Hot Under the Collar

I just sat through the 1991 movie "Virgin High" and weren't particularly entertained by it, so I harbored zero expectations to this 1992 sequel titled "Hot Under the Collar". But with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to check it out.

The storyline in this 1992 sequel was as far out there as the storyline in the 1991 movie, yet at the same time they were quite similar. So writers Jerry Kaminski and Jeff Neill didn't exactly produce something new and innovative. Personally, I found that the writers were just re-using the theme from the first movie, so it was lazy and uninspiring writing. And the fact that the movie was every bit as devoid of comedy and entertainment value as "Virgin High" just made for another swing and a miss.

The only familiar faces on the cast list were Burt Ward and Melinda Clarke. Well, aside from Richard Gabai, Jeff Bowser and Kent Burden whom returned to reprise their characters from the 1991 movie "Virgin High". The acting performances in the movie were fair, despite the rubbish that was the script and storyline.

Not a milestone in comedy cinema, not even remotely. While I managed to sit through the 87 minutes that the movie ran for, I wasn't particularly entertained. And I can in all honesty say that this movie will never grace my screen a second time.

My rating of director Richard Gabai, whom also starred in the movie, lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

If you like a good B movie then you will like this film here written and directed by Richard Gabai. He even casted himself as a main character in the film. I found this absolutely funny and all of the women in the films were hot! If you like a good comedy then you will enjoy this because I happen to believe it is one of Richard Gabai's earlier works. Richard Gabai has worked with Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, and even Brink Stevens in Nightmare Sisters. Plus, they all worked together once again in Sorority Babes In The Slime Bowl O'Rama. These were the kind of films that I remember watching on USA UP ALL NIGHT! Then Mr. Gabai got back together with Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley to do Assault Of The Party Nerds and Assault Of The Party Nerds II The Pet Detective. So if you like any of these films then I know you will like Hot Under The Collar.

This is the sequel to "Virgin High" and revolves around the same premise. Nerdy horn-ball, Jerry tries to use hypnosis to get his girlfriend to have sex with him. This back fires and she ends up thinking she has had a religious calling and she joins a convent. Jerry and his buddies must dress up to infiltrate the convent and hypnotize his girlfriend into realizing what she's done. The film is hilarious and features a lot of catholic jokes, goofy mobsters and some brief nudity. Joe Toppe (aka Rajanesh Babakan)is adorable as a sweet gardener who gets mixed up with mobsters. Tane Mcclure gives another sultry performance as "Tiffany- the patron saint of jewelry". This movie also features a lot of Arby's references as did "Virgin High" and who doesn't like that? Finally it marks the film debut of Melinda Clarke who you all may know as the conniving seductress Julie Cooper on The O.C. as Jerry's girlfriend.

Hot Under the Collar is your classic b-movie. It has some fun parts, lot of dumb characters & very cheesy acting by most involved. One exception would by Melinda Clarke who stands out as the only actor here who just doesn't fit in, in that she is too good to be stuck in such a dumb movie. She plays a girl who, through hypnosis, leaves her boyfriend and joins a convent and becomes a nun-in-training. Her boyfriend, Jerry Kaminski (played by Richard Gabai), decides to get her out of there and, with the help of his friends, disguise themselves as priests and nuns, somehow fooling the actual nuns, to get in and break her hypnosis. That plot in and of itself is kinda stupid, but has it's fun parts. The sub-plot involving a nerdy guy who works in the convent to avoid a bunch of very inept crooks whom he stole diamonds from is just really really stupid. The crooks send in the head crook's mistress to locate/steal back the diamonds from the nerdy guy before the crooks themselves come to the convent when the plan doesn't go off as expected. Then the 2 stories intermix, which, of course, isn't a good thing, except for one particularly funny scene where Kaminski bumps into a Jackie Chan-wannabe which leads to a brief fight scene before they both realize that the Chan-wannabe is in the wrong movie (they compare scripts). Overall, I would only give this movie 5/10 stars and only recommend it to fans of Melinda Clarke, as she is the only good actor in this movie, or to those who just really love dumb b-movies.