Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills

Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills
Directed by Philippe Mora
Produced by Bruce Critchley
Written by Philippe Mora
Starring Beverly D'Angelo
Aron Eisenberg
Barry Humphries
Brion James
Music by Roy Hay
Cinematography Walter Bal
Edited by Ross Guidici
Production
company
Distributed by Troma Team Video
Release date
  • January 24, 1996 (1996-01-24)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills, made by Ptereo Pictures Inc. and Troma Entertainment in 1995, is a live-action farcical horror film, written and directed by Philippe Mora. The film stars Beverly D'Angelo, Aron Eisenberg and Brion James. Australian entertainer Barry Humphries has a cameo, playing three parts in the same scene: a grocery store clerk, the store manager and a "lady shopper" who is clearly his stage character Dame Edna Everage.[1] The film had a limited cinematic release in January 1996 and was released on video by Troma in 1997.

Plot

Paleontologist Dick Chandler (Brad Wilson) discovers a dinosaur egg, prompting an eccentric witchdoctor named Salvador Dali (Brion James) to put a curse on Chandler's wife, Pixie (Beverly D'Angelo), causing her to slowly and intermittently transform into a pterodactyl. After Pixie lays an egg, Dick tracks down Salvador Dali and apologizes, and the curse is lifted.[2]

Cast

  • Beverly D'Angelo as Pixie Chandler
  • Aron Eisenberg as Tommy Chandler
  • Barry Humphries as Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager
  • Brion James as Salvador Dali / Sam
  • Sharon Martin as Jenny Chandler
  • Stephen McHattie as Dr. Egbert Drum
  • Aleks Shaklin as Dr. Zavenbrot
  • Ron Soble as Pablo Picasso
  • Eddie Wilde as Janensch
  • Brad Wilson as Dick Chandler
  • Moon Zappa as Susie
  • Carmine Zozzora as Dr. Harold Harold
  • Jonathan Ball as Officer Othello
  • Cabiria Cardinale as Karen / Mrs. Goldberg
  • Holley Chant as Mrs. Hoffman
  • Francesca Hilton as Helene

Music

The film's music was composed by Roy Hay, the guitarist/keyboardist of British band Culture Club.

Critical reception

Critics panned Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills for being dull and unfunny. Variety magazine's review declared "all the actors ... are defeated by the drab material". The film was also criticized for being a "classic case of a title in search of a movie", unable to decide whether it seeks to spoof Los Angeles lifestyles or the science fiction genre.[3]

Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C- and noted that "silly isn’t necessarily funny, and after an hour and a half of Bev’s squawking and stooping, you may find yourself wishing this species of movie were extinct."[4]

The Dinosaur Filmography book describes the film as "a wildly uneven hodgepodge of sight gags, satire, and silliness, with just enough cleverness and intelligence to avoid laying an egg."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Paul Matthew St Pierre (30 September 2004). A Portrait of the Artist as Australian: L'Oeuvre bizarre de Barry Humphries. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 284–. ISBN 978-0-7735-7162-4.
  2. 1 2 Mark F. Berry (16 August 2005). The Dinosaur Filmography. McFarland. pp. 336–. ISBN 978-1-4766-0674-3.
  3. ↑ Harvey, Dennis. "Review: 'Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills'". Variety Media. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. ↑ D'Ángelo, Mike. "Video Review: 'Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills'". EW.com. Time Inc. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
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