Monday, April 27, 2020

Stargames (1998)

A bizarre low-budget science-fiction film. Lugos (Conrad Haden), a giant bug who wears a rug, wants to conquer the universe of course. The ruler of the universe is.... Tony Curtis! Or rather Curtis playing King Fendel. Fendel sends his grandson Kirk (Travis Clark) off to Earth for his own safety...

Meanwhile on Earth video gamer Brian (Trevor Clark) is hating bring dragged into the countryside by his parents. He gets lost in the woods after being chased by a bear and bumps into Kirk. Together with Kirk and his magic watch Brian then has to fight Lugos' somewhat inept warriors and finally Lugos himself...

The special effects are poor even for the period and most of the film consists of aimless running around in the woods. The acting is almost universally terrible and the prop and costume design awful. Kirk for example looks like he is a page boy in a Regency drama, Lugos' warriors look like Lego people.

In the tradition of low-budget trash movies everything is unintentionally hilarious... especially the hologram computer Happy (Daran Norris) which uses the avatar of a clown! The sheer strangeness makes the film worthwhile.