Synopsis
The movie consists of three odd and strange tales that each teach a different lesson.
Really Weird Tales
Cast
Joe Flaherty John Candy Sheila McCarthy Christopher Januszczak Don Lake Wayne Robson Shirley Douglas Patricia Hamilton Eric Keenleyside Clifton Maslen Catherine O'Hara John Hemphill Jayne Eastwood Paul Soles David McIlwraith Madeleine Atkinson Paul-Emile Frappier Debra McGrath Cindy Patterson Barbara Wheeldon Philip Williams Martin Short Donald Harron Olivia d'Abo Deborah Hancock Astrid Falconi Georgia Steele Bob Lem Bob Bainborough Show All…
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Releases by Date
TV
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USA
02 Feb 1987
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Canada
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Canada
02 Feb 1987
- TV
USA
04 Oct 1986
- TV
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john candy's tale: neutral weird (kinda boring tho)
catherine o'hara's tale: actually a good weird with unexpected twist
martin short's tale: chaotic weird but sad/tragic ending
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Like a not nearly as good comedic take on Twilight Zone. I definitely enjoyed the Martin Short one the most.
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An uncanny precursor to Eerie, Indiana, but with (slightly) more adult themes, Really Weird Tales is a trio of stories, each featuring an odd twist. Hosted by Joe Flaherty, who inserts himself into each segment's universe, it focuses on the strange rather than the creepy, all laced with satirical humor. Featuring SCTV alums, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, and Martin Short, the film finds the nature of its talents and uses them well, but there's still an inconsistency from one short to the next.
Other than the middle segment, where O'Hara plays a woman incapable of love since she's afflicted with a condition that causes anyone she has loving feelings towards to blow up, the aesthetic and tone are much…
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SCTV>>>>>>>>>MADtv>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SNL
Catherine O'Hara's segment is the best, easily. Wish she had at least one starring vehicle in the 80s, she could've carried one easily. Choosing to focus on versatile character roles in quality flicks like After Hours and Beetlejuice she did more than alright obviously (them Home Alone $$$ too). I haven't seen Baby Boom (1987) nor do I plan to but I can tell you by looking at the poster if you switched Diane Keaton with Catherine O'Hara it'd probably look 💯 less like grey soup.
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Joe Flaherty co-wrote these three segments, and provides the hosting. He's the kind of actor I've seen in a hundred things, but if asked I could probably only name two or three things he was in. The first that came to mind when I popped this tape in was Freaks And Geeks, where be played the father of the main freak and geek. I liked his performance in that show. He was the right blend of aloof and astute. In this outing he brings the ham with a side of cheese.
In the first tale, Martin Short has a run in with a mad scientist and his creations. There is only so much Martin Short I can take, because he's…
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Astonishingly bad despite having a who's who of SCTV cast members and writers. It's a very Canadian, campy take on The Twilight Zone but it just doesn't have any big laughs. Each segment has a different SCTV star but it kicks off badly with Martin Short as a lounge singer who finds himself embroiled with female robots. It gets better in the second tale with John Candy as an alien real-estate scammer - yes, I just wrote that. John Candy can make anything entertaining but even this one falls flat. Lastly, the underrated Catherine O'Hara almost saves the movie as some kind of Carrie-clone who has a nasty habit of telepathically blowing up people and things she loves - easily the best of the lot. Joe Flaherty of SCTV hosts the stories as a sort of dim-witted Rod Serling.
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This is a really weird entry. Everywhere I look, this is listed as a movie, but if you watch the thing, it's very clearly a compilation of three television episodes with intros and end credits and everything. Digging deeper, it looks like those episodes originally aired on HBO as an anthology series with an extremely short run. Either way, filmed media was in the midst of Anthology Fever at this point in the '80s so they were probably content to push this out by whatever means necessary.
This particular anthology is a take on the Twilight Zone/Tales from the Darkside mold as run through the comedic filter of a whole buncha SCTV alumni. Despite that, it maintains a pretty equal balance between…
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I'd often see this in the video store and held off watching it even though it had everything I wanted. Horror anthologies had quite a renaissance when this was made (Tales From the Darkside, Hitchhiker, the 80's Twilight Zone revival) and this is a perfect comedic take on the form by the masters of comedy (Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara, John Candy, and Martin Short) getting the ironic twist endings so perfect I was laughing out loud. Some people don't like this but I really feel you have to have an awareness of horror anthologies with their ludicrous, often disappointing twists to better appreciate it.
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What a great, wacky and weird anthology of stories. Each tale is like an over long SCTV sketch (easy to imagine with the collection of SCTV Alumni) but not too long to over stay its welcome. I may be biased due to my exccesive love and admiration for Second City and especially SCTV, but if you love weird and bizarre black comedy, this might fill that appetite.
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This is three episodes of Joe Flaherty’s sci-fi anthology series. Each episode is hosted by Flaherty and starring SCTV alumni. The stories are all great and have fun characters. I think the biggest laughs for me were in the Catherine O’Hara segment.
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In the mid-80's Joe Flaherty had a VERY short lived comedic Twilight Zone show featuring a lot of SCTV cast and writers.
The results are pretty fascinating. The 80's TV horror aesthetic adds a LOT (especially the sparse score and grimy aesthetic matched up against the neon colored costume design.)
I can't say they're all winners (especially the Catherine O'Hara episode) but they're very worthwhile and watchable. The Martin Short episode in particular has some prime Short material (the running joke of him ordering a Pousse Cafe is still a running joke between my Dad and I!) Also we need more anthology shows like this, funny, a little creepy, a little horny and not at all self-important.
RIP Joe Flaherty, this show should have gone on for 10 seasons.