Wednesday, January 3, 2007

"I never really considered him a member, always thought he was more of a loner."

1984. Bad hair, bad clothes, bad jokes, all immortalized by bad movies. My compadre jokingly referred to The Party Animal, this celebration of the human libido, as not an 80's B movie, but more like a "80's C movie". Or maybe it was even a "D". Breast, profanity, breast, sex jokes, a great porn store scene, more breast, drugs, and more breast all create this jumbled, dreamlike sensation of a film.

Capturing the appeal that most find in the early films of say, PCU and Porkys, I would venture to say that while Party Animal lacks the memorable characters and cohesive plot development, it shines with a surrealness and complete absurdness that makes our modern films like Borat so memorable.

The idea is like many 80's sexploitation films: somewhat nerdy guy wants nothing more than to get laid. His sidekick, Studly, does his best to lead him to the ways of the woman but to no avail. Its only after a chemistry experiment goes wrong that our hero Pondo Sinatra is transformed into the party monster, a being whom no woman can resist.

What seperates this film from some of its peers is its rough edges, dreamlike qualities, and almost a level of intentional obscurity. Its wierd, stupid, gross, funny, sexy and completely 80's. A Punk rock soundtrack compliments the film with bands like the Buzzcocks, The Fleshtones, R.E.M., and the Untouchables. This is great fun to have around the house for that person in your life who thinks they've seen it all.