I wanted to ensure I rounded out the month with two more positive reviews, so I wanted to cover Chillerama now. As someone who has struggled with attention difficulties, anthology films are a blessing.
Chillerama: A Nostalgic Drive-In Horror Comedy That Hits and Misses
Shorter vignettes with a solid wraparound story do wonders to keep my attention piqued. I stumbled across Chillerama in college and became weirdly attached to it. The drive-in aesthetic and homage vignettes checked my boxes and tickled my brain.
But a recent viewing of my beloved college film left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Oh, and if you haven’t seen the film before, prepare for a few Ron Jeremy jump scares.
The Kaufman Drive-In is having its last hurrah. Cecil Kaufman (Richard Riehle) sold the drive-in and is throwing one final midnight movie marathon! Only this screening might have tragic consequences.
Full of killer sperm, Frankenstein’s monster, high school werewolves, way too much fecal matter, and the always dashing A. J. Bowen, this is Chillerama.
There are four (technically five) segments in Chillerama with Wadzilla (written and directed by Adam Rifkin), I Was A Teenage Werebear (written and directed by Tim Sullivan), The Diary of Anne Frankenstein (written and directed by Adam Green), and Zom-B-Movie/Deathication (written and directed by Joe Lynch). We’ll focus on one and a half of these segments for this piece.
My Favorite Segment: Wadzilla
Wadzilla follows Miles Munson (Adam Rifkin), a down-on-his-luck (romantically) man who visits Dr. Weems (Ray Wise) in the hopes of fixing his sperm count. But when Dr. Weems gives him a prescription for a drug that makes his sperm stronger, Wadzilla is born and ready to wreak havoc on New York City.
There are only a few quick things I wanted to mention about Wadzilla. First would be the excellent special effects by The Chiodo Brothers. Second is that Wadzilla is hands down the best segment in Chillerama. And third would be the absolutely hilarious addition of Eric Roberts as General Bukkake. The funniest thing about Eric Roberts in Wadzilla is when Wadzilla is blown up, and everyone gets covered in…it… meanwhile Eric Roberts is clean.
Well, there’s a stand-in for him, and it almost feels like he refused to get covered in wad. If Ray Wise is man enough to get covered in wad, then Eric Roberts should have been as well.
I Was a Teenage Werebear: A Campy Take on Identity and Sexuality
The main focal point of our piece today is Tim Sullivan’s I Was a Teenage Werebear. Werebear utterly transfixed me on my first viewing. This 60s-esque, pseudo-surf, campy teen, creature feature clawed its way into my heart.
Even though I didn’t fully relate to Ricky (Sean Paul Lockhart), I could relate to the struggle of finding my identity and understanding who and what I am. Sullivan’s soundtrack for Werebear, is full of catchy musical numbers that surprisingly don’t feel out of place.
I Was a Teenage Werebear follows Ricky, a young man who goes to a beachfront high school and is trying to force a relationship with Peggy Lou (Gabby West). Ricky meets the leather-clad Talon (Anton Troy) after a car accident renders Peggy with a (admittedly hysterical) brain injury.
As Ricky and Talon get closer, Ricky starts to see his life through a whole new lens. He just might be…a teenage werebear.
A Queer Horror Story That Falls Short in 2025
This segment plays with the dynamics of twinks and bears in a fun and unique way. It’s funny, charming, and an all-around interesting point of view on sexuality and finding yourself. Knowing that Tim Sullivan is openly gay makes this segment feel a bit less icky, but my latest rewatch of this film made me question how I felt about it.
At points, it feels reductive and grossly overwritten. The relationships between many of the characters are predatory and just plain weird.
Coach Tuffman (Tim Sullivan) plays a predatory figure in Ricky’s life. He takes advantage of Ricky when he’s at one of his lowest points, though the scene’s payoff is worthwhile. The idea of a predatory older gay teacher figure that Ricky (somewhat) looks up to (in a professional sense) feels like nothing more than Libs of TikTok fodder.
Adding to Ricky’s torment is a forced sexual assault scene from a ‘straight’ fellow student, and it is too much and supremely out of place.
Does Chillerama’s Provocative Art Provoke Discussion or Harm?
I can appreciate the story Tim Sullivan was trying to tell, but it just doesn’t seem to hold up in 2025. Even when it feels like it comes from a place of good faith, pieces like Werebear come off as Fox News-like, hateful art. Art should be provocative, and Chillerama is just that.
The only question is whether the art’s provocative nature leads to positive conversation or if it just aims to harm. There were many nostalgic moments during my recent rewatch of Chillerama, and I was happy that I revisited it. But the comedy and jabs feel incredibly late-aughts and edgy for edgy’s sake. I’ll leave the DVD on my shelf and occasionally dust it off…and nothing more.