"COMIN' AT YA!": ARTICLE 6

Unfortunately, I have no idea where this article appeared and I can only guess that it ran sometime between August and October 1981. The piece is mostly critical of the plot of "Comin' At Ya!" yet it seems to praise the 3-D effects. The author of the article is Jerry McCulley.

'COMIN' AT YA': DYNAMIC BUT DUMB
Innovative 3-D effects wasted on poor story

"Comin' At Ya!"; directed by Ferdinando Baldi; with Tony Anthony, Victoria Abril; presented in Dimensionscope 3-D at the Americana Theater. Of all of the glitzy technological innovations in film presentation that came out of the 1950s, only one never really found its place in the modern movie theater: 3-D. Widescreen is taken for granted and stereo sound is no longer a theater luxury. Even Cinerama, ostensibly abandoned a decade ago, has left its mark, its last vestiges surviving in the form of 70mm showcase presentations.

But 3-D has been all but forgotten, buried beneath a heap of discarded paper glasses and such forgettable depth-illusioned schlock as "Bwana Devil," "House Of Wax" and "It Came From Outer Space." The thrills of having spears and bodies seemingly catapulted into one's lap never quite overcame the eyestrain and headaches of 3-D's insidiously shifting focus. And so in the last decade, cinemas third dimension has been regulated to the netherworld of late night revivals.

But in the movie business there is perhaps only one axiom that stands firm: the more things change, the more they stay the same. And however unlikely, 3-D is back, revived for thrill-hungry audiences by an even more unlikely source; an obscure one-time spaghetti Western hero named Tony Anthony (the "Stranger" series and "Blindman").

"Comin' At Ya!" is the first major studio release in 3-D in over 20 years, but that's only half the story. It's also the first Italian Western to receive major American distribution since the early '70s, and therein lies the rub. One can't help but suspect that Anthony, as cleverly manic and shrewd a producer/writer/director/actor/entrepeneur as is likely to be found on either side of the Atlantic, has pulled off one of the grandest acts of self-promotion in motion picture history with "Comin' At Ya!" And given his sheer, bald-faced audacity, one can almost forgive his spotty results. Almost.

Quite expectedly, "Comin' At Ya!" really isn't a good film, perhaps even God-awful. But then there seems to be some sore of tradition to maintain in this regard; perhaps someday we will be graced with a totally respectable 3-D film. But then someday perhaps Slim Pickens will win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Conversely, the 3-D effects in "Comin' At Ya" do work, often gloriously so ... and with nary a headache. Giddy fantasies abound when considering its potential in the hands of a true wizard of cinematic movement, a Sam Fuller or Steven Spielberg.

Guided by Anthony and director Ferdinando Baldi, the system turns "Comin' At Ya!" into little more than a special effects test reel. As in nearly every other 3-D film, whatever plot exists serves merely as a vehicle to move from one jolting thrust at your nose to the next. Ultimately, the emaciated storyline of "Comin' At Ya!" becomes almost a mockery; each of its most startling tricks is replayed - a la Monday Night Football - as the final credits roll. And the jolts are myriad; bats and flaming arrows zoom most convincingly past the viewer's ear; guns and searing pokers hover menacingly over their collective noses.

Never mind that the story - Anthony pursuing his kidnapped bride and the sibling psychotic white-slavers who nabbed her - is a grab-bag of poorly executed spaghetti Western cliches. It's the ooh-and aah inspiring illusions that are "Comin' At Ya!"s sole reason for being ... even if at times the film tends to hit you over the head with them, no pun intended.

"Comin' At Ya!" with its arrows-past-the-head and sheer gut-level provacations, is simultaneously as thrilling, vacuous and socially redeeming as a carnival thrill ride. Like any good roller coaster, "Comin' At Ya!" is pornography for the senses.