''Lobster Man from Mars'' is a 1989

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Stanley Sheff Stanley Sheff is an American Hollywood-born director and screenwriter. He has worked in television, stage and screen. His collaboration with Orson Welles eventually led Sheff to direct and co-write the cult sci-fi feature '' Lobster Man from Mars ...

and starring

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

. The film is a spoof of

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

sci-fi films from the 1950s. It had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 1989.

Plot

Young filmmaker Stevie Horowitz eagerly awaits a meeting with big shot Hollywood film producer J.P. Shelldrake. Shelldrake has been desperately searching for a way to avoid problems with the IRS and unpaid millions owed them in back taxes. His brilliant yet overpaid accountant devises a scheme to allow the producer to write off the expenses of his next movie release, but only if the film is a box office flop. Armed with his foolproof plan, Shelldrake agrees to meet with Stevie and screen his film "Lobster Man from Mars" (financed by Stevie's jailed con man Uncle Joey). The plot resembles the premise of '' The Producers'' (1968) by

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

. Inside Shelldrake's private screening room, the film within the film begins. They watch the weird plot unfold: Mars suffers from a severe air leakage. The King of Mars commands the dreaded Lobster Man and his assistant Mombo, a gorilla wearing a space helmet, to pilot his

flying saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...

to Earth then steal its air. Once landed, the Lobster Man wastes no time transforming hapless victims into smoking skeletons. On a lonely road, John and Mary, a young and innocent couple discovers the hiding place of the flying saucer in a dark and mysterious cave. They attempt to warn the authorities but are ignored. Successfully contacting Professor Plocostomos, a plan is created to lure the Lobster Man to Mr. Throckmorton's Haunted House that just happens to be surrounded by boiling hot springs. Once lured, it is simply a matter of pushing the Lobster Man into the hot water where he will be boiled to death. The plan is interrupted by Colonel Ankrum and his troops. The house is shelled and destroyed, the Lobster Man flees to his cave, taking Mary with him. She manages to escape, but the Lobster Man follows. A wild chase ensues, but Professor Plocostomos uses the hot engine coolant from his overheated vehicle to drench Mombo causing his foamy demise. The chase concludes in

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

where the dreaded Lobster Man is tricked into walking into the

Old Faithful Geyser Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in 1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named. It is a highly predictable geothermal ...

and a steamy demise. The screening is over. Shelldrake cannot believe his good fortune to witness such a bad movie with potential to lose every cent invested in its distribution and promotion. He buys the production on the spot, but once in release it becomes a huge success and makes a huge profit sending Shelldrake straight to tax prison, with Stevie taking his place as the studio's new boy wonder.

Cast

as J.P. Shelldrake *

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

as Professor Plocostomos *

Deborah Foreman Deborah Lynn Foreman (born October 12, 1962) is an American photographer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the 1983 film ''Valley Girl'' opposite Nicolas Cage. She is also regarded as a scream queen and known for p ...

as Mary *

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti; October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast i ...

as Mr. Throckmorton *

Anthony Hickox Anthony Hickox (30 January 1959 – October 2023) was an English film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter. Hickox was best known for his work in the horror genre, with films like '' Waxwork'' and its sequel, '' Waxwork II: Lost in Ti ...

as John * Fred Holliday as Colonel Ankrum *

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

as The Narrator * S. D. Nemeth as Dreaded Lobster Man * Tommy Sledge as Himself *

M. G. Kelly Gary D. Sinclair (born 1952), known professionally as Michael Gary "M.G." Kelly and Machine Gun Kelly, is an American actor, disc jockey, and radio personality. In addition to hosting several radio programs over the years, Kelly has held severa ...

as Dick Strange *

Phil Proctor Philip George Proctor (born July 28, 1940) is an American actor and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Early life Proctor was born in Goshen, Indiana, on July 2 ...

as Lou *

Bobby Pickett Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938April 25, 2007), better known as Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was an American singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for co-writing and performing the 1962 smash hit novelty song "Monster Mash". Born i ...

as King of Mars / Astrologer * Steve Peterson as The Butler *

William Ackerman William Ackerman (born November 16, 1949) is an American guitarist and record producer who founded Windham Hill Records. Career Early years Ackerman was born in Germany. His adoptive father was a professor of English at Stanford University. ...

as Gas Station Attendant * Tim Haldeman as Marvin *

Jim Bentley James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently the first team manager at Southport F.C. Playing career Bentley debuted for Telford Unite ...

as Rufus * Skip Young as Mr. Zip * Dean Jacobson as Stevie Horowitz * Mindy Kennedy as Tammy *

as Space Bat / Brainex (voices)

Awards and nominations

* 1989: Grand Jury Prize – (nominated)

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, lobster_man_from_mars 1989 films 1989 comedy films 1989 independent films 1980s parody films 1980s science fiction comedy films American independent films American parody films American science fiction comedy films Mars in film 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films set in the Yellowstone National Park Films about alien invasions 1989 science fiction films English-language science fiction comedy films English-language independent films

Plot

Cast

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links