Matinee (1993)

(On TV, July 1998) Who would have thought to combine nostalgia for the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962 with an examination of B-grade horror movies of the same era? Director Joe Dante, that’s who. John Goodman is great as a horror-movie producer peddling his latest movie (“Mant!”) to a small Key West city. In fact, he’s so much fun (along with the fake movie itself) that the various adventures of the teen characters become more of an intrusion than an integral part of the movie. Uneven, but worth a look. Matinee‘s social commentary about horror movies does not go much further than a Stephen King essay, but is unusual to see in a Hollywood product.