Ruthless People (1986)

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker reunited on one last film before going their separate ways in the '90s. In a departure from their previous spoof style, they tackle a dark plot involving kidnapping, blackmail and murder which goes all sorts of wrong. Danny DeVito plays a man who despises his wife (Bette Midler) and plans to have her killed, when he finds out she's been taken and held at ransom by two desperate captors who don't know what they're doing. In some ways, this satirical black comedy feels like a precursor to Fargo. The result is wildly uneven at times, even though it contains many memorable moments.

2½ Stockholm syndromes out of 5

Top Secret! (1984)

What happens when you mishmash Elvis Presley musicals, WWII and Cold War-era spy films together? A highly uneven effort from Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker.

Val Kilmer makes his auspicious film debut as American rock 'n' roll star Nick Rivers, who gets invited to East Germany to perform, where he inadvertently becomes mixed up in the resistance. The plot is largely irrelevant, as it merely provides the framework for a quick-fire series of gags and non-sequiturs. This is a movie I always think I'll like a lot more than I do, but what counts most is that it's relentlessly funny, which is really all that matters in a spoof comedy.

3 Swedish bookstores out of 5

Airplane! (1980)

From the brainchild of ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) comes a spoof classic that is so immensely quotable and laugh-a-minute funny, it belongs on the pantheon of great comedy movies. What began as a humorous send-up of disaster films such as Zero Hour! (1957) and the Airport series ended up as the blueprint for every parody movie to come. It comes at a time when serious actors like Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges weren't afraid to take the piss out of themselves. Of these, Leslie Nielsen (known for dramatic roles at the time) made his transition to deadpan comedy icon. Packed to the brim with slapstick, sight gags, puns, one-liners and clever wordplay, it's a relentless barrage of lowbrow silliness that is still considered one of the funniest films of all time.

5 Shirleys out of 5

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

The classic sketch comedy movie from the Kentucky Fried Theater troupe (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker) is presented as a series of highly irreverent programming on a local TV station, with fake commercials, news segments, movie trailers and a "feature film" (the Bruce Lee parody "A Fistful of Yen"). It's only the latter segment which weighs the middle of the movie down by being a bit too long, although it's filled with memorable moments that have persisted in my memory. It's gleefully profane and "of its time," and the type of humor you wouldn't be able to get away with nowadays, which is its main selling point. As with the nature of all sketch comedy, it can be hit or miss at times, but this is mostly hit. There are so many overlaps between this and The Groove Tube, I think one must have influenced the other.

3½ "Films at 11" out of 5

RAT RACE [2001]

Jerry Zucker of Airplane! & The Naked Gun fame, steps away from his usual sight gag comedies and attempts to nestle his humor into a character based comedy in 2001's Rat Race.
Starring a huge ensemble cast of entertaining actors, who will do any film that comes along for a paycheck (where's Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman?), Rat Race manages to get quite a few good laughs in but also has it's fair share of jokes that fall flat on their face.
It's not essential viewing but is worth a look at at least once for the good laughs it does provide.

3 Squirrel Ladies out of 5