As part of a bet with New World Pictures head honcho Roger Corman; producer Jon Davison, directors Joe Dante and Allan Arkush bet the "King of B-movies" they could produce a film on the cheap (the budget was reported to be $50,000) in a few days cribbing footage New World's other films in order to tell the story of a low-budget and low-brow movie studio called, Miracle Pictures (the studio's logo would be used by well-known B-movie director Jim Wynorski as an in-joke at the beginning of his 1988 remake of Not Of This Earth).

Right off the bat you know what to expect from Hollywood Boulevard when the opening scene has an exaggerated skydiving accident as a stunt woman plummets to the earth leaving a crater as the camera shakes upon her impact. That's right, we're not supposed to take this seriously.

Candice Rialson stars as Candy, a young girl who's come to Hollywood with dreams of becoming a big movie star. Naïve and new-to-town, Candy ends-up being duped to driving the getaway car for a bunch of bank robbers who have convinced her she's playing a role in a major studio movie. From there Candy decides to take on an agent and ends-up with the somewhat sleazy Walter Paisley (cult actor Dick Miller, playing a character with the Paisley name for one of numerous times - mostly due to the fact one of his first roles in A Bucket Of Blood his character had the name) who gets her a job as the replacement stuntwoman for the poorly run, and cheap, Miracle Pictures. Candy meets up with her director (Paul Bartel, who was actually working as a director for New World at the time) and gets into a battle of wills with Miracle's self appointed "diva" (Mary Woronov) as they make a series of chintzy films and Candy's "star" continues to rise.

Oh, and there's also somebody who's decided to kill off the cast and crew...

If you have any sort of interest in B-movie filmmaking or you're just a movie geek looking for a spoof of the industry then Hollywood Boulevard will entertain you. Blending footage from other flicks with their actors (most notably Death Race 2000, which Bartel directed and Woronov co-starred in), sporting oodles of skin, and even tossing in a Robot Monster joke; this is one chaotic comedy (this is most evident during the drive-in scene).

Taking an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach, directors Dante and Arkush have fun emulating every type of movie they can (they successfully recreate a slasher movie during the finale) and even have a cameo appearance by "Robby the Robot" (from Forbidden Planet). The results are decidedly messy and all over the place, but that's part of the films charm. It's cheesy, it's goofy, and it's entertaining - something that the sequel that followed thirteen years later had minimal success at doing.

Arkush would move on to direct Rock 'N Roll High School for Corman (starring The Ramones and P.J. Soles) as well as the unnecessary Caddyshack sequel before going onto a career in television directing, while Dante would create one of the 80's most beloved monster movies with Gremlins. Also keep an eye out as Jonathan Kaplan (who directed Unlawful Entry and The Accused among others) in a small role as effects guy, Scotty.

Followed by a sequel. (Chris Hartley, 6/5/06)

Directed By: Joe Dante, Allan Arkush.
Written By: Patrick Hobby.

Starring: Candice Rialson, Mary Woronov, Rita George, Jeffrey Kramer.