B-Movie Icons: ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper

Who can forget the kilt-wearing, loud-mouth professional wrestler from the hay-day of the WWF? Considered one of the all-time favorites among wrestling fans, Roderick George Toombs was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. What many people may not know is that he isn’t Scottish, but actually Canadian. Furthermore, he is an actor … and a quite experienced one at that. Piper has appeared in  28 movies,  with three more in production, and several television episodes, including The Highwayman, Silk Stockings, Highlander, RoboCop and The Outer Limits. Piper is a hard working actor, despite being recently diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer, Piper is not about to give in. In fact, he’s jumping back on the horse and kicking his career back into high gear. In honor of the once hated wrestler who’s become one of the most beloved pop-culture icons, here’s a look at  two movies he starred in that remain modern b-movie classics.

In Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987), Roddy Piper plays Sam Hell, one of the last few fertile men in a radioactive post-apocalyptic America. As a result of nuclear/biological war, America’s population has been left largely infertile and has also spawned a new mutant race of amphibio-humanoid creatures. Hell is imprisoned by a group of women who now run what’s left of America, attempting to repopulate their dying race. Hell is chosen to lead a mission to rescue a group of fertile women who were captured and forced into the harem of the leader of the frog-like mutants. Hell is reluctant to obey, but cannot escape. The women have attached an explosive device to his genitals which will explode if he gets too far from his guards. Frogtown is incredibly campy and a lot of fun. The special effects are bad, but are still good enough to be entertaining. The story is only minimally original, sort of a cheesy take on A Boy and His Dog, but nothing beats watching a movie like this late at night with a friend or two, popcorn and a couple of beers.

In They Live (1988), Piper plays Nada, a construction worker whose life isn’t going well. Nada finds a pair of sunglasses that he discovers have a special power. While wearing these sunglasses he  is able to see through the disguise of a large-scale alien invasion on Earth. Nada learns the aliens have planted subliminal messages everywhere, in publications, on billboards. He also learns the aliens walk amongst us in relatively large numbers, undetected. They are  disguised to look like us by some holographic alien technology. Nada knows he must do something, but doesn’t know how to convince others of the truth he’s learned. Nada meets up with Frank, played by veteran character actor Keith David (The Thing, Pitch Black), and the two engage in perhaps the longest fist fight ever caught on film. Once they’ve both fought to exhaustion, the two men decide to work together at exposing the alien secret to corrupt and take over the planet. They Live was directed by master of horror John Carpenter, so the movie is a step up from the typical b-movie that comprises the bulk of Piper’s film career. In a way, it was his big break early in his acting experience. Unfortunately, this would be the biggest role he would land in a motion picture.

‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper … Here’s to a full recovery and a new era of b-movie stardom. Keep Fighting!