A surprisingly sly and deliciously dead on-target parody of "to hell with substance and style, let's just get this sucker in the can and toss in every last crassly exploitative thing we can think of" quick'n'dirty no-budget Grade Z film-making, a true marvel of cut'n'paste cost-cutting ingenuity that was promptly shot in a scant ten days on a paltry $60, 000 budget for Roger Corman's always dependably tacky New World Pictures. Naturally, the net product of this ultimate in-jokey drive-in flick pastiche is a wonderfully sloppy, screwy and raucous serving of anything-goes momentum propelled lunacy.

Perky, lovely, blonde-tressed 70's trash movie favorite Candice Rialson gives an energetic, wholly engaging performance as Candy Wednesday, a sweet, wet-behind-the-ears ingénue fresh off the bus from Indiana who goes to Los Angeles to make it big in the movie biz; the aspiring actress winds up scoring a gig as a stunt woman for prolific one feature a week schlock studio outfit Miracle Pictures (their motto: "If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!"). Candy toils in one tawdry potboiler after another (she barely manages to survive a particularly hellish one week shoot in the Phillippines, where she's gleefully gang-raped by a bunch of greasy, overenthusiastic libidinous male extras!),eventually becoming Miracle Pictures' latest junk movie queen. Alas, a vicious unknown killer has been randomly picking off actress on the film sets (one murder is actually caught on film, thus becoming a grisly snuff reel!). Soon only Candy is left. A showdown between Candy and the killer occurs directly underneath the legendary Hollywood sign.

Directors Allen Arkush and Joe Dante, both making their directorial debuts after editing countless trailers for Corman and working from a hip, clever script by Patrick Hobby, don't miss a trick with this often wickedly witty send-up of "good taste and high production values be damned" nickel'n'dime film-making: the brisk pace, playfully tongue-in-cheek self-deprecating tone, overripe hambone acting, and constant onslaught of cheap, but amusing gags are nicely sustained throughout. The stand-out cast of B-flick perennials includes: Mary Woronov as a spitefully jealous aging exploitation pic starlet, Jeffrey Kramer as a harried hack screenwriter, "White Line Fever" director Jonathan Kaplan as leering, clumsy, voyeuristic propmaster Scotty, Tara Strohmeier as a struggling actress, an especially droll Paul Bartel as a pretentious, motivation-obsessed no-talent director who wears riding boots and strives to inject "meaningful artistic qualities" into his shoddy features, and the redoubtable Dick Miller as a sleazy, fast-talking agent named -- natch -- Walter Paisley. Charles B. Griffith, Forrest J. Ackerman and Robby the Robot make cameo appearances at a gala film premiere while directors Joseph McBride and Barbara Peeters pop up as an uptight couple at a drive-in. Why, even an unnamed extra in a Godzilla costume ambles through a few scenes. However, half the fun with this honey stems from identifying all the bits and pieces spliced in from previous movies: choice snippets from "The Big Doll House" and "The Big Bird Cage," "Big Bad Mama," "Crazy Mama," "Death Race 2000," "The Hot Box," "Unholy Rollers," "The Terror" and "Battle Beyond the Sun" are all prominently showcased herein. Better yet, the first-rate country rock group Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen materialize for an utterly insane rendition of the hilariously raunchy Texas swing tune "Everybody's Doin' It." Overall, this beautifully bent, batty and berserk baby rates highly as a total blast!

Joe Dante directs this story of the glamor, the glitter, the magical allure of Hollywood... and not a speck of it rubs off on Miracle Pictures, where "If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle." This is a hilarious tribute to the unsung heroes who grind out the B movies massacred by critics, but nursed fondly in the hearts of film fans everywhere.

How can you beat Dick Miller as Walter Paisley, especially in such a big role (probably his biggest since "Bucket of Blood"). This was just such a treat for fans of the man.

This whole film is loaded with great jokes from beginning to end. Lots of sight gags, cheesy one-liners, and all kinds of nonsense. Certainly not a brainy film, but perhaps smart in its stupidity.

HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD is one of the earliest films from director Joe Dante, here working in conjunction with someone else to tell a low budget satire of the B-movie industry. As with the rest of the director's resume, this one's a labour of love that's full of fun performances and crazy in-jokes, although it's a lot rougher around the edges than you might expect and the lack of money is all too apparent at times. Candace Rialson is a young woman hoping to make it big as a Hollywood actress, and the best scenes see her joining forces with Dick Miller's agent; in one great scene we see Miller watching himself on-screen in THE TERROR! The rest is the mix of usual offbeats and weirdos, including cult stars Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov. There are horror spoofs, rough moments and a great deal of nudity, all shot through in the best B-movie tradition.