Movie Notes: Gas-s-s

January 12th, 2009

0 stars

Starring Bob Corff, Elaine Giftos, Talia Shire
Directed by Roger Corman

Synopsis

The military accidentally releases gas that kills everyone on earth over the age of 25. Hippies and youth culture take over.

The Good

• Long hairs, counter culture, drugs, and do whatever you want take over the screen. There’s a real loosey-goosey, retro everything on display here, the hairstyles alone are worth gawking at.
• Some daffiness at seeing some stars who would later become famous: Cindy Williams plays a pregnant rock fan, Ben Vereen a Malcom X admiring cowboy, and Talia Shire as an airhead.

The Bad

• Also contains all the worst elements of the sixties — nonsense, random elements “arrow feather?!”, and drug inspired visuals passed off as profound, and the thought that the trip had to be taken even if the destination was unknown.
• In the absence of any authority, the entire world becomes a playground of youth, with rock concerts and road trips, anarchic looting by high school students, and Lord of the Flies style disagreements about what the future world should be like. And in true sixties fashion, there are no credible solutions.
• I got bored about 2/3 the way through and decided doing the dishes would be more fun.

Conclusion

This film is mildly amusing from a historical standpoint as it captures the youthful optimism that perhaps the sixties revolution would lead somewhere better, but film-wise it’s a muddled mess and a total waste of time. Avoid at all costs, man.

IMDB: Gas!
Wikipedia: Gas-s-s-s
Rotten Tomatoes: Gas-s-s-s