Spoof comedies made quite an impact on the movie industry. In the 80’s there was Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Student Bodies, Top Secret, Spaceballs, Saturday the 14th. In the 90’s, we got Hot Shots!, Loaded Weapon I, Fear of a Black Hat, Don’t Be a Menace, Dracula: Dead & Loving It. And the 2000’s started promising for the genre with Scary Movie, but took a nosedive with Not Another Teen Movie, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Date Movie, and Superhero Movie. The genre has died down in recent years simply because everyone was growing tired of them, but the popularity was huge at one time pulling in large profits. PANDEMONIUM falls in the spoof comedy category, but has gone forgotten with no DVD ever released or a VHS available for under $100.

In 1963, 5 cheerleaders were murdered (skewered by a javelin all at once) following a college National Championship football game by an unknown maniac. After a series of more bizarre murders, cheerleading camp temporarily closes only to reopen 20 years later and claim more victims. What follows is a series of scenes getting to know your new cheerleaders Mandy, Sandy, Candy, Randy, Andy, Glenn Dandy all joining a Cheerleading Camp run by Bambi. Carol Kane plays your leading virgin Candy, who has the telekinetic ability to move objects and people with her eyes.

Who could the killer be? Is it the escaped convict at the nearby prison? Could it be the escaped loon of the nearby asylum? Maybe the killer is Bambi? Canadian Mountie Cooper and his horse Bob (which crisscrosses between a real horse and a hilariously fake puppet in many scenes) are on the case to capture and reveal the cheerleader killer. I won’t reveal who the killer is here, but when the surprise actor is revealed it should not surprise you seeing who they play in a particular John Waters movie 1 year later.

The film overall is a spoof of Friday the 13th, and the character Candy is inspired by Carrie White of a rather popular Stephen King novel. Some of the jokes hit their mark and deliver the laughs while others can fall flat at times. Comedy works best in its dialogue and when characters are interacting. Line deliveries hit their mark pretty well and can bring big laughs; the scene inside the House of Bad Pies with the twin waitresses throws jokes at you quick and are mostly funny. I also got a kick out of an early airport scene spoofing Carrie where Candy’s mom is shaming her daughter and her “dirty pillows”. Where the comedy struggles at times is in its use of slapstick or comedy surrounding the actual killer. Characters get hit with something, escape a terrible fate unexpectedly, fly out a window, and scream ridiculously a little too often. But the jokes come quick, often, and work more times than fail.

The cast is stacked! Carol Kane, Eileen Brennan, Tom Smothers, Judge Reinhold, Marc McClure, Eve Arden, and Sydney Lassick are present. The lady who played Coach Steroid in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is in here. You’ll know Lenny Montana’s face when you see it from The Godfather. Remember the guy playing a rooster in Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams? He’s in here as well playing the same character. You know who else made an appearance in Nice Dreams? Pee-wee Herman. Not only is Pee-wee in Pandemonium but so is Pee-wee’s Playhouse actors Phil Hartman (in a small 15 second cameo) John Paragon (mekka lekka hi, mekka hiney ho!) Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne) and Edie McClurg (Hermit Hattie in The Pee-wee Herman Show). It’s amazing how many actors appeared in this that went on to become bigger names.

PANDEMONIUM is a family safe PG horror/comedy. The kills are goreless and focus more on the laughs and being acceptable for most ages. This is not really a bad thing, as not everything has to have an R rated tone. If you look at the original theatrical poster and the tagline “Finally, a movie that is totally taste free.” it is clear that somebody in charge had no idea how to market this. It’s hard tell if I actually recommend Pandemonium. It is a movie that I grew up watching for years, but for those who have never seen it, would you enjoy it? I enjoyed it, but do I enjoy it because of nostalgia? Tell you what. Pair this up with STUDENT BODIES (1981), put your silly hat on, enjoy it with as a 80’s horror/comedy themed double feature. NOW I recommend it.