Myopic Visions

Chris Mancini's short comedy films are difficult to appreciate individually, but almost lethal when taken together in this DVD anthology centering around three grueling bits of amateurish prattle. “Rainbow's End” features a trio of dumb gangsters who try to coerce a kidnapped leprechaun into handing over his pot of gold; “Hitclown” finds an assassin-for-hire and a birthday party clown accidentally switching bags and careers; and “Skins” revolves around a nerd who wears a “living suit” that creates a suave new identity for him that he grows to loathe. Mancini's films are basically one-joke setups that go nowhere, and the puerile nature of his productions (overstated acting, dull editing, mistaking black-and-white cinematography for art, etc.) makes this collection more of an endurance test than a discovery. A few “early films” included here are even worse, such as a juvenile spoof of COPS featuring no-nonsense sanitation workers (MOPS). As a bonus, Mancini himself turns up in a Sci-Fi Channel interview with Forrest J. Ackerman, the legendary publisher/historian with a mind-boggling collection of memorabilia, whose jovial presence offers the only genuinely satisfactory moments on this otherwise unexceptional DVD. Not recommended. Aud: P. (P. Hall)