THE QUEST FOR THE EGG SALAD

Produced, Directed, Written by Chris Seaver Edited by Jock de Queaf Balfazar - Jessie Green Neinna - Tina Krause Astrogon/Goblin King - Jim Ekkebus Bonejack/Douglas - Chris Seaver

I honestly don't think I've ever been able to remain awake for an entire Chris Seaver production. Chris and I don't share the same sense of humor, not by a long shot. Because of our differing views, I find his gross-out comedies are more miss than hit. That's not to say I never find anything to laugh at in his titles, on the contrary, the man is always reliable for at least one truly great belly laugh.

Next to MULVA: ZOMBIE ASS-KICKER, Seaver's Lord of the Rings parody, THE QUEST FOR THE EGG SALAD, is my least favorite of his movies. I'm not die-hard LOTR uber-geek, but I do enjoy the movies for what they are...prime material to be ridiculed mercilessly by jealous filmmakers the world over. Peter Jackson crafted a frilly cinematic franchise that's produced more revenue then some smaller country's gross national product. The often overly dramatic series deserves to be made fun of.

No, EGG SALAD wore out its welcome quickly after it became apparent that Seaver was running his same old schtick. More winking pop-culture references. More trash-talking Teen Ape. More John Stamos jokes. The movie even opens with a borrowed scene from Kevin Smith detailing a vomit-inducing snowballing - an event so grand in its tastlessness that anything following is instantly overshadowed.

The only difference I could see that distinguished this from any other Seaver production was the mid-evil setting. Seaver went all out on costumes and make-up. Too bad he didn't pay attention to the camera work. There are some scenes where passers-by are seen jogging in the background. Some would say that adds to the Low Budget Pictures charm, but like I said before, Chris and I don't generally share the same sense of humor.

More enjoyable than the movie is the Making-Of documentary showing Chris doing what he does best, having a good time with his friends. That's what LBP is all about, and while it's hard for me to say that I like all their movies, I wish I was part of the fun making them.

The DVD provides two commentaries, one by Seaver and cast, and a second by fans of LBP. Oddly, it's Seavers that's the more humorous of the two. The fans take themselves far more seriously then they should. Seaver knows his movies are meant to be lightweight fun, but there's something frightening about fans trying to one-up each other on their LBP knowledge. Although, it's a damn fine thing that Seaver offered his fans a chance to be part of the LBP history. After all, it's them that helped him get where he is.

Hopefully, Chris won't trash me on the next dvd commentary like he does the Brains of Film guys. Hopefully, they won't sue him for it either.

Low Budget Pictures
Tempe Video

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