Nothing But Trouble (Film Review)

1991 Warner Bros.
Written and Directed by: Dan Aykroyd
Starring: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and Demi Moore
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 93 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 4/10

Chevy Chase and Demi Moore meet at a party and decide to take a business trip drive together. Two of Chase's Brazillionaire friends tag along. The quartet take a detour from the coast and wind up driving through a miserable rural coal town named Valkenvania. Chase is pulled over for speeding, and the local judge, an absolutely hideous old man, dislikes his snarky attitude. Soon, the four are locked in a basement, and find the old house and junkyard they're trapped in is a graveyard for hundreds of past offenders who have received the death penalty from the nasty old judge. Can these four escape before their own murderous sentence is delivered?
I just made 1991's Nothing But Trouble sound far less bizarre and unhinged than it actually is. That judge is played by wily writer/director, Dan Aykroyd, buried beneath layers of disgusting prosthetics, including a penis-shaped nose. Aykroyd also plays a morbidly obese, enormous and nearly nude baby who lives at the junkyard with his equally enormous baby brother. John Candy, collecting a check, and I'll allow it because it's John Candy, stars as both the judge's grandson AND his granddaughter. And how are offenders in Valkenvania executed? They're placed on a murderous rollercoaster called Mr. Bonestripper.
Nothing But Trouble works best if the viewer has no idea what they're getting into. Sorry, I already ruined that. It's not a very good movie, but it would at least have a larger cult following if it had just a little more horror atmosphere. It plays the surreal and bizarre too straight, to its detriment. As such, I can't recommend it past a curious one-time watch.