SHANNON’S DRIVE-IN: NICE GIRLS DON’T EXPLODE

Shannon watches the ‘80’s comedy Nice Girls Don’t Explode, a movie on fire with its combustible jokes.

A young woman is cursed with the ability to start fires whenever men get too close to her.

Director: Chuck Martinez

Writer: Paul Harris

Stars: Barbara Harris, Michelle Meyrink, William O’Leary, Wallace Shawn

Paul Harris probably had Stephen King on the brain when writing the screenplay for the 1987 comedy Nice Girls Don’t Explode. On paper, it reads like a wacky sequel to Firestarter: a young woman’s emotions get the better of her whenever she goes on a date and lets those hormones run wild. Things randomly go up in flames around her and hijinks ensue. Also there’s a crazy, overbearing mother, reminiscent of Margaret White in Carrie.

But what if within the first ten minutes of the movie you find out that Mom is actually behind her daughter’s pyrokinetic powers, and I don’t mean genetically, but she makes her daughter think she has those powers in order for her not to leave her poor old mum behind whenever she meets a man?

April Flowers (Michelle Meyrink) is the girl in question, meek and living with her mom (Barbara Harris) and their orange cat Fluffy. Since April’s childhood, Mom has been starting fires and explosions around April in order to lead her to believe she has pyrokinesis. When childhood friend Andy (William O’Leary) comes back into her life, they date in spite of April’s fears of her fire-starting curse.

What transpires is a movie full of sight gags involving random stuff bursting into flames and Fluffy flying off into the air. Also character actor/hobbit-man Wallace Shawn shows up as a pyromaniac named Ellen, leading to tired jokes involving characters mispronouncing his name. The humor is hit and miss, sometimes going too broad to be clever, but there are some jokes that land.

The movie can be charming at times, but also drags as more and more fire gags get thrown at you. It aims to be goofy, but the strange thing is the story concept is more in line with a dark comedy. Mom is a manipulative character with abandonment issues which drive her to do what she does; the light-hearted tone makes it a very bizarre watch (also the ending credits sequence carries on the weird darkness the story suggests, showing Mom still meddling in April and Andy’s lives). Director Chuck Martinez made a movie that looks like a 1980’s John Waters movie. From the kitsch of the sets to the characters, there’s enough here that evokes that feeling. However, a John Waters movie would have leaned more into the dark humor and satire of the story instead of turning it into a live-action cartoon.  

Nice Girls Don’t Explode has some entertainment value. It’s definitely of its time; a goofy lost ‘80’s comedy where some of the plot points didn’t age well. Some might argue it should have stayed lost; others, like Tubi, will suggest this as your next watch.

Shannon Grant is a writer, performer, adventurer, and horned cryptid living in the wilds of upstate New York. Her work can be found in many small press anthologies such as A Guide to Useless Sidekicks, Catskill Chaos, and The Lizzie Borden House Anthology. She is currently at work on a vampire novella. When not writing, she can be found haunting drive-in movie theaters, karaoke bars, and looking for ghosts in the woods.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.