The Nutt House (1992)

Starring Stephen Kearney, Traci Lords, Robert Trebor, and Barry Livingston.  Cinematography by Bernd Heinl. Edited by Michael Mulconery and Walt Mulconery.  Produced by David Rotman and Brad Wyman.  Written by Alan Smithee Jr., Alan Smithee Sr., Peter Perkinson, and R.O.C. Sandstorm. Directed by Scott Spiegel.

Nathan and Philbert Nut are identical twins who were separated at birth. Philbert has become a powerful and influential member of society and has recently accepted a nomination for President of the United States. Nathan suffers from a multiple personality disorder that leads him to believe that he is, amongst other things, an acrobat, a cowboy, and the Terminator.  When Nathan discovers that he has an estranged sibling he escapes from captivity and sets out to find him. When the two brothers finally see each other for the first time since birth, chaos, quite literally, ensues.

Before we get into the meat of the synopsis, perhaps we should begin with a short history lesson in American filmmaking. If you will note in the film’s credits listed above, there is mention of a screenwriter named “Alan Smithee”. The name “Alan Smithee” is, in fact, a pseudonym used in the film industry to provide anonymity to an individual who has requested that their name be stricken from the project.

Now generally the filmmaking guilds require that their members take credit for their work however bad it may be, but in the rare event that a writer, director, or producer feels that they have lost their creative input in a film, they can request that their name be replaced with “Alan Smithee”. The alias was first used on the 1969 film Death of a Gunfighter.  When Robert Totten, the film’s original director, left the film due to creative differences, Don Siegel picked up where he left off.  But Siegel didn’t feel that he directed enough of it to earn his own credit. 

So the Director’s Guild of America compromised by allowing the credit to be replaced with the pseudonym “Alan Smithee”.  The name remained an industry secret for many years, but the true meaning was eventually exposed with the 1997 film Burn Hollywood Burn which subtitled itself as “An Alan Smithee Film”.  The DGA has subsequently changed its official method of disownership to “Thomas Lee”, which was first used the replace Walter Hill’s credit on the 2000 film Supernova.

With all of that in mind, you may be wondering just who is hiding behind the comedic mishap, The Nutt House.  Well, it’s none other than our friends at Renaissance Pictures; Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Scott Spiegel, and Bruce Campbell.  The group teamed up with director Adam Rifkin, but the final result was significantly less than satisfactory.

The boys promptly had their names removed from the lifeless project and have disassociated themselves from it ever since. And they’re obviously not the only ones who thought so lowly of the picture; in fact it took almost three years from the time production wrapped to the time it was quietly leaked out to the American video market. In the tradition of Crimewave, The Nutt House offers a horn of plenty of slapstick and offbeat comedy, but ultimately comes off as a jumbled mess of confusion.  Raimi is right to forget this ugly stepchild.

Budget: $???

Total US Gross: $???

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 90 Minutes

US Release Date: 7/5/95 (video premiere)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Awards: none

Tagline: Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut… Sometimes You Are…

Quote: “???”