Review #710: 'Hell Comes to Frogtown' (1988)

In one of his first feature film appearances, former wrestler Roddy Piper plays Sam Hell, a highly fertile man in a post-apocalyptic world that has rendered most of its adult population infertile due to a devastating nuclear war. This being the late 1980's, and with Hell Comes To Frogtown being unashamedly B-movie ridiculousness, every long-legged female character wants to jump his bones, and do so wearing not very much at all. It is misogynistic, very, very silly (which I'm sure one would assume from the title) and Piper won't be receiving any Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy, but it is occasionally a lot of fun, and features one of most memorable titles in the B-movie canon.

With male population numbers heavily reduced due to nuclear war, women now rule the Earth. After a group of warrior-nurses led by the bespectacled Spangle (Sandahl Bergman) capture nomad Sam Hell, they see their chance to do their part in helping re-populate the Earth due to Sam's high fertility rate. But when a group of fertile women are captured by a gang of rapey amphibian mutants who have been affected by the radiation, Sam is employed as a mercenary along with the tough-but-sexy Centinella (Cec Verrell) to enter a place known as 'Frogtown' in order to steal them back.

Somehow, Hell Comes To Frogtown has managed to spawn three sequels, the latest being made in 2002. The years have made the film a cult favourite, and admittedly, for all it's many flaws and amateur direction, the idea of women piecing together the remnants of civilisation is quite an intriguing one. Of course, the plot isn't really why you would watch a film involving rubber-suited monsters and scantily-clad women, and ultimately, Frogtown suffers from long moments of tedium that plague low-budget films of its ilk. But there are still moments to enjoy in the 90 minutes of endless gun-fights and goofy Roddy Piper quotes, namely in Piper's obvious amusement at the film he is starring in. Best enjoyed with beer in hand.


Directed by: Donald G. Jackson, R.J. Kizer
Starring: Roddy Piper, Sandahl Bergman, Cec Verrell, William Smith
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie