Lidsville Review Score: 7/10 | Date Posted: February 3rd 2005 In: DVD Reviews Starring: Butch Patrick Directed by: Various Released by: Rhino Home Video Lidsville DVD Review by Rees Savidis Sweet merciful crap! It’s official, folks…I’m terrified right now. Do you ever sit around your house, wondering what it would be like to take equal amounts of micro-dot acid and mushrooms, then wash the whole works down with a liberal dose of mouthwash and Sudafed? Well wonder no longer, the effects would be something akin to watching Lidsville. I’m a big fan of Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land Of The Lost, so when the opportunity arose for me to spin one of their earlier shows for review, I jumped at it. Now, I sit in my room, drenched in a filthy, viscous sweat, knees tucked close to my chest, rocking back and forth muttering passages from some edition of The Bible I never knew I read. I’m afraid, folks. I think THEY’RE coming for me! Lidsville concerns a young man by the name of Mark who, one night, after watching a magic show, decides to sneak back into the magicians’ tent to steal a look inside his top-hat. As young Mark approaches the magical hat, it suddenly begins to grow to the size of a Volkswagen. Naturally, Mark decides to climb atop the hat and, against his will, stumbles into it, thrusting him through a trippy vortex and dumping him in the middle of… Lidsville, a strange, bong-hit fueled land, populated by oversized hat people, all taking on the personalities of their hats. Weird shit? Yup, you betcha’ partner! Best part is, all of this takes place over the opening credits, complete with a folks-y tune that might have been sung at a Mansion family barbeque. Once the credits wrap up…pure, unbridled insanity ensues. Our hero, Mark, winds up hooking up with the cool cats that live in Lidsville, helping the oversized hat-folk to fend off the evil Horatio W. Hoo Doo and his band of semi-retarded minions…who, also happen to be oversized hat-folk. Sound’s warped, huh? Well it is. The strangest thing about it though, is that I actually found myself drawn into this insane world…almost like I couldn’t escape. That would probably explain my current embarrassing state of paranoia and terror sweats. This is the sort of show cultists should screen at new member meetings while trying to explain to potential prospects how their leader is able to actually speak to Jesus H. Christ using an everyday, ordinary rotary phone. I would show Lidsville to people I wanted to fear me…it would be a powerful tool indeed. The military could use this show as some sort of weapon, setting up huge screens on the battlefield, gathering enemy troops together and then WHAM-O!...they’d be dancing around nude, singing the opening song, throwing feces at each other. I think it would be gangbusters. We’d win instantly. Surrender now, or we’ll unleash Project Lidsville on your democratic-hating asses! Shhh…wait, I think I just smelled someone outside my window. God, please be quiet, they can hear fear you know. What’s that? Oh, God no, they’re at my door…I can hear them snickering behind it. It’s too late for me. Save yourselves. They’re almost inside now…they’re breaking through…the snickering is growing louder, it’s filling my soul, turning my hope of getting out of this alive into a painful realization that this is my end. Is this is how it all ends for me? My God, why? Get away from me you crazy hat son-of-a-bitch! Nooooooooooooo! VIDEO / AUDIO PRESENTATION For a show that was produced in 1972, this DVD is amazing! This is a very clean and clear transfer with eye-popping color, a great job by the fine folks at Rhino. I don’t know what a real talking hat would sound like, but the audio on this DVD set is perfectly acceptable. SUMMERY If, by some cosmic stroke of genius, Ted Nugent, Judas Priest, Dio and John Williams joined forces to play a concert on the surface of the Sun, using instruments made from the bones of Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee while fighting off throngs of Japanese zombies driving death-machine cars from Warriors Of The Wasteland and Death-Race 2000…I still think Lidsville would prove to be weirder. It’s almost perfectly strange, like…hell, I don’t know. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Seriously, I think Lidsville is worth a look, especially if you’re a fan of Sid and Marty’s brand of insanity. No really, seriously though, be afraid. End Transmission.

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