King Frat

I remember watching King Frat when I was growing up. My brother used to rent it all the time. It was so tasteless and just so totally gross that I fell in love with the movie. It's not easy to get a copy of it but I finally came across a copy on EBay and gladly paid $50 for it. Sure it's an Animal House clone but in my opinion, it puts Animal House to shame. John DiSanti plays the perfect slob and all of his fellow "Pi Kap" brothers are just as revolting. It's not something you'd want to watch with the children but for a good laugh, you have to go far to top King Frat.

Whether this movie is supposed to be a spoof of "Animal House" or just a cheap rip-off, it doesn't work on many levels, except for gross humor. Anyone who enjoyed "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" might actually find it funny. And one senses there may be a funny movie underneath fighting to get out -- but not fighting too hard.

The frat-house, one of the most disgusting sets every built, is not so much a setting as a central area from which the frat members go out on tangents. Some of the plotlines are very good -- such as the new kid's romance. Some, such as the member in the gorilla suit climbing a tree to stare into a sorority, has some funny ideas. But even the best ideas in this movie tend to fail in execution. It's not a good movie by any yardstick . . . but it means well, and is good-natured. There's not a mean bone in its body.

The girls are inordinately attractive for this level of film-making -- but most of the attractive ones manage to keep their clothes on.

I've rented quite a number of videos of "King Frat" over the years in different boxes with different labels, released many years apart (even Canadian versions) but it's never shown in a full version. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AMBULANCE SCENE? Only a few seconds are missing, but they're vital to understanding the best joke in the movie -- yet every version I've seen has had those few seconds snipped, between the moment the ambulance co-driver peeks in the back and stares forward again. I remember the scene clearly from having seen the movie in a drive-in in 1979; and the cut is very obvious. Yet no one has seen fit to restore just a few moments to help make the only good joke in the movie work?

If anyone knows why this movie remains incomplete, if the excised moments are lost or what, or knows where I can get a restored version, please let me know.

I remember my older brother (We were 15 and 11 at the time)brought this home from the video store one day and I think we watched it 3 or 4 times on a loop. Our state of the art(1983) GE VCR sure got a workout that day. We liked it b/c the movie is just a bunch of dick and fart jokes strung together and presented as a feature film. Its funny if you are realistic about what you are watching, b/c this ain't no art film. Oh, and the theme song was terrible. It was played 30 or 40 times during the movie(mostly snippets played during action scenes). Sure it was a bad animal house rip-off but if you can get past that, and enjoy gross-out/college humor, then turn off your brain and enjoy.

I saw this movie in the middle eighties, and I never forgot...

I love the lame humor, the pointless gags and the "every day is a party" kind of lifestyle..

Scenes like when they place some dog droppings in the ventilation of a church,where there's a funeral going on....I love this scene.

Or when the "Gorilla" is stuck inside the girl and a ambulance arrives is hilarious...along with the scene in the "rubble" house, where the cook dumps spaghetti on the wall to see if its ready...is memorable...

The most funny part is the farting contest.....even the dog drinks some farting elixir...and explode like a rocket... :-) Its so lame its funny.....

This movie severely thrashes all the other college movies out there. It tramples on the "PCU", "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Road Trip", although if you liked any of those you'd love "King Frat". Instead of being one continuous unbelievable story, like "Nerds" or "Animal House", "King Frat" is more of a compilation of vignettes about the frat boys, which, when you think about it, is really closer to what college life is really like: one prank after another. It pulls each scene off well, except the prostitution scene, and keeps themes running through the film. But what separates this film from the rest, and even bigger budget movies with a wider release area, is the characterization. I have never seen a film where the characters are as well portrayed and with such honesty. It's a gem, if you watch this film prepare to be amazed. I've actually had friends write term papers on this movie.

Ok, some of the scenes do go nowhere, but that's not the point. It's a movie about college pranksters and if you're looking for Shakespeare, this ain't it. But it is entertaining in a crude, heart-of-gold kind of way. A lot like "Animal House" (John DiSanti plays the Budget Belushi well), of course, but unique and special in itself. It's a shame that "King Frat" didn't get a large theatrical release, or any publicity of any kind, because it really is a pretty good goofy movie. Everyone to whom I showed this movie loved it and I've heard it has a pretty good cult following (in Australia of all places).

If you can find it, get it. It's not for everyone but it's a film everyone should give a good fair chance.