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BAD RONALD (1974)
Directed by Buzz Kulik
Truegore Video DVD-R
Reviewed 06.15.06
But
it from Truegore Video!
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
"I killed Carol Mathews. I
found a shovel. I buried her."
Has your mind started to race already?
Good. Let it run. Soak those anxious
feelings in. When "Bad Ronald"
timidly delivers the lines above
during the film's opening minutes,
jitters are a given; both welcomed
and unexpected. And that's just
the first few minutes. Imagine what
the next sixty-five have in store.
Bad Ronald is an anomaly
in the world of 1970s made-for-TV
movies. Where most are easily dissected
on the grounds of their familiarity
(Home
For The Holidays) or slogging
pace (Die,
Sister, Die!), this brilliantly-named
film owns an island, immune to all
antagonists. The story arc is so
oddly realistic and engulfing that
technical aspects are moot. From
the opening shocks to the fidgety
climax, Bad Ronald never
goes south. Or, if it does, I've
always been too carried away to
notice.
Meet Ronald Wilby. Unstable high
school senior. Nerd. Ronald (Scott
Jacoby, older brother of 80s teen-comedy
staple Billy Jacoby) lives in a
dusty Victorian mansion with his
divorced Mother (Kim Hunter, Zira
from Planet Of The Apes).
On the eve of Ronald's birthday,
a toolbox gift leads to confidence,
then teenage disquietude, and finally
accidental murder. Weirdie Mom decides
to do that which she does best:
hide Ronald. Walls are built. A
bathroom is concealed. Ronald lives
in solitude for months. Mrs. Wilby
dodges the cops and a nosy next
door neighbor. When fate intervenes
and a new family moves in (including
the great Dabney Coleman), they
discover a bonus that wasn't mentioned
on closing day: Bad Ronald.
First broadcast on October 23, 1974,
based on a '73 novel by Jack Vance,
and lost ever since, Bad Ronald
makes you think, but not about anything
relevant to your life. That's a
key point. It won't let you go,
no matter how real or unreal it
all seems. The film invokes dozens
of questions; "Does he shower?",
"What will he do to the girls?",
and most of all, "Could this
really happen?" The fact that
such questions relate solely to
the frightening, dejected life of
Ronald and his make believe world
("Atranta") reflect the
potency of simple, clever filmmaking.
Events are presented in a way that
could probably happen, but couldn't
possibly happen. Anxiety and anticipation
take center stage. Sparse strings
and stretches of silence help them
to stay. By the end, seventy minutes
seem like five and the questions
still linger. That's not only the
mark of a great TV horror film;
it's the mark of a great horror
film, regardless of context.
If you found a shovel, would you
bury her? Don't ask Ronald for advice.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Bad Ronald saw an extremely
rare release from USA Home Video
in the early 80s. This is a direct
port of that tape. While not a perfect
DVD-R, it blows away the duped VHS
that first introduced me to the
film. The washed out color remains,
but clarity takes a step up. Compression
artifacts said hello from time to
time. I gave 'em a wink back.
EXTRAS
Hey-o! Two trailers from the original
tape are included; Never Pick
Up A Stranger and The Executioner's
Song. Both thrillers. Both
boring.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ronald is indeed bad. But his movie
is even badder. Bad Ronald
is a royally bad-ass made-for-TV
horror from the golden era of 1970s
TV horrors. The film's unique, absorbing
qualities only improve as the years
go by, so make it a priority. |
The baddest
Welcome to Atranta
Dirt mouth
No winks
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