''Munchie Strikes Back'' is a 1994 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by

Jim Wynorski Jim Wynorski (born August 14, 1950) is an American screenwriter, film director, director, and film producer, producer. Wynorski has been making B-movies and exploitation movies since the early 1980s, and has directed over 150 feature films. His ...

and written by Wynorski and R. J. Robertson, as a sequel to ''

Munchie ''Munchie'' is a 1992 comedy film directed by Jim Wynorski. The film stars Andrew Stevens, Loni Anderson, and Jennifer Love Hewitt in her film debut. The film was released in Tennessee on May 15, 1992. Plot Gage Dobson is a young boy dealing wit ...

''. While

Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, producer, chef, and author. Known primarily for his comedic performances, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows ...

provided the voice of Munchie in the first movie, this time it was done by

Howard Hesseman Howard Hesseman (February 27, 1940 – January 29, 2022) was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on ''Head of ...

Synopsis

Because of the repercussions left from his last adventure, Munchie must appear before a celestial court presided over by Kronus. The tribunal proceeds to blame Munchie for a number of historical calamities, including the sinking of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

, the crash of the '' Hindenburg'', the cataclysm of

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9 ...

and the meltdown of

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...

. As punishment, he is sentenced to help single mother Linda McClelland. Linda's son, Chris, is the only one who can see Munchie and Munchie and he become best friends. Chris is the pitcher of a

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization girl next door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is so named because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later often ...

, Jennifer. While out of town on a business trip, Linda's boss makes improper advances to her. When she refuses his advances, he fires her. This creates financial hardship on the family. Munchie intervenes in their lives, making it so Chris has a perfect game and impresses Jennifer, and Linda finds a bag of money to prevent eviction. Munchie appears back before the tribunal, who assign his next punishment...to help

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Partial cast

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in t ...

as Linda McClelland *

Andrew Stevens Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor. Early life Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens. Ca ...

as Shelby Carlisle *

as Munchie (voice) *

Angus Scrimm Angus Scrimm (born Lawrence Rory Guy; August 19, 1926 – January 9, 2016) was an American actor, author, and journalist, known for his portrayal of the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film '' Phantasm'' and its sequels. Early life Scrimm was born ...

as Kronas *

John Byner John Byner (born John Biener; June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film career. His voice work includes the cartoon series ''The Ant and the Aardvark'', in which the title characte ...

as Coach Elkins *

Steve Franken Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012) was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years. Career Franken, the son of a Hollywood press agent, was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Corne ...

as Professor Graves *

Natanya Ross Natanya Beth Ross (born October 4, 1981, in Asbury Park, New Jersey) is an American actress who is most famous for playing Robyn Russo, a regular character in ''The Secret World of Alex Mack''. Ross first got her start in TV by doing a commercial ...

as Jennifer *

Toni Naples Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

as Newscaster *Trenton Knight as Chris McClelland *Ace Mask as Mr. Poyndexter *Cory Mendelsohn as Brett *Antonia Dorian as Cleopatra *Jamie McEnnan as Gage Dobson

Critical response

Reviewers generally found the movie a poor sequel to ''

''. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' offered that ''Munchie Strikes Back'' "turns an annoying, no-budget children's movie into an annoying, no-budget children's series," and in considering the film's attempts at humour, wrote the film "is the sort of ill-considered comedy in which a Little League team can be named the '

Hillside Strangler The Hillside Strangler, later the Hillside Stranglers, is the media epithet for one, later discovered to be two, American serial killers who terrorized Los Angeles, California, between October 1977 and February 1978, with the nicknames originating ...

s', and big laughs are expected from the sight of a woman kicking a dog." ''X-Entertainment'' was only slightly less harsh, with its review saying, "The series saw its last hurrah in the movie we're reviewing today, 1992's ''Munchie Strikes Back''. Assuming that at least some of you have seen ''Munchies'', throw away everything you think you know about the lore. The last two films were entirely different and strictly for kids. It's for this reason that I'm having trouble calling this pile of shit a pile of shit — putting myself in the mindset of a seven-year-old, it's not too terrible. Can't really recommend it as fodder for your bad movie nights (stick with the original for those), but if you've ever wanted 80 minutes' worth of Howard Heeseman voicing the poor man's ALF, ''Munchie Strikes Back'' caters to your unique and pitiful whim." John Stanley gave the film one-and-a-half stars, denouncing it as a watered "down kiddie fantasy from the Roger Corman factory..."John Stanley, ''Creature features: the science fiction, fantasy, and horror movie guide'' (2000)
354

References

External links

* * {{Jim Wynorski 1992 films American comedy films Films directed by Jim Wynorski Puppet films Films produced by Roger Corman 1990s English-language films 1990s American films