Haunted Honeymoon
Encyclopedia
Haunted Honeymoon is a 1986
comedy movie starring Gene Wilder
, Gilda Radner
, Dom Deluise
, and Jonathan Pryce
. Wilder also served as the film's writer and director. The film also marked Radner's final appearance prior to her death of ovarian cancer
in 1989.
Like many other theater "flops", however, it has grown a sizeable fan following due to home video.
film, The Old Dark House
.
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
comedy movie starring Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
, Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
, Dom Deluise
Dom DeLuise
Dominick "Dom" DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death and the father of: actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise; actor David DeLuise; and actor Michael DeLuise...
, and Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
. Wilder also served as the film's writer and director. The film also marked Radner's final appearance prior to her death of ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
in 1989.
Plot
Larry Abbot (Wilder) and Vickie Pearle (Radner) are radio stars in the Manhattan Mystery Theater who decide to get married. Larry has been plagued with on-air panic attacks and speech impediments lately since he proposed to Vickie. Vickie thinks it's just pre-wedding jitters, but his affliction could get them both fired. Larry's uncle, Dr. Paul Abbot, decides that Larry needs to be cured of his neurotic speech defect and exaggerated panic attacks. Paul decides to treat him with a form of shock therapy to "scare him to death" in much the same way someone might try to startle someone out of hiccups. Larry chooses the castle-like mansion located in rural upstate New York in which he grew up as the site for their wedding. There, Vickie gets to meet Larry's eccentric family: great-aunt Kate (Deluise), who plans to leave all her money to Larry; his uncle, Francis; and Larry's cousins, Charles, Nora, Susan, and the cross-dressing Francis Jr. Also present are the estate's butler, Pfister, and his wife, Rachel, the maid; Sylvia, Larry's old girlfriend who is now married to Charles; and Susan's magician husband, Montego the Magnificent. Paul decides this is the perfect opportunity to set his plan to "cure" Larry in motion and he gets the other family members in on the plan. Unfortunately for all of them, something else more sinister and unexpected is lurking at the Abbot Estates. The pre-wedding party becomes a real life version of Larry and Vickie's radio murder mysteries.Cast of characters
- Gene WilderGene WilderGene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
as Larry Abbot - Gilda RadnerGilda RadnerGilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
as Vickie Pearle - Dom DeLuiseDom DeLuiseDominick "Dom" DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death and the father of: actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise; actor David DeLuise; and actor Michael DeLuise...
as Aunt Katherine "Kate" Abbot - Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
as Charles "Charlie" Abbot - Bryan PringleBryan PringleBryan Pringle was a British actor who appeared in television, film and theatre productions.Born in Tamworth, Staffordshire but raised in the Lancashire town of Bolton he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1958, he married character actress Anne Jameson; together they had...
as Pfister, the Butler - Peter VaughanPeter VaughanPeter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts...
as Uncle Francis Abbot Sr. - Eve Ferret as Sylvia, Charlie's wife
- Paul L. SmithPaul L. SmithPaul L. Smith is an American character actor. Burly, bearded, and imposing, he has appeared in films and occasionally on TV since the 1970s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys...
as Dr. Paul Abbot, uncle - Julann Griffin as Nora Abbot, Paul's wife
- Jim Carter as Montego, the Magician
- Jo Ross as Susan, Montego's wife
- Roger Ashton-GriffithsRoger Ashton-GriffithsRoger Ashton-Griffiths is a British character actor, screenwriter and film director.He graduated from Lancaster University and the University of East London , and began his career as a singer with English National Opera at the London Coliseum.He has appeared in numerous high-profile films,...
as Cousin Francis Jr. - Billy J. Mitchell as Mickey, a cop
- R.J. Bell as Bill, a cop
- Ann WayAnn WayAnn Way was an English character actress in film and television. Born in Wiveliscombe, she began her career in repertory in Dundee in the 1960s....
as Rachel, Pfister's wife - Will Kenton as Imposter/Werewolf
- Alastair Haley as Little Larry
- Sally OsborneSally OsborneSally Osborne is a British film and television actress. She has appeared in a number of television series including Cribb, A Tale of Two Cities, King's Royal, The Duchess of Duke Street and Raffles.-References:...
as Mrs. Abbot (Larry's mother)
Reception
The movie was a financial flop only grossing $8,000,000 in America entering the box office at number 8, then slipping to 14 the following week. While Gilda Radner was struggling with cancer, she wrote the following about the film in her book It's Always Something: "On July 26, [1986] Haunted Honeymoon opened nationwide. It was a bomb. One month of publicity and the movie was only in the theaters for a week -- a box-office disaster."Like many other theater "flops", however, it has grown a sizeable fan following due to home video.
Trivia
Dom DeLuise's speech as he is coming down the stairs early in the film, "They were all godless here, all! They used to bring their women to this house, brazen lowly creatures, with their silks and satins. They filled this house with laughter and sin. Laughter and sin! Wicked men, blasphemous men, with their painted women! They reveled in the joys of fleshly love.....", was a partially direct quote from the classic 1932 James WhaleJames Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
film, The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
.