Electric Boogaloo: A Madcap Canonball Through Cannon Films

Okay, så picture this. It’s the 80s, and you’re plopped down in front of a pulsating TV screen in your cozy little apartment in Stockholm. You’re eagerly waiting to watch a new action-packed film filled with the kind of over-the-top sequences that make you question both physics and logic in equal measure. Now take that feeling and imagine a whole documentary fueled by that same bonkers energy. Welcome to *Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films*.

This film, directed by Mark Hartley, feels like a chaotic but thoroughly entertaining birthday party filled with stories about Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus—the Cannon Films masterminds who, let’s be honest, didn’t always color inside the lines. And they created absurdly brilliant flicks starring the likes of chuck ‘Norris, Sylvester Stallone, and who’s heard of anything normal when your film’s got Chuck Norris, right? It’s like every time they screamed “action,” they unleashed pure, unfiltered pandemonium onto the world.

Watching this documentary was like flipping through an old Fotoalbum I found at mormor’s pretzel factory (don’t ask)—racks of obscure but strangely beloved titles that were ingeniously ridiculous. It’s kind of fascinating how Cannon’s haphazard magic made them the “kings of schlock,” transforming the 80s zeitgeist into actual visual works. One moment I was laughing my head off, and the next, I was pondering if the creative chaos was an art form by itself—maybe?

You know what hit me—those Cannon days when a movie could just be so bad it was undeniably good. The film doesn’t shy away from failures either, showcasing that not everything with an explosion and a half-baked plot is pure gold. But sometimes, it’s worth it just for the nostalgic gut punch and the slightly bewildering joyride.

And even though you might end up as confused as my uncle Arne’s dog during a thunderstorm, “Electric Boogaloo” somehow charms you into that madness never seen since. It’s a scrappy love letter to cinema’s wild child era, and boy, does it make you miss rent-a-flick Fridays at the local video butik. So, grab your favorite Swedish snack, dim those retro lamps, and brace yourself for a trip through Cannon’s unconventional wonderland. Skål!

Check the trailer below