Grindhouse Weekly – ‘Rock N Roll High School’

Alan Arkush’s 1979 cult classic Rock N Roll High School offers up everything you could ever want in a campy goofball comedy.  On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a shameless promotion for The Ramones, but time has been good to this film and it set the stage for a slew of copycats. It’s frantic, zany, and completely ridiculous in the best ways possible.  Though it was released in ’79, this is the movie that rang in the 80s.

The film revolves around Riff Randell (P.J. Soles) and Kate Rambeau (Dey Young) as they navigate through high school life, trying to find love and thwart the ever-present rock hating authority.  After a new principal gets brought in to keep the kids in line, the students must band together with The Ramones and rule the school.

The first thing that simply must be mentioned about this movie is that haters of The Ramones need not apply.  The film is filled to the brim with Ramones tunes and the band members themselves also play a large part in the movie itself.

The plot plays out like a cross between Animal House and A Hard Day’s Night, only with more exploding mice.  While Animal House may have been the de facto standard for party movies, Rock N Roll High School upped the ante and added in the ridiculous nonsensical craziness that we would go on to see in so many more 80s

movies. That isn’t to say that this is better or even on the same level as Animal House, however. While it may be a cult favorite and a fun watch, it’s hard to say this is actually a good movie. That being said, this an Oscar contender compared to the 1991 sequel Rock N Roll High School Forever starring Corey Feldman.

On a performance level, everyone overacted everything and did their best to be completely ridiculous.  Some notable performances include Clint Howard as a young, balding teenager and an uncredited role from Joe Dante, future director of Gremlins and one of my all time favorites, The ‘Burbs. Unfortunately, while The Ramones are fantastic musicians, they are not the best actors and provide the worst line delivery of the movie.

If you’re a fan of The Ramones and madcap antics, than this is definitely the movie for you.  Though most of the comedy falls into the “laughably bad” category, there’s still enough camp here to warrant a recommendation for music fans and cult film fan alike.  For your own good, just stay far away from the sequel.