The Uh-Oh! Show
The Uh-Oh! Show is a 2009 comedy horror splatter film, written and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. The film revolves around a game show, The Uh-Oh! Show, where contestants play to win money by answering trivia questions, but appear to be dismembered for every wrong answer. Jill Porter (Nevada Caldwel), a reporter, suspects the gruesome attacks might not be fake.
| The Uh-Oh! Show | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Herschell Gordon Lewis |
| Written by | Herschell Gordon Lewis |
| Produced by | Andrew Allan Andy Lalino |
| Starring | Brooke McCarter Nevada Caldwell Krista Grotte Kenny DeMelloLloyd Kaufman Babette Bombshell Joel D. Wynkoop |
| Cinematography | Wes Pratt Jill Sager |
| Edited by | Chris Woods |
| Music by | Patrick Ford |
Production companies | Film Ranch International Lion's Kill Productions |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
A reporter named Jill Burton (Nevada Caldwell) is investigating a gruesome television game show called The Uh-Oh! Show where contestants literally "get rich or die trying". Fred Finagler (Joel D. Wynkoop) is the creator of the show. While a few lucky contestants walk away with big money, most end up killed in gruesome ways. Meanwhile, Jill is suspicious about the supposedly fake deaths and becomes determined to find out if they are real or not.
Cast
- Brooke McCarter as Jackie
- Nevada Caldwell as Jill Burton
- Joel D. Wynkoop as Fred Finagler
- Krista Grotte as "Champagne"
- Lauren Schmier as Marie "Coco" Smith
- Jack Amos as Dean
- Kenny Rogers as Oscar
- Bruce Blauer as Ray Hemming
- Jarrett Ricker as Richard
- Lloyd Kaufman as The Pimp
- Trish Dempsey as Old Lady Blume
- Kenny DeMello as The Puppet Killer
- Herschell Gordon Lewis as Uncle Herschell / The Narrator
Release
On 26 October 2009, Herschell premiered footage for The Uh! Oh! Show at the opening night of The Spooky Movie Film Festival at the AFI Silver Theatre outside of Washington, D.C., following the 45th anniversary screening of Two Thousand Maniacs!. The film was planned to have had its world premiere at Spooky Empire's Weekend of Horror in Orlando, Florida on 11 October; however, according to Herschell Gordon Lewis's introduction to the film at the Abertoir Horror Festival in Aberystwyth, it wasn't ready by that time. The version shown at the Abertoir festival was the premiere but still an incomplete version of the film, lacking music, titles and some special effects.
A more complete version of the film was screened at the Cinema Wasteland movie convention in Strongsville, Ohio in October 2010, with Mr. Lewis in attendance. He held a question and answer session with fans following the screening.
Reception
The film won the Audience Choice Award at Texas Frightmare Weekend and Best Feature Horror Film at the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival.[1] In its review, film review site The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre describes the film as "the usual Lewis campy so-bad-its-good stuff" and reports that "the splatter is over-the-top and all in the name of silly, bad, cheaply provocative fun."[2] Writing in the Underground Film Journal, critic Mike Everleth wrote that the film "has a strong — if loopy and nonsensical — premise" and that "none of it makes much sense, but the energy is high and although the violence is in the realm of the cartoonish, the actual effects are good and grotesque."[3]
Home video
The film was released on DVD on 30 August 2011.
References
- Gingold, Michael (1 September 2011). ""UH-OH!" H.G. Lewis Is Back! (with exclusive photos)". fangoria.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- "Herschell Gordon Lewis". The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre. The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- Everleth, Mike. "The Uh-Oh Show". The Underground Film Journal. Underground Film Journal. Retrieved 2022-04-07.