The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

Juvenile Delinquents From Space!: This Offbeat Parody Combines Music With Sci-Fi
The cult oddity "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" is one of those rare movies that I suspect will be a complete love-it or hate-it phenomenon. Some will say the movie is a masterpiece of originality while others will decry it one of the worst movies ever made. Just watch, I fully stand by this prediction! For my taste, the movie is neither extreme. This low budget endeavor is an obvious labor of love to its makers and cast, it has some genuinely memorable moments, but it never really comes together as strongly as you might hope. I was really looking forward to "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" because the idea really appealed to my oddball sensibilities. I have been known to champion cult films of this type (Larry Blamire films, for example, come to mind, especially the sublimely silly The Trail of the Screaming Forehead). Mixing science fiction with musicals with sixties era juvenile delinquents, there is certainly no lack of imagination in director Paul Bunnell's vision. But the...

Ghastly, yes, and a lot of fun, too!
THE GHASTLY LOVE OF JOHNNY X is an extremely entertaining movie, hard to categorize, yet always engaging. Right away we see the main characters are from some distant planet, setting the mood for what is to come. The fun really begins when we discover inner turmoil within Johnny's band of delinquent pals, banished to Earth because they won't play by the rules at home. One of them, the gorgeous and headstrong Bliss, has abandoned the gang and stolen Johnny's Resurrection Suit, and he wants it back. Some cult favorite actors add weight to the proceedings, including Reggie Bannister, Paul Williams and Kevin McCarthy, in his final role. Creed Bratton of THE OFFICE is unrecognizable in his bizarre and very funny turn, and even sweet Kate Maberly gets into the action before things are over.

If you've caught this wacky gem at one of its film festival screenings, then this is the dvd you've been waiting for. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and check it out! I myself was -...

Well that was definitely a thing
A loving homage to both the low-budget B&W SF thrillers of the 1950s AND the low-budget JD films of the 1950s as well as, I guess, Stephen Sondheim? My wife and I watched the first ten minutes of this with our mouths open, thinking, "What the heck are we watching?"

Any movie that has Reggie Bannister, Paul Williams and Kevin McCarthy (wearing a Devo Energy Dome-inspired hat) in supporting roles gets credit just for existing.

This movie has better acting, special effects and cinematography than "Plan Nine From Outer Space", better continuity than "Sharknado", and better dialog than anything ever written by an army of trained chipmunks.

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