The Wake

The Return of Captain Invincible is a film that has sadly gone virtually unnoticed since its release. This is a film I bought used with nine other movies for five dollars. That haul contained the worst film of all time, The Jar (1984, director Bruce Toscano), but The Return of Captain Invincible, on the other hand, has become one of my favorites. It is a piece of campy cult-musical brilliance! Director Philippe Mora has shown the world what happens when Captain America meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Alan Arkin stars as Captain Invincible who as we see through black and white film reels in the films beginning, helped bail America out of trouble time and time again during the early part of the century. The Captain’s glory disappears, however, as during the McCarthy witch hunts he is accused of being disloyal. Dismayed, our hero takes flight from the country and becomes an alcoholic living in Australia. However, America again needs its hero, as the top secret hypno-ray has been stolen from the government by none other than the notorious Mr. Midnight (Christopher Lee), who of course intends to use it in a world domination plot. The Captain befriends an Australian detective named Patty, and together they seek out Mr. Midnight. The film contains some of the most hilarious songs ever created, such as “The Bullshit Song” and “Pick Your Poison” (actually penned by Richard O’Brien of Rocky Horror fame). Also, the film contains some downright cheesy ones, highlighted by “The Good Guys and the Bad Guys.” Kate Fitzpatrick (Patty) puts in a rather questionable performance, but that only serves to add camp value. Christopher Lee is superb as the narcissistic Mr. Midnight bent on world domination. Alan Arkin plays the ultra patriotic Captain excellently, making him, as intended, as likely a super-hero as your dad wearing red briefs outside his pants. Return contains a battle with vacuum cleaners which must be seen to be believed, and the same can be said about the deli-scene, which makes me laugh harder than any other scene in film history. Oh, and then there is the pit joke during the final showdown between Captain Invincible and Mr. Midnight. Also worth noting, is Captain Invincible originates from the intervention of voyeuristic aliens during his conception! Weird, huh? If you liked Rocky Horror Picture Show or Surf Nazis Must Die! You’ll be in heaven with this gut busting campy Australian film. Amazingly this 1983 film, which never made it to theaters because the distributor went bankrupt the day before its release, has been given a DVD release by Elite Entertainment. Get your hands on this!