened room, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" style.
Kevin (Tom Bartlett) takes a guard job at a disused movie studio, in the hopes of impressing his whiny girlfriend Amy (Paige Sullivan). His supervisor Mr. McCreedy (Jeffrey Culver) warns him to never go into certain sections of the studio, but of course he does -- and he ends up releasing a bunch of grotesque alien "hobgoblins" on the world.
And of course, the hobgoblins all head RIGHT to the house where Kevin's friends are having a very tame party, and start trying to hypnotize them into killing themselves. No, we never find out WHY they do that, they just DO. And when Amy is hypnotized into becoming a stripping skank at Club Scum, her friends all rush out to rescue her.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up the plot. "Hobgoblins" is pretty much a disaster from the first scenes, in which we're treated to a guard's fantasies of performing rock'n'roll in front of an... empty auditorium. Yeah, pretty low budget in this movie.
After that, everything goes dramatically downhill, as we're treated to nonsensical fight scenes (the infamous rake battle), stupid dialogue ("Must be a new dance... pretty kinky"), giant plotholes (apparently having your whole body engulfed in flames just leaves you with a few arm abrasions) and just... general badness. I mean, what kind of antagonists are cackling alien "hobgoblins" who just sit there and cackle? Sure they can hypnotize you into dying, but we never know WHY they do it.
And the end is the world part -- that is when Rick Sloane decides, "Eff continuity, logic and plausibility! I want BIG BOOMS!" As a result, the last few scenes in this movie (which seem to take HOURS) are just one long string of random explosions. And no, we never find out where the bombs come from! They're just there! There's no sense in it all! Suddenly there's just bombs everywhere and they blow up and take the logic with them.
And the characters aren't any better, really -- they basically consist of a loser, a prude, a loser, a slut, and a thickheaded jerk. All of them are obnoxiously two-dimensional, and the closest we have to character development is Amy deciding to become the shallow sex-mad hairsprayed slut she secretly longs to be, just like her buddy Daphne. Yeah... whatever.
"Hobgoblins" is one of those movies that leaves you sitting in the bathtub, sobbing hysterically as you try to wash away the residue of stupidity. Unless you have friends and lots of alcohol nearby, avoid this one like the plague.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cult Classic, Ugly DVD Transfer, April 20, 2008
This review is from: Hobgoblins (DVD)
A great shlock masterpiece that is over ridiculded and too easily tossed aside. Well worth the $7 price tag, this ugly, grainy DVD transfer will have you howling all night long.
The sets are impressive (abandonned movie lot) and the monsters are farily amusing. The bouncer halfway through is none other than Maynard from Pulp Fiction. You won't be dissapointed, don't be fooled by the trashy cover art, this is indeed the 1988 classic. A great six-pack pizza party watch.
Get your copies now, because Hobgoblins part 2 is set to be released sometime in mid-2008...
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