A movie following the exploits of a corpse sounds like essential Halloween viewing.
But the cult classic Weekend at Bernie’s hits Netflix on Sunday, Nov. 1, one day after the macabre holiday.
Released in July 1989, Weekend at Bernie’s features Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy as two low-level employees at an insurance company invited to their boss’ Long Island beach house during Labor Day weekend.
They arrive to find their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser), has died, and spend the rest of the weekend trying to convince people he’s alive while dodging a hitman.
Weekend at Bernie’s received mixed reviews from critics but made more than $30 million at the U.S. box office.
“I mean, that movie was completely stupid and fantastic,” McCarthy told The A.V. Club, as quoted by Mel Magazine. “It’s the stupidest movie. I love it. I love Bernie’s.”
Director Ted Kotcheff wrote in his memoir, Director’s Cut: My Life in Film, that he liked the idea of two guys who are so determined to party that it doesn’t matter that their host is dead.
“I thought it was not only hilarious, but also dark and full of comedic and satirical possibilities,” he wrote, as quoted by Mel.
Most of the film was shot in North Carolina and the cast and crew spent plenty of time lounging by the pool, Kiser said. But it wasn’t completely painless.
“I broke three ribs during the course of the filming,” he told Mel. “I had a nerve in the back of my neck press down that was causing violent dizziness when they kept dropping me on the couch on my head. I got battered up. There was a couple of days they had to carry me to the set and put me in position.”
Weekend at Bernie’s has become a cult hit that even spawned a sequel in 1993 that didn’t do as well at the box office.
Regardless, it did little to dampen the appeal of the original.
“I’m thrilled and shocked and confused that this little movie that we made 25 years ago has turned into a cult (hit),” Silverman told Larry King. “When we made it, I was lucky just to have the job. I had no idea people would find it amusing. It’s about a guy who dies on page 20, and we drag him around the Hamptons for the rest of the weekend. But it made people laugh.”
