Compare/Contrast: Stacey (1973) vs. Malibu Express (1985)

 Life is weird.

So the first Film I watched by Andy Sidaris (Malibu Express) turns out to be a Remake of Stacey, the last Film by Andy Sidaris I watched (and will watch, since I've seen them all now!).

Make sense?

Let's see how they are different and alike...

VS

The first big change is that Express has a Male Lead.  Said Lead would later be weirdly-retconned as an Actor in a Film, making Express a Film-within-a-Film.

As a bonus, Seven would also have its Poster shown in a Film, despite a Character from THAT Film being brought back in Picasso Trigger.

Anyhow, Sybil Danning hires him for the job, as opposed to the Grandmother.  She looks better in the dress than Grandma would!

Express also has a Subplot involving a Redneck Family (in California) that keeps challenging our Lead to Races.

Yeah, I don't miss that in Stacey.

A big change, as noted, is that Stacey is not in Express.

In her place, in nearly the same Scene is a Racecar Driver who's last name is 'Khnockers.'

Weird to see the '70s Version being arguably more progressive.

Also missing in full detail is the extent of the blackmail angle with the Husband.

In Stacey, it is just that he was Gay in secret and went to Clubs (like Ed Koch or Roy Cohn).
In Express, he dresses in drag (which doesn't inherently make you gay, of course).

Either way, our Heroine/Hero is still a mean shot...eventually.

In Stacey, we learn that the Daughter in with 'the wrong crowd' killed the blackmailing Chauffeur.

In Express, we learn that...until we learn that it was a lie.
In a twist, it was Danning all along, who confesses to it (once she's out of the Country) via cassette tape to our Hero.

Of course, the Tape explodes like in Mission: Impossible to boot.

So how do they match up?

Stacey is alright, but kind of boring.  The extra bits of silly and flourish that we get in Express certain liven things up.  Adding Sybil Danning is always a plus too.

The extra Comedy Bits aren't always winners though, so as far as quality is concerned, there's an edge to Stacey.

It's like picking the best of the about-to-expire Meat though.

I hope this makes it clear that I didn't just randomly picking Body Snatchers and then an Andy Sidaris Film.  There's sometimes a rhyme to my reason.

I'm only a little bit crazy.

Andy Sidaris Films are never great, but they can be real fun.  Go with the more fun version, thanks to and in spite of its flaws.