This is now my fourth consecutive review of a cheerleader movie following The Cheerleaders, The Swinging Cheerleaders, and Revenge of the Cheerleaders. It's also the third in a row of a movie that features one Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith. She plays Roxanne here (though I don't remember her name ever being called in the film) and unlike the last two, she's not starring, only supporting or maybe "a glorified cameo" would be more like it since her appearances don't really have to do with the main action. The main cheerleaders featured here are Sally (Lisa Reeves) and Laurie (Jennifer Ashley). Sally is the blonde one who was once involved with Duane (Bill Adler) but then falls for one football player named Johnnie (Robert Carradine in a role much different from his later familiar one in Revenge of the Nerds!). Laurie is the brunette one who eventually warms to fellow pigskin player Jesse (Michael Mullins). Jessie himself previously liked to fool around as he does with Roxanne and a car hop girl named Sue Ann (Susan Player) before getting involved with Laurie. Unlike the other cheerleader movies I previously reviewed, the sex-while there-isn't emphasized too much. In fact, while The Cheerleaders was a sex farce through and through, The Swinging Cheerleaders went back and forth between comedy and drama, and Revenge of the Cheerleaders was a contrived chaotic mess, The Pom Pom Girls seemed more life-like in presenting the teen hijinks and seeing how some friendships and relationships develop overtime despite some still contrived moments like the football game devolving into a free-for-all fight! And, yes, some scenes do borrow from some classic movies like the "chicken run" that does have a character mention James Dean and his Rebel Without a Cause. My favorite was a food fight scene that has Carradine and Adler taking their time in Laurel-and-Hardy slow burn-like fashion. Oh, and the '70s music soundtrack sounds just like the kind of songs one would hear on AM radio in those days. It should be noted that Crown International Pictures-perhaps one of the most successful of the drive-in distributors-was responsible for this and they always made many quite enjoyable B-type movies of this genre like Malibu Beach (which also featured Susan Player) and The Van (which also featured Bill Adler). Oh, and the director of this may surprise you if you're more familiar with his suspense movies like The Stepfather or Sleeping with the Enemy: Joseph Ruben! He also co-wrote it. Actually, the ending scene may clue you in of his talents there. Anyway, I really enjoyed The Pom Pom Girls so, yeah, that's a recommendation.
