“Class Action Park” HBO Max Original Movie Review by Brooke Daugherty : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Class Action Park” HBO Max Original Movie Review by Brooke Daugherty

September 13, 2020 9:33 am |

Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey was a “rip your face off” kind of amusement park. Except the rides probably could rip your face off–literally.

If you can’t drive by a car accident without looking, Class Action Park on HBO Max is for you. If the park had stayed open, the next ride would surely be demolition derby. Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey was a “rip your face off” kind of amusement park. Except the rides probably could rip your face off–literally. As stories go, the one of Action Park is one so wild it needs to be seen to be believed. As documentaries go, parts are a bit lackluster, but are made up for by the incredible story.

Seth Porges & Chris Charles Scott III both directed and produced the documentary. There really doesn’t seem much to it as the story tells itself through interviews with former patrons and workers. They use archival footage with crudely drawn cartoons to fill out the between talking head segments. Some former guests of Action Park should look familiar. If you watch Mysteries at the Museum, you will recognize director Seth Porges as one of their commentators. John Hodgeman narrates the extreme and extraordinary tale of the park.

The documentary begins with tales from the park and about owner “Uncle” Gene Mulvihill. Not only did he create an extreme park, he also used his extreme ideas to make it run how he wanted. Since no insurer would insure a park with looped waterslides and battle tanks, Mulvihill began a fake insurance company to insure the park to satisfy his lease. He then used that company to launder money. There were many accidents and at least six deaths in the park Mulvihill tried to suppress, some he succeeded at by shifting blame.

Then the documentary shifts to the first person to die at the park, George Larsson Jr., who flew off a track sled and fatally hit his head on rocks Mulvihill was told to remove just weeks before. We meet Larsson’s family and hear about his tragic death. We also learn the ride he died on stayed open, as well as the other fatal amusements.

Watch this documentary for the insane and horrific stories.

PCL Rating: High Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅