National Lampoon's Animal House

My favorite comedy and one of the all-time greats.Perhaps more memorable one-liners than any other movie.My fave lines were by Dean Wormer concerning "double secret probation" and his verbal chastisement of John "Bluto" Blutarski.... "Mr. Blu....MISTER BLU-TARSKI!!! ZERO POINT ZERO!!!!!" My regards for the late comic genuis with the 0.0 GPA.

There was American Graffiti a few years earlier but Animal House set a standard of frat pack comedies with tits and ass that we still see today with the American Pie films.

The film is set in the early 1960s as the college Dean Vernon Wormer wants to remove the Deltas from the campus due to repeated conduct violations and low academic achievement. Of course the Deltas will include almost anyone in their house and is a haven for misfits in contrast to the Omegas who are clean cut, smug, privileged as well as exclusive who will have nothing to do with people who are fat, ugly, poor or coloured.

The screenplay and comedy was fresh for the time and the characters played by Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce have been imitated by others since then. In fact Tom Hanks very much copied Matheson's character in the 1980s.

Used sparingly John Belushi gives the loudest and wildest performance as Bluto and it all ends up in chaos in a parade where the Deltas have a rogue float that causes havoc.

Animal House has a messy, manic energy which its cast runs with as they know at least which direction they are heading. They blazed a trail for what followed but this film got there first.

If you have only seen this movie on TV, you have not really seen this movie. One of the best movie experiences of my life was seeing this movie in the theater with a full house of college students. I have never heard an audience laugh so hard, and I was laughing with them. That experience can never be recaptured. I don't know why this movie doesn't make the midnight movie tour in college towns. That way it might have some of the same impact. Also when it came out in 1978 it is hard to explain how big John Belushi was unless you were there and saw it first hand. It's still funny on the small screen, but only if you see it uncut. Never watch it on a network, they cut out most of the jokes!

Yep, it must be Animal House!

The classic frat comedy of all time. A simple story of college life for a bunch of delinquents who seek solace with a an endless supply of beer, toga parties and loads of young girls.

It doesn't matter that the Delta House (the home of said delinquents), continually fail to pass their exams, for them sex & booze is all what life is about.

The movie is a perfect vehicle for Saturday Night Live star, John Belushi, who is allowed to show off his considerable talent as the biggest sicko of the Delta bunch - check out his impression of a Zit!!

But he is well supported by Tom Hulce, and surprisingly Donald Sutherland as the hippy professor with wayout theories.

Able actor, John Vernon, plays the Principle of the college and often the butt of the Delta House: finding a horse in his office is a classic piece of farce!

All in all, the film hangs together very well with a good script and superb visual jokes. John Landis must have a wild college life himself when he made this.

***/*****

One of the most entertaining aspects about NLAH is reading the naysayer reviews. Reviews are certainly subjective, but unfortunately the hilariously bad reviews come from viewers who simply don't get it. Especially the viewers who saw it on TV. They probably are not a lot of fun at parties, either.

This reviewer gives the film an eight for comic relief and for hurting some feelings.