Casey Kasem Movies

The Transformers was one of several syndicated half-hour cartoon series of the 1980s designed to promote a line of toys. In this instance, the playthings, marketed by Hasbro, were tiny robots that could be "transformed" into automotive vehicles, and vice versa. It was not for nothing that the series' theme song boasted that its characters were "more than meets the eye." Basically, the series chronicled the eons-old battle between two branches of the Transformer family: the Autobots, mentored by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, headed by Megatron. After battling for centuries on their home planet Zobitron (also known as Cybertron), the two warring factions decided to move their battleground to another world, and in the process crash-landed on a prehistoric Earth. Released from suspended animation in 2005 A.D., the good-guy Autobots (bearing such names as Inferno, Grapple, Red, and Smoke Screen) and the bad-guy Decepticons (numbering among their ranks the likes of Dirge and Thrust) resumed their conflict as though no time had passed at all. The Autobots managed to win several humans over to their side, notably earthlings Spike and Sparkplug, and, when the battle returned to the Autobots' home planet, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. Although the animation was mediocre, The Transformers boasted excellent writing and story values, thanks to the input of such fantastic-fiction specialists as Donald F. Glut and Marv Wolfman. Also, the writers did a nice job weaving the Hasbro-licensed characters into the action, rather than have them merely show up as walking and talking advertisements. Debuting in daily "strip" syndication in September of 1984, the series remained in active production for three years. After its syndicated run, The Transformers was rebroadcast by cable's Sci-Fi Channel from 1992 to 1997. The series has also spawned a number of sequels, among them Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and several Japanese anime versions of the property, released in the U.S. under such titles as Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Transformers Armada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson star as a quartet of Manhattan-based "paranormal investigators". When their government grants run out, the former three go into business as The Ghostbusters, later hiring Hudson on. Armed with electronic paraphernalia, the team is spectacularly successful, ridding The Big Apple of dozens of ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties. Tight-lipped bureaucrat William Atherton regards the Ghostbusters as a bunch of charlatans, but is forced to eat his words when New York is besieged by an army of unfriendly spirits, conjured up by a long-dead Babylonian demon and "channelled" through beautiful cellist Sigourney Weaver and nerdish Rick Moranis. The climax is a glorious sendup of every Godzilla movie ever made-and we daresay it cost more than a year's worth of Japanese monster flicks combined. Who'd ever dream that the chubby, cheery Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man would turn out to be the most malevolent threat ever faced by New York City? When the script for Ghostbusters was forged by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, John Belushi was slated to play the Bill Murray role; Belushi's death in 1982 not only necessitated the hiring of Murray, but also an extensive rewrite. The most expensive comedy made up to 1984, Ghostbusters made money hand over fist, spawning not only a 1989 sequel but also two animated TV series (one of them partially based on an earlier live-action TV weekly, titled The Ghost Busters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This well-acted but wildly disjointed sci-fi/horror film stars William Devane as a writer who takes a personal interest in a series of baffling decapitation murders in the L.A. area, all of which seem to indicate some kind of supernatural force at work. He is joined in his investigation by a TV reporter (Cathy Lee Crosby), while detective Dave Mooney (Richard Jaeckel puzzles over evidence that the killer may not even be human. Their subsequent monster hunt is both stylish and suspenseful but completely collapses at the end, trashing any attempt at explanation by revealing the murderer as a lumpy-browed alien brute with ill-fitting slacks and laser-beam eyes. After a tension-filled 80-minute set-up, the moronic climax brings the suspense to a jarring halt and was probably added late in the game by a lame-brained studio executive who decided in mid-production to change the killer into an alien. Directorial duties were originally assigned to Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), who bailed out early to be replaced by John "Bud" Cardos. Enough said. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The major difference between the original Hanna-Barbera/DC Comics cartoon series Super Friends and its successor The All-New Superfriends Hour is the latter series' expanded cast. Old Justice League of America favorites Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman are back in harness, along with a pair of brand-new junior members: the Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna, who had the ability to morph into icelike statues, in case the job at hand required such a talent. During the series' first (and only) season, each major Superfriend appeared in his or her own adventures, usually in the company of a "guest" superhero, with all the main characters rallying together for a climactic "League of Justice" component. Four different stories are presented per episode, bearing such titles as "Invasion of the Earthors," "The Brain Machine," "City in a Bottle," "The Marsh Monster," "Doctor Fright," "Super Friends vs. Super Friends," "Planet of the Neanderthals," "Attack of the Giant Squid," "The Tiny World of Terror," and "The Mummy of Nanza." All told, the single season of All-New Superfriends Hour features 14 thrill-packed sixty minute installments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For better or worse, The Gumball Rally was the catalyst for a short-lived cycle of "illegal cross-country race" flicks. As thick-headed cop Roscoe (Norman Burton) does his best to stop the titular rally, a vast and varied contingent of contestants prepare to burn rubber from New York to California. The best-looking of the racers is played by top-billed Michael Sarrazin; Franco, a delightfully narcissistic Italian road jockey played by Raul Julia, also competes. Producer/director Chuck Bail was formerly a stunt coordinator, which helps to explain the incessant car crashes and near-misses in the film. Surprisingly, the doggedly low-budget Gumball Rally was produced by First Artists, a company formed by such major stars as Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, and Steve McQueen for the purpose of creating "prestige" film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A con-man/preacher fools a bunch of naive folks. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The Night That Panicked America is centered around Orson Welles' notorious "War of the Worlds" broadcast of October 30, 1938. Welles (Paul Shenar) arrives at CBS studios just in time to assume his directing post for the radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic, which has been updated and rewritten in the form of news bulletins. Unfortunately, millions of listeners tune in late and assume that the Earth is actually being invaded by Martians. This TV movie periodically cuts away from the broadcast in progress to concentrate on the panicky reactions of several listeners -- including a terrified mother (Eileen Brennan) who nearly kills her own children rather than allow them to fall into the tentacles of the Men From Mars. Advised of the panic, Welles is convinced that his career is over, but the ensuing publicity makes him nationally famous. As he absorbs the events of the evening, the hoodwinked radio fans crawl back sheepishly to the safety of their homes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) is kidnapped by mobster Bruno Roman (Barry Sullivan), but not for the usual reasons of ransom or revenge. Roman orders Ironside to conduct an investigation that will prove that the son of his chief rival (John Vernon) was the murderer of Roman's niece. This puts Ironside between the proverbial rock and hard place: If he doesn't prove that the boy was guilty, his life may be forfeit: If he does prove the boy's guilt, a bloody gangland war will tear San Francisco apart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This ridiculous '70s exploitation quickie is notable mainly for its casting: Bruce Dern toplines as the crazed doctor Girard, with Munsters star Pat Priest as his beleaguered wife and top-40 DJ Casey Kasem (who also lends his talents to various voice-overs throughout the film) as a medical colleague. Girard's semi-successful attempts at surgically attaching additional heads to various lab animals leaves him a bit unfulfilled, and it's no time at all before he goes about performing the operation on a human being. He chooses as his first subject his caretaker's simple-minded but kindly son Danny (John Bloom), onto whose massive shoulders he adds the head of a demented killer (Albert Cole) who was recently gunned down while trying to invade Girard's home. The result is less frightening than pitiful as the morose Danny's personality is subjugated to the evil will of his unwelcome new head, whose psychotic rage continues unabated in his hulking new physique. Shoddy effects, a cheesy (and horribly miscued) psychedelic score and laughably bad dialogue have ingratiated this film to many bad-movie buffs' top-ten lists. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The most horrifying part of this British spooker is seeing former clean-cut teen idol Frankie Avalon cast as Chris, a London hooligan who with his druggie friends decides to spend the night in a supposedly haunted house and hold a seance. The seance is a bust, so the buddies decide to do a little exploration and split up. Unfortunately, one of them gets brutally killed, leaving Chris and his surviving pals to wonder who did the deed. Was it one of them, or was it a monstrous demon? Not wanting to attract undue attention, the punks decide to hide the body, zip their lips, and split from the house. Unfortunately, the cops find out and begin questioning everyone, causing Chris and his friend to return to the house and look for clues. For poor Chris, it is a fatal mistake. Just for the record, though he plays a teen, Avalon was 30 years old when this film was made. In Britain the film was released as The Haunted House of Horror. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Film editor Bill Brame directed this standard juvenile-delinquent entry featuring a notable cast of exploitation veterans. Richard Beymer stars as a cash-strapped teenager named Dean, who is lured into the world of bikers and addicts by Link (Russ Tamblyn), a sadistic drug dealer. Dean's girlfriend Karen (Lana Wood) helps him smuggle marijuana from Mexico to Los Angeles to raise money, and things appear to be going well until they are involved in the murders of two federal agents (Jody McCrea, Lindsay Crosby). The frightened Dean wants out of the arrangement, but Link drugs him with LSD, attempts to roast him alive, and kidnaps Karen. Dean eventually comes down from his bad trip and rescues his beloved, leaving the hippies in the audience with a warning to avoid free marijuana. Casey Kasem and Warren Finnerty also appear in this odd drug film, which makes very little sense and meanders from one scene to another for no apparent reason. That may be understandable, considering that it took four credited screenwriters to make Free Grass filmable. Leads Tamblyn and Beymer had co-starred in West Side Story and would reunite on television for the cult series Twin Peaks. Brame directed The Cycle Savages the same year. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

A motorcycle gang fights a group of dune buggy enthusiasts for the right to occupy the Pismo Beach area. When the girlfriend of the buggy club's leader is raped, they retaliate and catch the bikers off guard during a drunken orgy. Graphic violence ensues. Don Epperson, Robert Dix, Casey Kasem and Terry Stafford are the more memorable names in this forgettable film which originally had an X-rating, but was later edited down to an R. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide