SUPERWHEELS (1975)
aka Das verruckteste Auto der Welt, Superbug, Craziest Car in the World
Article 3737 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-26-2011
Posting Date: 11-7-2011
Directed by Rudolf Zehetgruber
Featuring Rudolf Zehetgruber, Salvatore Borghese, Kathrin Oginski
Country: West Germany
What it is: Dudu

Dudu, the craziest car in the world, takes part in the goofiest race in the world. Dudu’s owner is hoping the money can be used to save a group of nuns from being evicted by a marchese.

This isn’t my first encounter with Dudu aka Superbug. This was several movies after the other one I saw, so Superbug has a much larger vocabulary, thanks to a computer that was installed by its owner. I think it’s important to realize that I watched the version dubbed into English; though I doubt that the movie is a classic in its native language, the dubbing is so awful that I’m sure it contributed in a big way to making it seem even more awful than it is.

Nevertheless, a strange thing happened to me during my viewing of the movie. After the first interminable thirty minutes, I found myself reaching what I can only describe as “Bad Movie Watcher’s High”, an almost zen-like state where I was feeling that I had transcended the experience of watching the movie. Suddenly, what had seemed gratingly annoying became harmlessly surreal, and I actually found myself somewhat entranced by the movie. I don’t think it was so much Superbug himself that fascinated me; it was the bizarre car driven by the two nuns that consisted of two front ends of Volkswagens attached together, with steering wheels aimed both forward and backwards, that really fascinated me. After a while, I just couldn’t take my eyes away from the movie.

Was the movie so bad that I achieved this state to mentally escape the pain? Probably not; if anything, on a purely critical level, I thought it was better than the first Superbug movie I saw. Maybe it was just my state of mind at the time. Maybe it was the culmination of all of the bad movies I’ve seen over the years. Or maybe not. I can’t explain it. But somehow, I don’t think I’ll ever have quite the same reaction if I see the movie again, and I’m in no hurry to do that. Besides, there are still other Superbug movies to see.

I’m rambling. It’s late. I’m sleepy. Good night…