The movie business is filled with people who love the movie
business. They like to make content
about movies or about making movies.
That’s why there are so many biopics about people who were famous for
being a part of the Hollywood business.
That’s also why many movies are made that involve the Hollywood world in
some way or another. Remember Argo?
It won best picture and was about how Hollywood helped to save a bunch
of hostages.
When SyFy wanted something along the lines of the popularity
they got through Sharknado, they
decided to infuse the new franchise with some Hollywood buffoonery. Lavalantula
and 2 Lava 2 Lantula! was the new
franchise. It followed Colton West
(Steve Guttenberg), an almost forgotten action star who had to fight off lava spewing
spiders after a volcanic eruption in Los Angeles. He was out to save his son Wyatt (Noah Hunt)
and his wife Olivia (Nia Peeples), and ended up saving Los Angeles in the
process. In the sequel, he would fight
off the spiders in Florida as he tried to save his stepdaughter Raya (Michele
Weaver), a med student in Fort Lauderdale.
Colton West’s past as an action star of the 1980s and 1990s
brought in a fresh dose of Hollywood comedy.
Both of the movies were heavily draped in the film industry. They began with Colton West filming his
roles. He used his knowledge of the
business to overcome the monsters that were infesting whatever area he was
in. Everything that he did came back to
the movies he was in. His past dictated
what he did in his present, and helped the world have a future.
Why don’t we tear the two movies apart and see how laced
they were with Hollywood references.
Both movies had Hollywood in their veins from a story standpoint, as the
main character had been a star, and was trying to revive his career. Hence, the opening of each movie involved a
new movie he was making that he would step away from as soon as the disaster
hit. There were other references throughout
each movie that would speak to the film culture. They weren’t always the most subtle of
references. In fact, they were never
subtle references. They were always on
the nose and obvious.
Lavalantula opened
up on Colton West filming a new movie with bugs as monsters. This would be foreshadowing for what he would
face in his real life. Another bit of
foreshadowing would happen during one of the stunts. Smoke billowed out around Colton West, and he
began to complain before walking off of set.
The new smoke that they were using could have killed him. He would find out in the final act that the
smoke could kill the lavalantulas. Thus,
he went back to the crew of the movie he was making, and teamed up with them to
use the smoke and defeat the monstrous spiders.
There were some other moments throughout the movie that also
referenced the Hollywood lifestyle.
Early on, when Colton was trying to escape his house and get to his son,
he commandeered (some people might say he flat out stole) a Hollywood tour bus. The people on the bus recognized him for his
old action movie work. This was a purely
Hollywood moment. Outside of the city of
celebrity, there aren’t too many places with tours like this. There are tours for other things, but only
Hollywood is really known for tours where busses of people drive past the homes
of the famous.
Then there was what was happening in Colton’s home. Olivia was being a full on badass, taking
down spiders as they broke in. The
Hollywood influence was there during this part of Lavalantula as well. She
wasn’t attacking them with any household item.
Olivia was taking props from the action movies that her husband had
starred in and was using them to take out the arachnids. For some reason, Colton had kept many of the
weapons that he had used in his movies, and now Olivia was using them to kill
spiders. It was that Hollywood past
playing into the present.
Also coming from Colton’s past was Red Rocket, which was a one-off superhero movie that he had starred
in. It was mentioned throughout the
movie until Colton West suited up as the character at the end of the film. He used the costume to distract the queen
lavalantula before throwing a bomb into its mouth and flying away with Red
Rocket’s jetpack. It was Colton’s most
heroic moment, where he once again became the cult hero that people knew him
for.
The final piece of Hollywood influence on the first movie
that should be mentioned is a character that Colton West ran into during his
trip to find his son. Actors enter and
exit each other’s lives all the time as they line up different projects with
different people. During his travels,
Colton ran into someone he had worked on a film with. If that wasn’t Hollywood enough, that actor
was now working as one of the impersonators that hangs around the streets of
Los Angeles. Specifically, he was Pirate
Jack, the impersonation rip-off of Captain Jack Sparrow. Having this character around played on the
Hollywood life in a way that a movie like Sharknado
(whose lead character, Fin, showed up for a cameo in Lavalantula) didn’t capitalize on.
The city and the life there were a part of the movie. This would continue in the sequel.
Much like its predecessor, 2 Lava 2 Lantula! began with Colton West working on a movie. This time, he didn’t leave the set
prematurely. He left when disaster struck
because he had to get to his stepdaughter and make sure she was okay. He took his friend and co-star Marty (Michael
Winslow) with him, instead of running into him at the end of the movie like he
did in Lavalantula. Together, they travelled through Florida to
get to Raya.
Along the way, there were a bunch of references to Hollywood
that were made. It wasn’t the same depth
as in Lavalantula, since the
characters had relocated to Florida.
It’s hard to dive into the Hollywood life without being in Hollywood. That’s why there ended up just being a bunch
of fun references to different, popular movies and television series. The thing is, the references fit with the
setting of the movie, which made them work better than they could have. For the most part, at least.
I’m going to start with the one that didn’t quite fit the
setting. The moment when Colton met up
with his daughter followed a full on Jurassic
Park recreation. While trapped in a
building, Raya and her new acquaintance TJ (RJ Walker) were trapped in a
kitchen. It was very much like my
favourite moment from my favourite Steven Spielberg movie, the kitchen scene
with the velociraptors. Raya hid at the
end of countertops while a spider crept toward her. She and TJ escaped, and got into a big foyer,
where the spiders were killed by Colton and his crew, before a banner fell down
in a recreation of the iconic T-Rex versus raptor scene from Jurassic Park. It was all about that reference.
Slightly more related to the landscape of 2 Lava 2 Lantula! was an earlier portion
of the film where Colton and Marty were travelling through the Everglades. They came upon a seemingly abandoned shack in
the marshes and quickly stumbled upon a familiar looking man. His name was Alligator Dundee, a clear play
off of Crocodile Dundee. This reference
was so obvious that even the characters made note of it. They mentioned how familiar he seemed to
someone else they knew. When he didn’t
understand, they dropped it. It was a
winking moment to the audience showing that the movie was in on the fun that it
was having with movie references. It was
self-aware of how goofy the nods to other movies were.
The Florida setting was even more necessary with the other
two big references, which each played into the Miami vibe of a Florida setting. The first one was when Colton and Marty
searched through an apartment building. Not
only were they dressed like their Police
Academy counterparts, butColton came upon a room where a man was tied to a
shower curtain rod while two other guys tried to hurt him with a chainsaw. It was a visual ripped straight from Scarface. The Miami of it all wasn’t lost in the
process. They were taking one of the
more famous Florida set movies and playing with one of the most striking scenes
in it.
The other visual taken from the Miami history of film and
television followed that scene. After
the trek through the hotel, Colton and Marty needed some fresh, clean
clothes. They went to a store and got
the wardrobe they needed. It was a
wardrobe directly taken from the Miami
Vice series of the 1980s. It wasn’t
the movie that was being used as a reference point. It was the suits of the television show that
were the visual callback. The Miami
vibes were all over 2 Lava 2 Lantula!
Though the first Lavalantula
movie was more steeped in the Hollywood lifestyle, both movies played with the
history of Hollywood to have fun with their lava spewing spider concept. They weren’t afraid to show their
inspirations and create new B-movie versions of popular moments. It was something that kept the entertainment
value up throughout the two movie franchise.
Had the movies continued beyond that point, it would have been
interesting to see what other movies they used as fodder for the lavalantula
hijinks. Alas, the franchise stopped at
two movies.
Hollywood likes Hollywood when they’re producing
movies. The Lavalantula movies were part of that, using film history as a
backdrop for the action. They’re not the
only movies to do that. The Artist and Argo were both best picture winners that played with the history of
the silver screen. For people who like
movies, movies about movies or movies involving movies can be just as
entertaining as any other movies out there.
The business likes to entertain themselves with their own antics, and
audiences seem to eat that up. Money
that was made can be used to make more money.
That’s how the business works.
No post would be complete without the notes:
- Lavalantula was directed by Mike Mendez who directed another Los Angeles spider attack movie called Big Ass Spider! (week 61).
- Ian Ziering showed up in a cameo role during Lavalantula. He was the star of Sharknado (week 190), Sharknado 2: The Second One (week 190), and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (week 190).
- Danny Woodburn showed up in both Lavalantula movies. He was previously in 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (week 10) and Jingle All the Way (week 160).
- Patrick Renna played one of the people on the tour bus in Lavalantula. He was previously seen in National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze (week 40) and Son in Law (week 251).
- Jon Mack was in both Lavalantula movies after appearing in Playing for Keeps (week 21).
- Michael Winslow played Marty in the Lavalantula movies. He also had a small role in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (week 190).
- Four actors made their first two Sunday “Bad” Movies appearances in the two Lavalantula movies. They were Joe Forbess, Steve Guttenberg, Noah Hunt, and Marion Ramsey.
- Lavalantula featured Nick Principe, who was first featured in The Summer of Massacre (week 26).
- Ruben Pla and Shannon Robles each made their second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance with Lavalantula. They were both in Big Ass Spider! (week 61).
- Carlos Bernard had a bit part in Lavalantula during the movie in the movie. He was also in Ghost Storm (week 97).
- Ben Maccabee made his second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance this week, having already shown up in Steel (week 127).
- Another two timer was Jennifer Wenger, who showed up in Lavalantula after showing up in Chicks Dig Gay Guys (week 145).
- Ralph Garman was Pirate Jack in Lavalantula. If he looked familiar, it may have been because he was in Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (week 241).
- 2 Lava 2 Lantula! featured the second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance of Leslie Garbett, who was in Rise of the Zombies (week 16).
- Robert Craighead returned to the Sunday “Bad” Movies in 2 Lava 2 Lantula! He had already appeared in Zarkorr! The Invader (week 123).
- Finally, 2 Lava 2 Lantula! was the second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance for Raymond Forchion, who was in Mac and Me (week 125).
- Have you seen either of the Lavalantula movies? How do you think they handled the Hollywood aspects? Do you like movies that involve movies in the stories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
- Twitter and the comments are good places to put any suggestions that you might have for future movies for me to watch as part of the Sunday “Bad” Movies. I’m always on the lookout for things I might not know that could make for good posts. Let me know if you have any movies in mind.
- When I’m watching bad movies, I like to share clips of them on my Snapchat. I did that this past week when I watched the movie I’ll be covering next week. It was a good time. If this is the sort of thing you want to see, add me (jurassicgriffin).
- Speaking of next week, the movie I’ll be covering is a low budget horror comedy called The Landlord. It was one of those movies that was just dumb enough that it kind of worked and I’m excited to write about it. I’ll see you next Sunday for the post about that one.
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