National Lampoon's Movie Madness

R

Released Apr 23, 1982

1h 29m

Comedy

List

0%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

19%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

This anthology film is composed of three segments parodying Hollywood clichés. In the first, a lawyer (Peter Riegert) has a midlife crisis, quits his job, leaves his wife and has an affair with a teen girl (Diane Lane) -- all in the name of personal growth. In the second, a stripper (Ann Dusenberry) is raped by a group of businessmen and becomes head of the corporation to get revenge. In the third, two inept policemen (Robby Benson, Richard Widmark) hunt a serial killer (Christopher Lloyd).

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Oct 17

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Watch National Lampoon's Movie Madness with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Fandango at Home, or buy on Fandango at Home.

Marc Z

I am not sure this was ever funny. It, definitely, is not funny now and has not aged well. Peter Rigert is always interesting to watch, but he is not well utilized here. Diane Lane as his 14 year old girlfriend would never today. I can overlook that for the sake of comedy-if it was funny. A lot of familiar faces here from the world of movies and television. There are some funny lines, but they are asides, rather than part of the main film. There is so intelligence to the script, and the language used. I am also not sure why it is called Movie Madness. The title does not seem to relate to the anthology of tales contained in the film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There were no big laughs in this film, however, there were several highly enjoyable moments in each segment. The third segment, "The Municipalians," had me laughing all the way through. The movie could have been much funnier if the premises of the first two segments had been even remotely believable. Unfortunately, neither the plot nor the characters ring true, so we're left with a half dozen or so funny jokes spread out over two half hour periods. The third segment has more or less believable characters and plot, and lacks only a couple of big jokes to make it a comedy classic.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Three short films: "Growing Yourself", "Success Wanted" & "Municipalians" crammed into one feature. The first two were very funny, but the last one was a hit and miss. The shorts are meant to lampoon Family Drama's, Revenge Stories and Cop Movies. I thought it was pretty funny. Well, the first two shorts were. The last one was a dud.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I managed to watch this film a while back on TV. I found National Lampoon's Movie Madness or Goes to the Movies to be a very weak film and bemusing most of the time. It felt like there was no effort in it whatsoever. There are three stories which I cannot remember them thoroughly, but here goes nothing. One story involves a guy and nothing really happens. The second one was comical with a gold digger and an unfaithful man. Finally, the third one shows how being a young rookie naÃ¯ve cop sucks. There was scarce laughing in all of these although I liked the second story had its moments. Movie Madness has been forgotten and will stay forgotten. I will give it another shot if the opportunity comes.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sometimes National Lampoon make some great movies like Animal House & Vacation & sometimes they have some real shitfests like European Vacation & Loaded Weapon. Movie Madness isn't as horrid as some of their stuff gets but it is a bit of a mess that its comedy often falls silent. It's too bad because it has a really good cast. Divided into 3 segments the last is probably the best (but that might be because I was getting a bit over tired & was more susceptible to its idiocy) w/ Robby Benson as a rookie cop who hasn't been jaded by the street crime yet & Christopher Lloyd who kills & leaves a copy of his driver's license @ the scene of the crime. It makes up for the weakness of the previous two segments but I do have to admit that Teresa Ganzel & Ann Dusenberry's sugar boobies don't make those a complete wash either

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I take back saying that Slime City is the worst movie ever. Just google "Teresa Ganzel" and save 89 minutes.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Henry Jaglom

Director

Bob Giraldi

Director

Robby Benson

Brent Falcone

Richard Widmark

Stan Nagurski

Ann Dusenberry

Dominique Corsaire

Peter Riegert

Jason Cooper

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

9%

44%

The Survivors

78%

80%

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

TRAILER

for Fast Times at Ridgemont High

93%

63%

Night Shift

94%

81%

Polyester

50%

47%

The Lonely Guy

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 1/5

Oct 9, 2005

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...interminable...

Rated: 0/4

Jul 11, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 1/5

Jun 25, 2005

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Jan 26, 2005

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

eFilmCritic.com

Leave this one as history has intended: unknown, forgotten, and detested by the unfortunate few who've actually seen it.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 8, 2002

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

This anthology film is composed of three segments parodying Hollywood clichés. In the first, a lawyer (Peter Riegert) has a midlife crisis, quits his job, leaves his wife and has an affair with a teen girl (Diane Lane) -- all in the name of personal growth. In the second, a stripper (Ann Dusenberry) is raped by a group of businessmen and becomes head of the corporation to get revenge. In the third, two inept policemen (Robby Benson, Richard Widmark) hunt a serial killer (Christopher Lloyd).

Director: Henry Jaglom, Bob Giraldi
Screenwriter: Tod Carroll, Shary Flenniken, Pat Mephitis, Gerald Sussman, Ellis Weiner
Production Co: Matty Simmons Productions, National Lampoon Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 23, 1982, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 3, 2016
Runtime: 1h 29m

Most Popular at Home Now