Search - The Apple on DVD

Neil N. from WINTHROP, MA
Reviewed on 10/12/2011...

A lost treasure of the early 80's, The Apple is a rock musical trying to be another Rocky Horror Picture Show. What we actually get is a fascinatingly inept production which plays like the Book of Revelations as told by a freaked out glam rock band. The songs are bizarre, the choreography inept, and the entire premise is just... Well, similar to the Matrix, one cannot really be told about The Apple. You just have to experience it for yourself.

Basically, it's the story of a couple of young folk singers in the far distant future year of 1994. They make an unexpectedly strong showing against the corporate glam rock band BIM, managed by the satanic Mr. Boogaloo, who immediately tries to sign them up for his record company so that he can corrupt them. Alphie, our hero with an unidentifiable accent, has visions of damnation and refuses, but his partner and One True Love Bibi takes the deal and falls into the terrible world of drugs, sex, and riding around in futuristic cars that look like station wagons with extra railings and geegaws slapped all over them. The two young lovers are eventually reunited and fall in with a hippy colony (No, really), and then--

You know what? I can't spoil the ending, because it's both utterly absurd and completely awesome. The best thing about this movie is Vladek Shabal as Mr. Boogaloo. You might remember him from From Russia With Love. He's a man who was born to play the devil, and this movie made that possible. This was one of the most ill-conceived musicals ever produced, and it's one of the most unintentionally hilarious things you'll ever see.

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Money well spent.

CC Incalzini | Los Angeles | 07/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since a handful of well-attended screenings have popped up in L.A., Boston, Austin, Seattle and San Francisco in the past two years, this movie has been coveted by all who enjoy a good bad movie. So coveted that bootlegs of questionable quality have been gobbled up on eBay. But now it's here, a bright, shiny print on DVD! This movie can't be missed. Its horrible acting, flimsy plot, unrelentingly bad music and lyrics, cheeseball costumes and, best of all, its earnestness, put it at the top of my list of camp demanding repeat viewings. It's also camp deserving of a wider audience. If you can't laugh at a man walking around in an Amazing Stories robe and silver G-string while antagonizing a wide-eyed music industry protege, what can you laugh at? If you can't appreciate a full-scale underworld scene (with music reminiscent of the worst of "Rocky Horror") in which one guy is wearing a mask with an extra face on it, what's wrong with you? These are just some of the subtle qualities that make this movie so great. Others: An evil overlord/music executive whose offices appear to be in the Kansas City airport. A guy with perpetual cameltoe. A cross between jazz hands and spirit fingers that passes for choreography. A surgical team interrupted by a mandatory exercise period in which the patient even gets a workout. A baffling scene in which a hippie commune gets sucked into the heavens by a white tux-clad guy named Mr. Topps. It's just jaw-droppingly awful ... but a lot of fun."

SUPER BAD MOVIE ALERT! You must appreciate dreck!

notmynickname76 | Greenbelt, MD | 05/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh, where does one begin? "The Apple" is just one of the best cinematic experiences I have had in my life. I saw a midnight showing of it in March of 2004 at a theater in NYC, and the entire place was shrieking and howling in miserable delight. If you revel in amazingly bad movies (and this one's a musical from 1980, so you know it's really gonna stink), this is for you. Do not pass up the chance to own this piece of crap. I'm completely serious. The shimmer of the costumes, the awful acting, the terrible music, the tight little thongs everyone is wearing and oh yes--it's set in the awfully distant future of 1994. And praise that big juju apple--we are lucky enough to get it in widescreen format. See it!"

Hey, hey, hey! BIM's the only way!

Eric Charles | Ottawa, ON, Canada | 07/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the short span of 6 months, I have become completely obsessed with The Apple. It's so bad, it's genious! I LOVE almost every song, so much so that I got a copy of the soundtrack off eBay and also downloaded the tracks onto a cd. I have even gotten others into this movie, including one of my co-workers, who is now working on an offical Apple fansite! I cant'explain my obsession with this fascinatingly awful movie. It's THE most entertaining movie I have ever seen! The songs, the acting, the costumes, the finale! Wow! What were they on? I only hope that they screen this movie here in Ottawa again someday. I would love to see it on the big screen! This is truly THE cult movie to end all cult movies!!!"