Haunted Honeymoon (1986)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Gene Wilder's Haunted Honeymoon is an honourable failure. The film is written and directed by Wilder and it contains a-lot of the same visual and comedic motifs associated with his earlier collaborations with Mel Brooks. Whilst I understood what Wilder was going for I felt the film missed the mark both in its comedy and plot. The film was incredibly dull, after watching the film I can barely remember any genuinely hilarious scenes.Gene Wilder plays Larry Abbot a neurotic horror radio presenter, who returns to his family castle where he grew up after getting engaged. He decides to take his fiancée Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) back home for the marriage. To cure Larry of his neuroticism his uncle decides to scare the irrational fear he has, out of him. There's also a badly underutilised murder mystery plot that's going on in the background, as someone wants to murder Larry.Gene Wilder is as always his charming self, he carries this movie, and I would hate to of seen this without him, because it would of been a total disaster. The rest of the cast is pretty forgettable. Dom DeLuise seemed like he wasn't interested in the film and that came off in his performance. Terence Stamp was wasted in the film, he had very little screen-time. Gilda Radner had a decent amount of chemistry with Wilder but nothing noteworthy.In the end this film, has many scripting issues, it's a film that want's to be its own film, whilst having the same comedic tone as a Mel Brooks film. The plot barely makes any sense and even when it does it's not interesting, and to be brutally honest this film felt like the unfunny b- roll material left out of Young Frankenstein. The only reason I would recommend this film is for Gene Wilder who shows again why he was an incredible on-screen talent.

"Haunted Honeymooon" is the type of movie that you sit down to watch because of the cast that were starring in the movie. I mean, with the likes of Gene Wilder and Dom DeLuise at the helm, you know that you will be in for a good time and a fun movie. Or so it would appear......However, "Haunted Honeymooon" turned out to be a mere mediocre movie, weighed down by a very generic and bland storyline that just seemed to be too random at times. It was as if they had filmed various things independently of each other and just cut it together for making a single movie.Now, it is true about the cast, as they function as great bait to lure in the audience. And true to what we have previous seen from Gene Wilder and Dom DeLuise, then they perform exactly as to be expected, and they do so with their normal flair and showmanship. But they alone did not carry the movie just between the two, as the rest of the cast also really did great jobs in bringing their characters and role to life on the screen.While this is a comedy, there was surprisingly little throughout the entire movie that will actually make you laugh out loud. Smirks and small chuckles is what is mustered most of the time.This is not the best of Gene Wilder movies as both actor and director, not by a long shot. Sure, it is worth a watch, but just don't expect to be blown away by anything you see here.

A notorious flop during its initial release, it was the third and last pairing of Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, and sadly her last film. It's basically a spoof of the Red Skelton "Whistling" series, casting Wilder as a cowardly host of a 1940's radio mystery show who ends up involved in murder himself. He's heading home with fiancée Radner where the greedy family awaits and family matriarch Dom de Luise fears for "her" life. It's another road to the old dark house where every cliché dating back to the silent era is used to create chills and laughter. De Luise is actually two characters, one where "she" turns to the camera in the opening and says, "It's not what you think!"While de Luise won awards for "Worst Actress", he's actually very funny, performing amusing version of "Balling the Jack" with Gilda who never got that one film role to rise above standard comedy. Radner is likable, perky and untraditionally attractive. Why Mel Brooks or Woody Allen never grabbed her up is a mystery in itself. Add on Jonathan Pryce as a sinister members of the family and other looking eccentrics, and you've got the recipe for old fashioned popcorn movie. No modern classic, but not the disaster that it's been labeled as.

I mean I honestly love both Gilda & Gene on this, they showed great chemistry for each other regardless if they were a couple or not. However I didn't find the whole storyline funny in fact wasn't that great to be honest with ya.I can't tell you how many times I got annoyed when Gene Wilder's kept asking too much to anyone if his tie was 'straight '. Whoever made him say this should've at least make him minimize it, it just hurts your head so much!Dom Deluise looked quite good in dressing up as a drag queen but he kept popping up as if he played the hero in which he didn't, he's meant to be a supporting character like! It was just annoying whenever someone said a line, he interrupted always! I think they should've picked someone else for the supporting role. I respect him deeply as an actor but he didn't do well in this movie!I didn't like what Gildas character wedding dress turned out to be, it looked like a white mother of the bride outfit then an actual bride outfit. The wardrobe department should really have gotten a better dress then Gilda would look like an actual bride for her character.The reason I came upon this film only because of Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner really. The rest can forget about it!