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Back when I used to work at Troma (don’t ask), the guys over at Troma Team Video held one title up in the highest regard- Fatty Drives the Bus. We watched it at work one day (that’s pretty much all we did) and were all on the floor laughing our damn heads off. But these were the guys that had seen the worst of the worst, the connoisseurs of truly bad cinema. Could anyone else love it? Probably not. Fatty is intentionally bad- cheaply made, horribly shot, and with muddled, unintelligible sound at parts. The plot makes no sense, the acting is all over the place, and the music is cheaply done yet catchy. It also may be the only Troma film in existance that has no nudity or gore. But it’s easily one of their best pick-ups.
The plot is best summed up in the slow opening scroll-
This is the story about how Satan changed into a Chicago tour bus guide
and rose to earth in order to get the souls of people taking the tour
that day because he knew the bus was going to crash and everyone was
going to die and all the while he, along with everyone on the tour,
was being pursued by Jesus Christ.
This is a true story.
It’s a weird experience, to put it lightly. But what would you expect from a film that starts with a montage of clocks? The characters on the tour bus are memorable and fantastic, particuarly Mr. and Mrs. Zodsworth, an eccentric rich couple that are constantly trying to kill each other. There’s just so much to love in this film. There’s a scientist who is haunted by dogs he killed in the name of science a decade ago. There’s a “gal” named Bridget who’s actually a guy with a Jersey accent who wears a wig and dress, who constantly talks about picking up men. Jesus takes public transportation around the ciy while his funky theme song plays. The film is just too fantastic for most people to understand.
It’s also remarkably witty and has a ton of quotable lines.
“Hello Satan. Want a donut?”
“Are squirrels rapists?”
“I wanna punch you in the throat because I hate you so much.”
Grab yourself your alcoholic beverage of choice, click here to put it on your Netflix queue, and sit back and prepare to experience the finest in bad cinema.