D&P Productions, 1983

starring: Allen Garfield, Daniel Stern and Ed Begley Jr.

directed by: Allan Arkush

the plot: It’s New Year’s Eve at the Saturn Theater and the customary concert to end all concerts is set to go off without a hitch. When sleazy promoter Colin Beverly (Begley Jr.) steps in with a plan to buy and destroy the Saturn in favor of high-rise apartments, the club’s owner, Max Wolfe (Garfield), suffers a heart attack and it’s up to stage manager Neil Allen (Stern) and his scrappy crew of stage techs to ensure that the chaos of the evening is contained and that everything goes as planned. But that’s no easy task, between the wild musical acts and the meddling of Beverly and his duo of nefarious yes-men played by former teen idols Fabian and Bobby Sherman.

why it’s good: “Get Crazy” is a rock ’n’ roll riff on the classic day-in-the-life format pioneered by “Car Wash.” Absolutely every facet of this movie is bouncing off the walls and gleefully drowning in its own irreverence. Excess is the name of the game and every gag is played with balls-to-the-wall ferocity for maximum laughs. Though the main plot is fairly standard us-against-them fare, nearly the entire second act is a concert film featuring a crusty old bluesman, a gigantic new wave band that was never heard from again, Lee Ving of Fear and Malcolm McDowell doing his best Mick Jagger impression with John Densmore of The Doors on drums. What’s more, Lou Reed shows up playing a hilarious parody of himself. The entire picture seems like the natural evolution of “Rock and Roll High School,” which makes sense since director Allan Arkush also helmed that picture for Roger Corman. To call “Get Crazy” zany is a gross understatement. It’s as though the writers of “Saturday Night Live” teamed up with the creators of Mad Magazine to make a ridiculous rock and roll comedy. And the music is great, too.

why you should own it: “Get Crazy,” though largely forgotten by, well, everybody, is a film that begs for repeat viewings. Its 90-minute running time is barely enough room to contain a picture that packs more gags into every frame than 10 brand-X comedies combined. Further screenings reveal what you may have missed the first, second and third times around. You can also make a drinking game out of how many times the boom mike dips into the shot. Now for the bad news. “Get Crazy” came and went with hardly anyone noticing, and its VHS life wasn’t much different. It tragically slipped out of print and the original audio materials have since been lost, condemning the film to Hollywood oblivion. It only exists in exceedingly hard to find VHS prerecords and DVD bootlegs circulating among numerous gray market sellers online.