IN THE YEAR 2889 (1967)
Article #226 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 10-28-2001
Posting date: 3-13-2002

A group of people try to survive a nuclear war by hiding out in a house surrounded by mountains to keep out the nuclear fallout.

This movie is really good . . . for about thirty seconds at the very beginning, where you see some nice fast-motion photography of rolling clouds and mountains. Then the movie starts in earnest, and you once again find yourself in the hands of Larry Buchanan, with his version of the AIP movie THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED. If you’ve seen his movies before, you know what to expect; not much. It’s static, talky, uninterestingly directed, poorly acted, and has that hangdog, weary, half-asleep-at-the-wheel feel of all of the films of his that I’ve seen. The original wasn’t great to begin with, and this version manages to remove whatever was good about the original. It is interesting to watch it in tandem with the original, if for no other reason than to see how the same script can fare in the hands of different directors. It’s all part of the fun of Larry Buchananland.

Buchananland; now there’s a concept! What would a theme park based on the works of Larry Buchanan be like? Well, instead of Mickey Mouse and Goofy running around, we’d have an eye creature and that monster with the ping-pong ball eyes running around, and they wouldn’t be sober. There would only be one dodgem car in the dodgem car ride. The ferris wheel would take you to the top and leave you hanging there bored for about an hour and a half (this ride emulates watching one of his movies). The merry-go-round would be up on blocks. And the fun house would consist of a dimly lit, dusty wooden room with a broken window and ratty curtains, and instead of the exit leading you to a room of mirrors, it would take you to a bathroom scale so you could weigh yourself. Now doesn’t that sound like fun?

And their motto would be “At least it’s not Andy Milliganland!”

All right, I’m ready for my medicine now.