In 1974 legendary comedian Gene Wilder had one of the greatest roles of his career by playing title character in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’ ultimate spoof of gothic horror genre. Twelve years Wilder returned to familiar genre spoofing territory, this tim also as director, in his film Haunted Honeymoon.
The plot begins in late 1930s New York where actor Larry Abbott (played by Wilder) is a star of popular radio drama show Haunted Honeymoon. He is about to get married to his co-star Vickie Pearle (played by Gilda Radner), but has recently began to suffer from panic attacks. Concerned family and co-workers bring his uncle, psychiatrist Dr. Paul Abbott (played by Paul L. Smith) who creates ingenious plan to cure his condition. Larry and Vickie are about to be brought to Larry’s childhood home, huge manor in the country where Larry would be subjected by various scary pranks that should help him confront his real fears. Things, however, don’t go smoothly, because the manor’s owner, eccentric Aunt Katharine Abbott (played by Dom DeLuise) claims that the castle is cursed, while Larry as the only beneficiary of her will leads to actual murder plots against him by friends and relatives that have gathered there.
Haunted Honeymoon failed at the box office and among the critics. The latter can be explained by huge disappointment among those who expected something better based on the reputations of talents involved. To his credit, Wilder, who appears with his wife, talented comedienne Gilda Radner in her last role, does try to reconstruct the spirit of radio plays and Classic Hollywood horror films set in isolated mansions. It is obvious that the huge creative effort was invested in this, including English studio and mostly British cast that plays bizarre, but often forgettable characters. John Morris, composer best known for working with Mel Brooks, delivers impressive soundtrack, helped by some 1930s pop songs. Unfortunately, Wilder, who also co-wrote the script with production designer Terence Marsh, seems to lack Brooks’ talent to put all these elements into coherent whole. The first part of the film, when we are introduced to characters and various subplots, is incredibly slow and almost painful to watch and many supposedly funny gags simply don’t work. Things begin to get better in the second half, but than film almost abruptly ends, creating disappointment which is enhanced with pretentious “meta” ending. While Wilder and Radner leave mostly good impression in their roles, the rest of the cast is underwhelming, including Dom DeLuise in drag – a performance which brought him Razzie for Worst Actress. DeLuise was, on the other hand, according to testimonies, incredibly entertaining on the set, making jokes in pauses of actual filming thus making Haunted Honeymoon a blast for cast and crew. It is tragic that such level of entertainment will be missed by actual audience. For Wilder, whose wife tragically died three years later, this was the last directorial effort in his filmography.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
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