B-Movie Review: When Nature Calls

When Nature Calls (1985)

Synopsis:

A burned out construction worker takes his family to live in the wilderness.

Tim's Opinion:

I have found Troma movies to be hit or miss. This one... I'm not sure. It was certainly bizarre. It did have us laughing at some parts, and wondering WTF at others. One of the WTF moments was certainly Bambi falling in love with the bear. I mean Bambi the teenage daughter, not Bambi the cute little fawn from the Disney movie. And then the scene with the Indian wrestling with the cougar. I'm guessing the cougar was upset that the Huskies won the Apple Cup once again. In addition there are the weird, inexplicable interruptions by Morey Amsterdam and Fred Blassie.

Aside from the theme song, a lot of the music sounded like something from a Disney nature documentary. It's only the bad jokes that make it clear that it is a Troma movie, not Disney. Actually a lot of the gags made it look like a bad Zucker Brothers movie in the same vein as Naked Gun or Airplane.

This movie was good for a few laughs, but I've definitely seen better comedies. Although I have to admit it is one of the better Troma movies that I've seen, but I have seen better.

Lisa's Opinion:

When Nature Calls, aka The Outdoorsters, made in 1985 by the crew from Troma, is a spoof off of the old 1970s "get back to nature movies" such as Swiss Family Robinson or Grizzly Adams. Actually, they are not exactly like the Swiss Family Robinson or Grizzly Adama. The daughter, by the name of Bambi, has some strange tastes in dates. In fact, she literally dates animals as it is revieled in a relationship she has with a Grizzly Bear. Little Billy, a suscriber to Capitalist Pig magazine still continues his obsession with money as he tries to undertake many money making ventures in the middle of nowhere. Even the dog, Squirt, develops a taste for tranquilizers at the end. 

Meanwhile, several people are intervied to find out why this family decided to leave. We have a psychologist who reveals how disturbed Bambi and the rest of the family is while he challengess the interviewer to a wrestling match. We have Morey Amsterdam as just being himself, and even a brother of the Native American friend of the family, Weejun as well as the cougar's ex girfriend who instist that the cougar was not stalking Weejun. 

Just when you are glued to a climatic scene in the movie, it goes to intermission. Like the usual intermission clips, the food dances on a stage and may make you think, "Hmmmmm, good idea, let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat". However, as the clip progresses and various drugs present themselves and the food, especially the hot dogs, engage in certain unsavory activities, you may end up thinking "On Second though, let's NOT go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat. I take it that they are really unsavory". So, I take it as a lesson that it's best to bring your own.

Overall, this movie has me thinking, " Did they have a little too much city air or too much wilderness air when they wrote this?"