Rent Jabberwocky (1977)

A Quest into Pure Chaos - Jabberwocky review by griggs

I was hoping that, being a post-Monty Python film, Jabberwocky would give Terry Gilliam more room to experiment, freed from the egos of the other five. Instead, what starts out feeling like it might spoof the classic quest tale ends up as pure chaos. Michael Palin meets a string of Carry On regulars and sitcom stars from the '60s and '70s, but the novelty wears thin fast. What begins as organised madness collapses into noise; unfortunately, not much of it is funny.

A cavalcade of the uncouth and grotesque - Jabberwocky review by NP

I’m sorry to say I've always found Monty Python to be massively unfunny: lots of smug men putting on silly voices don’t really make me laugh. There are shades of that approach in ‘Jabberwocky’, and this has many connections with that team. It is, however, different enough for me to want to see it, and I'm glad I did – the world here has echoes of Mervyn Peake’s ‘Gormenghast’, and that lifts my appreciation greatly.

This is a cavalcade of the uncouth and grotesque, the unrespectable and debauched, with only Michael Palin's Dennis Cooper displaying much in the way of decency. Joining him in this relentless onslaught of the unpleasant and the unwashed is a terrific cast including Max Wall, John le Mesurier, Warren Mitchell, Bernard Bresslaw, Annette Badland and Graham Crowden. It's the bawdiest of romps, a bit full-on but lots of fun, but not something I imagine I'll be watching again for a while. My score is 6 out of 10.