Film

Flesh Gordon

A 1974 sci-fi comedy that exists almost entirely as an elaborate sex joke, following a football player rocketing to an alien planet to stop an interdimensional libido weapon. It's aggressively silly, deliberately crude, and commits fully to its premise with rubber monsters and intentional double entendres. For viewers who appreciate unironic '70s exploitation and don't mind their comedy graphic and stupid.

TMDb rating2.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy deliberately juvenile, pun-soaked send-ups of old serial adventures and don't mind a joke that's been hammered flat for the cheap seats.

Skip it if the jokes are mostly crude wordplay and the budget shows in nearly every frame, so if you need sharp writing or polish, this will wear thin fast.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes of nonstop, shameless escalation, with innuendo arriving so often that a viewer must laugh at the groan as readily as the punchline.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Flash Gordon1980

The original serial adventure that inspired this parody—colorful, campy, and genuinely fun. Max von Sydow chews scenery as Ming, and the production design is bonkers in the best way.

But Deliberately theatrical and dated in a way that requires patience. Some find the pacing slow and the plot thin by modern standards.

Flash Gordon poster

The Kentucky Fried Movie1977

Sketch comedy with the same anarchic energy and '70s vibe. David Zucker and Jim Abrahams making anything-goes jokes with genuine wit underneath the chaos.

But Sketch films are uneven by design. Some bits land brilliantly, others fall completely flat. The humor is sometimes offensive in ways that can feel dated.

The Kentucky Fried Movie poster

Barbarella1968

Jane Fonda in a gorgeously stupid space adventure with the same commitment to camp excess. Campy, colorful, and genuinely inventive in its retro-futurism.

But The sexual politics are very 1968, and the plot is deliberately thin. It takes genuine commitment to embrace rather than cringe at its earnest silliness.

Barbarella poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Flesh Gordon

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Moonwalkers2015

Same basic plot engine—eccentric hero plus sidekick plus increasingly absurd obstacles—but filtered through a completely different sensibility and era, showing how the formula can work when refined.

A comedy built on the same 'elaborate prank to save the world' architecture. Ron Perlman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are terrific, and it's smartly constructed underneath the jokes.

But Tries to be serious at times, which undercuts the comedy. The tonal shifts mean it never fully commits to being either funny or consequential.

Moonwalkers poster
More like this (7)

Zapped!1982

Teen comedy with absurd supernatural elements and a gleeful disregard for taste. Scott Baio and Willie Aames commit fully to the stupidity, which is the whole point.

But Aggressively dumb in ways that can wear thin. The humor is repetitive and relies almost entirely on teenage-boy fantasy scenarios.

Zapped! poster

Up in Smoke1978

Cheech and Chong's feature debut—loose, funny, completely uninterested in plot coherence. Captures the anything-goes comedy spirit of the '70s.

But Essentially a sketch stretched to feature length. If you're not into their specific brand of stoner comedy, there's little else to latch onto.

Up in Smoke poster

The Rocky Horror Picture Show1975

Musical sci-fi camp that knows exactly what it is. Dense with detail, quotable, genuinely clever underneath the transgressive humor.

But Can feel precious or mannered if you're not willing to meet its theatrical energy. The cult-film aspect might make it feel like homework rather than fun.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III1993

A sequel that abandons all restraint and leans into time-travel absurdity with rubber costumes and dad jokes. Completely sincere in its silliness.

But The filmmaking is genuinely mediocre. The charm is entirely dependent on forgiving dated effects and nonsensical plotting.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III poster

Police Academy1984

Ensemble comedy that doesn't pretend to sophistication and makes no apologies for broad humor. Fast-paced, stacked with funny performers doing their thing.

But Relies entirely on slapstick and character gags. If that brand of comedy doesn't land for you, there's nothing deeper to discover.

Police Academy poster

Porky's1981

Teen sex comedy that's surprisingly well-made despite its crude subject matter. Fast, funny, and full of memorable set pieces and character moments.

But Very much a product of early-80s attitudes toward women and sexuality. Some jokes age poorly, and the premise is thin throughout.

Porky's poster

Possession1981

Both feature monsters, both are committed to practical creature design, both were barely coherent to audiences on release—but this one weaponizes absurdity and discomfort toward genuine psychological horror, showing the same tools deployed in completely opposite registers.

An alien creature film disguised as a fractured relationship drama. Surreal, genuinely disturbing, with production design as committed to excess as any exploitation film—but in service of genuine dread.

But Extremely bleak and sexually graphic in ways that are uncomfortable rather than titillating. The pacing is glacial and the emotion is heavy. Not fun, ever.

Possession poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by

Barbarella, Daydream, The Bride, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine