theskulI42 With heedless energy, low-budget freedom and a youthful exuberance befitting its characters, Gas-s-s might be the greatest apocalyptic thriller ever made, specifically because it's neither apocalyptic nor a thriller.The film functions in much the same way Mike Judge's Idiocracy did 35 years later, very funny films that depict silly futures that, if considered rationally, are terrifying and on-point.The film details (well, sort of) the country after a mysterious gas kills everyone over the age of 25, and we follow a select group (including Ben Vereen and Cindy Williams) as they attempt to live, survive and make hilarious non-sequiturs among the southwest desert.The film is a laundry list of psychedelia, societal breakdown, cultural criticism and a lot of silly, clever wordplay. In addition to being spot-on about some of its criticisms about the immaturities and problems a youth-led culture would have (and would be a very relevant critique about all the hippies and their ilk of the time, functioning almost as the voice of reason), it moves quickly and throws joke after joke after joke at the screen, and a lot of it, though delivered and moved on from so quickly that you're barely given the time to comprehend it, and it's just hugely entertaining through its short running time.I've now seen three Corman films, and loved two of them, with this one neck and neck with A Bucket of Blood for my favorite.Don't make me choose.{Grade: B+ (8.5/10) / #8 (of 25) of 1971}

Skragg It's hard to describe this film without just making a list of all the things that (I think) work. The cop in the confessional, the Elaine Giftos character taking over her own rape, Ben Vereen and Bud Cort as would-be spaghetti western-type cowboys, Cindy Williams falling in love with the jukebox, the doctor who gets mad at her for refusing to have the baby, the Hell's Angels guarding a golf course, and turning it into a Vietnam allegory, the Indians taking back America, and sarcastically offering souvenirs for free, the leader of the commune, who was funny but without being YET ANOTHER stereotyped hippie, God and Jesus having a comical father-son talk.I don't know Robert Corff from anything else (that I can name), but he was very good in his role. Tally Coppola (Talia Shire) had less to do than the others, but she was fine too. Like at least one poster here, I just don't see how it's "dated" (of course, I almost never listen to "dates well" and "dates badly" when it comes to entertainment).

Woodyanders This gloriously gaga dippy hippie early 70's end-of-the-world counterculture cinematic artifact deals with a man-made airborne germ warfare virus which accelerates the aging process, thus killing off everybody who's twenty-five and older. Only young kids are left to inherit the world and maintain some semblance of civilization. Naturally, in the hands of these crazy, carefree, amoral, unsupervised, and totally uninhibited youths all-out anything-goes anarchy, hedonism, and pandemonium soon become widespread: California degenerates into a fascist Nixonian police state, football-inspired brutality reigns supreme in Texas, greasy bikers enforce conservative moral rectitude on the golf links (!), and horse-riding, pistol-packing psycho cowboy bandit car thieves terrorize the dusty back-roads of America.Directed with customary gusto by legendary exploitation movie maestro Roger Corman, adopted from a bold, biting script written by the great, ever-underrated George Armitage (who later wrote and directed the terrific "Miami Blues"), further enhanced by Ron Dexter's garishly excessive, heavy on the bright lurid colors and flashy psychedelic visuals cinematography and a groovy, fuzz-tone and saxophone blastin' lowdown blue-eyed soul rock'n'roll score by Country Joe and the Fish, this breezy, irreverent, playfully mordant black comedy riot satirizes both the establishment and the counterculture alike, biker pictures, brooding Gothic horror films (Edgar Allen Poe appears as a grimly philosophical Greek chorus astride a black chopper with Eleanor as his motorcycle mama!), and apocalyptic sci-fi cinema in general. Robert Corff and Elaine Giftos are quite affable as the increasingly confused leads, while Ben Vereen as an angry black militant, Cindy Williams as a chirpy, pregnant ditz, Talia Shire as a daffy, rock music-loving flower child, Bud Cort as a smarmy longhair, and Armitage as the deranged Billy the Kid contribute deliciously grotesque supporting performances. A wonderfully kooky and cockeyed one-of-a-kind delight.

Newski_the_Hippie Faster than you can ask if police brutality is a sin, a poisonous gas has killed everyone over twenty five. With fascist football jocks, young cocky police officers, and some capitalist golf course workers all trying to stop them, a group of hippies struggle to live in peace.This movie you have to see to believe. Not only is it an almost orgasmic counter culture vision of peace, it is among the best absurdest comedies to date. It proves that Roger Corman should be the one directing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Film.This film is loaded with off the wall dialog and constant political satire that, instead of being dated, reflects the views and attitudes of the time. Its part road comedy, part post apocalyptic, but mostly its just a bunch of insanity. You can watch this movie three times and not catch all the jokes in this humor packed film.Be warned, this film supports a way of life called "communist anarchism". Communist anarchism is based on a community that is based on direct democracy, with no economic standards. Rather, everyone does what they can and get the same in return. It is a highly idealistic vision, and of course this is a highly idealistic movie. But don't we need some better ideals? Better things to hope for for the future?