Poison Ivy (1985)

 

 

The Summer Camp movie was a popular comedy subgenre throughout the 80s and 90s. The movie that helped kicked it off was the 1979 comedy Meatballs, starring Bill Murray, co-written by Harold Ramis, and directed by Ivan Reitman (the team that would go onto create Stripes and, of course Ghostbusters). Meatballs proved to be such a hit that it spawned three terrible sequels and many rip offs.  One of those “rip offs” was the 1985 made for television comedy, Poison Ivy, starring Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon.  While Poison Ivy is greatly indebted to Meatballs there is a significant difference between the two movies;  Meatballs is mainly focused on the exploits of the camp counselors while the kids (with the exception of Rudi) are mostly background noise.  Poison Ivy, on the other hand, is more evenly balanced between the counselors and the boys (it takes place at Camp Pinewood, an all boys’ summer camp).  In the context of 1985, the biggest draw for audiences would have been Micheal J. Fox and Nancy McKeon, who were two of the more popular TV actors of that era. In the context of today, the movie is an interesting relic of its era. The ultimate 80s nostalgia.
 

Poison Ivy has ten central characters (five adults and five kids) and in order to do a proper review of this movie, it helps to do a brief analysis on each of these characters.

The Adults:

Dennis Baxter (Michael J.Fox)

 
Poison Ivy was made during an interesting point in Michael J. Fox’s career; it was released months before Fox would reach super movie stardom with Back to the Future and Teen Wolf. At this point he was essentially known for his role as Alex P. Keaton on the TV sitcom, Family Ties. The fact that the producers were able to get an actor of Fox’s caliber in the role of Dennis may be one of the biggest coups in television history.  Fox has the magical ability to take a potentially abrasive character like Dennis and make him likable. In many ways, Dennis Baxter is a toned down version of Bill Murray’s character, Trapper, in the movie Meatballs.  Both of them are ladies’ men:  Dennis is more a flirt, while Trapper is a bit more aggressive in his interactions with the opposite sex.  The redeeming quality both of them have is how they take a misfit boy (Rudi in Meatballs, Timmy in Poison Ivy) under their wing and instill them with confidence.  Rudi is the only boy who has any screen time in Meatballs, while in Poison Ivy there is a sense, from the very get go, that Dennis shares a bond with the boys under his charge.

 
The screenwriter Bennett Tramer effectively sets this up in the opening scene – Bobby and Toby are up on the rooftop throwing water balloons at people and Ike Dimick orders Dennis to go after them.  Once on the rooftop, Dennis grabs one of the balloons and drops it on Ike's head. 

 

When he returns with the boys, Dennis covers for them by telling Ike that it was different pair of boys throwing water balloons, and that Bobby and the Toby actually went on the rooftop to stop them. Ike completely buys Dennis' explanation and congratulates the boys on their Camp Pinewood spirit. This not only proves to the boys that they can trust Dennis, but it sets up their loyalty to another, and their willingness to cover for each other.  Though, I find Dennis’ actions here a bit problematic, but I will go into that when I discuss Ike Dimick.

Rhonda Malone (Nancy McKeon)

 
Rhonda is the camp nurse.  She is also attending medical school and is using this to gain experience in her field. Rhonda also has a fairly no nonsense attitude when it comes the children and staff – when Dennis drops all sorts of pick-up lines on her, she calls him out on his bullshit.  They may have their desired effect on other women, but not on Rhonda.  Nancy McKeon is inspired casting – she was best known for playing the tomboy Jo on The Facts of Life – and manages to inject personality into what could have easily been an underwritten role.  She is tough, but she also manages to maintain her femininity.  Her character has nice homey quality about her – the filmmakers didn't feel the need to  “sex her up,” her natural beauty speaks for itself.   

 

If Poison Ivy had been released theatrically, there more than likely would have been a few gratuitous shots of Dennis leering at Rhonda’s behind.  While she is initially annoyed by Dennis, the two of them do develop a genuine bond once Dennis stops trying to be a player. Though, as much as I like Nancy McKeon in the role, the character of Rhonda is responsible for one the movie’s weaker elements. I will get to that later.

Big Irv (Robert Klein)

 
Big Irv is the enthusiastic but fairly clueless director of the boys camp. He constantly drones on about the “Pinewood spirit” and his annual “Color War” competition is supposed to determine who has that spirit.  It’s not enough for Big Irv that these boys enjoy their summer; he genuinely believes he is molding the boys into future leaders.  There are actually a lot of funny moments with this character (marvelously played by Robert Klein); the most notable scene is when Big Irv declares “Color War” and is framed in a similar as George C. Scott was at the beginning of Patton – standing in front of the Color War flag while addressing the audience.  Big Irv would like to see himself as being a Patton type figure, but he is a total pushover.  He is an idiot, but a well-meaning idiot.

 

Ike Dimick (Adam Baldwin)

 
Ike Dimick is a wannabe military badass – he runs the summer camp like a boot camp. There is also a hint that he is either impotent, or possibly (given that this was the 80s) gay. When Margo, the horny wife of the camp director, attempts to seduce him he barely bats an eye.  Later, she does manage to persuade Ike to take a bath with her, but he only agrees on the condition that she stays on her side of the tub.  The writing for Ike is bit muddled, though Adam Baldwin gives it his all. Dimick is essentially a low rent Douglas Niedermeyer (from Animal House) thought not quite as fascistic. He has a win at all costs type of mentality – when the Color War games begin, he uses all sorts of underhanded tactics to defeat his opponent. The problem I have with this character is that he is written as such a hard ass that we, the audience, automatically side against him, even when he is in the right.  When Dennis is flirting with a girl at the train station, instead of keeping an eye on his group of boys, Ike rightfully calls him out on this.  In fact, while Dennis is making googly eyes at some random girl, two of his boys go up on the rooftop and start chucking water balloons at random people.  We’re supposed to view Ike as being a total square, but his point is still valid.  If one of these boys would have been injured, something tells me Dennis wouldn’t be making quips.

Margo Klopper (Caren Kaye)

 
Margo is Big Irv’s neglected and extremely horny wife who has her eyes set on Ike Dimick; she is your quintessential MILF.   If Poison Ivy had been a theatrical feature, there probably would have been a scene of Margo walking around in a bikini (or underwear) while all the males gawk at her. However, as this was a prime-time television movie (made with a family audience in mind) her interactions with Ike seem fairly tame. Caren Kaye does her best with the material she is given but Margo is an extremely one-dimensional character.

The Boys:

Jerry Disbro (Joe Wright)

Jerry is probably the most complex of the characters. He is a grifter – he is always looking for an angle to exploit. When Big Irv asks Bobby to join the boys’ varsity baseball team, Jerry steps in and acts as Bobby’s agent.  He also manages to run an entire system where the camp poet, Brian, will write letters to the boys' parents in an exchange for PX tickets.  He essentially runs the camp, while Big Irv remains completely oblivious to it all. Jerry also sees himself as something of a lady’s man; he manages to sneak into the girl’s camp in hopes of hooking up with a blonde girl he met on the train.

 In a fairly clever bit of writing, it is also revealed that Jerry is the younger brother of Mark Disbro, who is a Pinewood legend.  In the previous summer, Mark helped lead the Grey team to the victory in the Color War.  When the Color War begins, this puts Jerry under a lot of pressure to help the Grey team repeat as champions.  It is interesting to note that Poison Ivy was written by Bennett Tramer, who would go on to become one of the head writers for Saved By the Bell. Jerry Disbro is, essentially, a forerunner to Zack Morris. They both are constantly scheming to elevate their own social standing and it often comes at the expense of their friends. The only difference is that Jerry lacks Zack’s magical ability to freeze time. 

Brian Firestone (Thomas Nowell)

Brian Firestone is the nerdy kid, who is also an extremely gifted writer.  His main storyline is that he develops a massive crush on the camp nurse, Rhonda – something that most boys in the 80s could relate to, as Nancy McKeon was one of their first major crushes.  Like most naïve boys, Brian wants to be near Rhonda as often as possibly, so he often comes with excuses to visit the nurse’s office – including rolling in a patch of Poison Ivy.  This is one of the movie’s better written subplots, as it’s a fairly accurate representation of a first crush – it is an awkward experience. I think everyone has experienced a case of unrequited love; in Brian’s case, it is on an older woman who is barely aware of his existence. 

 

  Brian also writes anonymous love letters to Rhonda, who mistakenly believes they are from Dennis. As mentioned before, Jerry uses Brian’s talent for writing for his own personal gain – Brian writes letters to the boys' parents in exchange for PX tickets.  When the parents visit the camp, they all boast about how their sons have developed into gifted writers. A few of them suspect that something is a foot, but they can’t quite put their finger on it.  Thomas Nowell is fairly good in the role, yet the only other credit I know him from is Friday the 13^th,Part VI: Jason Lives, where he constantly repeats the phrase, “We’re dead meat!”

Timmy Mezzy (Cary Guffey) 

 
Timmy Mezzy is, initially, the outcast of the group. He doesn’t want to attend Camp Pinewood and spends the first half of the movie trying to run away.  However, he wins over the other boys when he refuses to rat out them out– in one of his escape attempts he dresses up as a girl, and while he is on the lam, he bumps into Jerry, Bobby, and Dennis who are all at the girls' camp hoping to hook up.  Those three get away, but Timmy gets caught by the girl’s counselor. When Ike wants to know who else was there, Timmy remains silent.  The boys, ever grateful to Timmy, decide to take him under their wing.  When it is revealed that Timmy is afraid of the water the boys help him overcome this fear, by having him float in the bathtub.

 

 Later, Dennis supervises Timmy as he learns to do the backstroke.  Timmy’s parents are overbearing and kind of condescending; when Dennis tells them that he is adapting well to camp life, they are genuinely shocked by this development.  Timmy is played by Cary Guffey, who is best known for his role as Barry in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Timmy has the strongest arc of out of the characters – he goes from being a socially awkward misfit to well liked, confident boy.  Guffey hits all of these beats perfectly.

Toby Kaplan (Matthew Shugoilo)

Toby Kaplan is probably the most one dimensional out of the all the boys – he is the quintessential overweight boy who is constantly snacking on candy. He also fancies himself a comedian; a “cross between Jackie Gleason, Oliver Hardy, and John Candy,” in his own words.  On parents’ days, he is allowed to do a stand-up set and completely bombs (his jokes center around the quality of the camp food).  Practically everyone has encountered the sort of kid in their laugh – the self-described “class clown” who is not nearly as funny as he/she thinks they are.  What I also like about this scene is that it underscores the generational gap when it comes to comedy – what is funny to the younger generation is often baffling to the older generation. I have encountered this many of times with my nephew and niece; they will be laughing their butts at some random YouTube video while I scratch my head in confusion.  There are probably a few kids who find Toby’s “camp food” jokes hilarious, but the parents find them to be lame – though, you do get the occasional “pity” laugh.  It probably doesn’t help that Toby is spoiled by his parents – his mother bakes him a going away cake. Later, when his parents pick him up at the train station, his mother bakes him a “welcome back” cake. 

Bobby Novak (Derek Googe)

 
Bobby is the star baseball player and a fierce competitor.  However, he is also incredibly protective of to friends – when Jerry, under the orders of Ike Dimick, sabotages Timmy during the swimming competition, Bobby takes notices and responds by giving Jerry a nice crack in the jaw.  It is interesting to note that while Bobby is a fierce competitor, he is willing to forfeit the Color War to find Timmy.  The games become secondary to him in the end.
There is an interesting dynamic between Jerry and Bobby – Jerry is the brains of the group while Bobby is the heart. While Jerry is looking for an angle to exploit, Bobby is willing to take people under his wing and offer them support.  He also doesn’t hold grudges – when Jerry apologizes for what he did to Timmy, Bobby forgives him and the two of them (along with Brian and Toby) set out to find the missing Timmy.  Individually they are both exceptional boys, but as a team they are unstoppable. 

Well, now that I have summed up the principal characters, it is time to talk about the plot. The first two third of the movie is more about character building.  It really takes its time setting up the principal characters and their relationships to one another, the third act is when the plot actually kicks in.  The movie gradually builds up to the “Color War” – a competition where the camp is divided into two teams (Blue and Gray) to determine which one has the vaunted “Pinewood Spirit.”  In a script there are few accidents, therefore it is no coincidence that the team colors (Blue and Grey) were also the colors of the American Civil War (the Union was Blue, the Confederates were Grey).  As a result of the Color War, a mini-Civil War breaks out between the boys.  As soon as the Color War begins, a rift develops between the five boys (Bobby and Timmy are assigned to the Blue team while Jerry, Toby, and Brian are on the Grey team).  The usual trash talking ensues, but Jerry takes it a bit further after he is chosen to be Ike’s right-hand man (Ike gives Jerry the meaningless title of sergeant in arms).  Ike is determined to win by any means necessary and realizes that Jerry is the perfect man to help him achieve his goal. At one point, Jerry has one of the younger kids spy on the Blue team (the boy walks into the Blue headquarters, tears streaming down his cheeks, and whining about how he had a horrible nightmare).  However, it's not enough for the boy to spy on the Blue team, he also takes pictures of their lineup.   

The lowest point is the psychological trick that Jerry plays on Timmy in a desperate attempt to win the swimming relay. Timmy has overcome his fear of the water (thanks to the efforts of Bobby and the boys) and has been slotted to compete in the swimming relay.  The night before the competition, Jerry tries to shake up Timmy by telling him a story about a boy (“Tough Break” Thompson) who drowned while competing in the relay.  This shakes Timmy a little bit, but on the day of the race he is on the verge of winning until Jerry shouts “Tough Break” to Timmy.  This has the desired effect and Timmy begins to panic, and Dennis has to pull him out of the water.  Bobby witnesses this and punches Jerry right in the mouth.   Jerry realizes he went too far and when Timmy runs away, he is determined to make amends.

While Poison Ivy does owe a lot to Meatballs, it is interesting that it avoids the whole “slob vs. snobs” theme that was prevalent in many comedies at the time.  In Meatballs, the main antagonist is a rival camp where all the wealthy kids attend.  The have all the best facilities at their disposal, so the movie takes on an “under dog” narrative, especially when Rudi (the ultimate underdog) beats his more athletic opponent in a foot race through the woods.  It is not only a triumph for Rudi, but for the camp as well.  In Poison Ivy, Timmy’s triumph at the end is a personal victory rather than a team victory.  He overcomes his fear of the water and confidently swims across the lake (while Dennis and company follow in canoe).  This miraculous feat gets the attention of the camp and they all cheer Timmy on as he completes his swim.  After Timmy’s inspiring display of the “Pinewood spirit,” Big Irv calls an end to the Color War. This infuriates Ike and he throws a temper tantrum, but no need to worry, he suffers the same fate that befell many cinematic bullies of that era – he is pushed into the lake.  It is a fairly hokey moment (it doesn’t help that Dennis tells Ike to “cool off” as he pushes him in the lake) but it serves its purpose – Ike is given his just comeuppance.

While there are many things I like about Poison Ivy, it does feature one my least favorite romantic comedy tropes – the boring fiancé.   It turns out that the biggest hurdle in Dennis and Rhonda’s relationship is her fiancé, a medical student named Martin.  When we meet Martin (at Parents' Day) he is a total bore – he talks incessantly about himself while neglecting Rhonda.  This is a fairly lazy gimmick screenwriters will often use – they will introduce a fairly unlikable character whose sole function is to make the slightly abrasive protagonist look good by comparison. When we are first introduced to Martin, we can’t help but ask, “What does she see in him?”  Then when there is an intimate moment between Dennis and Rhonda, we say to ourselves, “Sure, Dennis might be a bit annoying at times, but he is way better than that creep, Martin.” 

There is something that is a bit off about the casting of Martin:  Nancy McKeon was eighteen years-old during the production of Poison Ivy, but the actor, who plays Martin, Brett Rice, was in his mid-thirties. He is also made up and dressed in way that makes him look older; giving the impression that Martin is a middle-aged Boomer who is sucking the life out of Rhonda. 

 

 I hate this character because he is completely unnecessary, not to mention his very existence makes Rhonda seem like a flake.  She obviously isn’t with Martin for his winning personality; therefore, it must be financially related. 

In all fairness to Bennett Tramer, when he was writing the teleplay he had probably no idea who was going to be cast in the roles of Dennis and Rhonda, so the character of Martin was a kind of insurance – a way to trick the audience into believing that Dennis was Rhonda’s TRUE soul mate.  However, once Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon, two genuine actors, were cast in these roles, the filmmakers should have discarded this character.  While I like Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon, there are moments where the material really lets them down; I want to start a Poison Ivy drinking game, every time Rhonda utters the line “But I’m engaged” take a shot.  This how practically all of Dennis and Rhonda’s interactions end during the first half; he’ll get all flirty with her and she’ll remind him of her engagement to Martin. It gets to be fairly redundant after a while.  Thankfully, once Martin exits the movie, the two actors are no longer restrained by the clichéd writing. 

There is also a fun little nod to the 80s slasher movies in the form of Walter, the maintenance man.  Walter is somewhat of a recluse – he lives in the woods and always carries around a hatchet, which is covered in red stains.  This leads to the rumor among the boys that Walter is a serial killer. When Timmy runs away, the boys find his shoe and it looks like it is covered in blood.  They immediately assume the worst.  However, it turns out that Timmy is still alive, and Walter is not a serial killer, but an artist. He dips his hatchet in red paint and splatters it across a white canvas. He really digs modern art.  I can’t help but notice the similarities between Walter and Old Man Marley in Home Alone.  They are both old, reclusive men who are rumored to be serial killers.  Walter is always seen with his hatchet, while Old Man Marley is often seen carrying around his shovel.  Did John Hughes think of this movie when he wrote the screenplay to Home Alone?  Though, Old Man Marley has far more depth in Home Alone and there is an actual pay off to his storyline.  Walter is a throw away character – you could easily remove him from the story and it wouldn’t change a thing. Still, it is a fun homage to the many horror movies that were being made at the time. 

 

The best word to describe Poison Ivy is pleasant.  It is not a groundbreaking movie, but it is a pleasant hour and a half.  It coasts on the charm of its cast and has the occasional clever moment that prevents it from being monotonous.  It is interesting mostly as a relic of its era. Its initial premiere was in February of 1985; this was before post modernism had infected every aspect of our culture.  It is rather refreshing to watch these actors approach this material (which fairly silly at times) with the utmost sincerity.  If Poison Ivy were made now, it would be heavily steeped in irony. The actors would occasionally wink at the camera to let us know they are in on the joke. It would be absolutely dreadful.  How is the audience supposed to invest in a movie if the actors don’t believe in the material?

Amazingly, as of now, Poison Ivy has never been given an official DVD/Blu Ray release. It was released on VHS, but these copies are incredibly hard to find.  In an era where even the most obscure movie is often given the Blu Ray treatment, it is a baffling that this movie has fallen through the cracks.  Therefore, I highly recommend that either Shout Factory, or Criterion, obtain the rights to Poison Ivy and release a special edition Blu Ray. It should include a filmmaker’s commentary and have a detailed “making of” feature.  SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!

Credits
Cast: Michael J. Fox (Dennis Baxter), Nancy McKeon (Rhonda Malone), Robert Klein (“Big Irv” Klopper), Adam Baldwin (Ike Dimick), Caren Kaye (Margo Klopper), Joe Wright (Jerry Disbro), Thomas Nowell (Brian Firestone), Cary Guffey (Timmy Mezzy), Matthew Shugiolo (Toby Kaplan), Derek Googe (Bobby Novak), Cameron Arnett (Steve Sawyer), Brett Rice (Martin Blair).

Director:  Larry Elikann
Writer: Bennett Tramer
Running Time: 96 min.

The Wild Angels (1966)

 

When The Wild Angels came out in 1966 it was a huge box office hit and inspired a whole new subgenre of outlaw biker movies.  It was also a source of inspiration for Easy Rider (which also starred Peter Fonda). It was fairly controversial when it came out, but in hindsight it comes off as rather silly.  While watching the movie, I couldn’t help but to think of the Beach Party series (also produced by American International Pictures) in the mid 60s.  The main antagonists in the Beach Party movies (with the exception of Muscle Beach Party) were a biker’s gang, The Rat Pack, led by the dopey Eric Von Zipper. 

Zipper often came up with ridiculous schemes to “get those no good surfers” off of his beach, which always ended in total failure.  In The Wild Angels, the outlaw biker gang, The Angels, are led by Heavenly Blues (Peter Fonda), who, despite his “too cool for school demeanor” manages to be an even more incompetent leader than Eric Von Zipper.  Sure, Zipper’s schemes always failed, but at least he didn’t get any of his gang members killed.

The Wild Angels has a fairly simple plot:  Joe ‘Loser’ Kerns motorcycle has been stolen.  The Angels ride out to Mecca, California in hopes of finding it, which leads them to a garage run by a Mexican gang. The two groups brawl but, before it can be settled, the police show up.  Loser is separated from the rest of the Angels and steals a policeman’s motorcycle.  He gets shot for his effort and ends up in the hospital. Heavenly Blues finds out about this and leads a small group of Angels to sneak Loser out of the hospital; with his girlfriend Mike ‘Monkey’ acting as a Trojan Horse.  She pretends to be Loser’s sister and asks if she can see him, the policeman on duty reluctantly agree.   She whips up a few tears and, when the policeman gets distracted, unlocks the glass door.  The Angels get Loser out of the hospital but Heavenly is identified by a nurse on duty (who one of the gang members attempted to rape).  The Angels arrange for a funeral to be held in Loser’s hometown. They hold a service in a small church and even go the trouble of hiring a preacher to preside over the service. However, Heavenly is not satisfied with the preacher’s eulogy and decides that the Angels will honor Loser’s memory by having the party. The Angels tie up the preacher, tear up the church, and proceed to have an orgy. Finally, after the mayhem has ended, they go to bury Loser’s body in the local cemetery.  One of the townsfolk throws a rock at them, which leads to a brawl.  However, once they hear police sirens heading their way, the Angels bolt, leaving Heavenly alone to bury the Loser.  

The question I initially asked was:  Is The Wild Angels a parody of the A.I.P. Beach Party movies. It plays like a demented version of those. It’s easy to imagine Heavenly Blues being the leader of a surfer gang, with Mike being his best girl (the same year The Wild Angels came out, Nancy Sinatra appeared in the final Beach Party movie, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini).
At the end of the movie, Heavenly Blues makes a famous speech:

We wanna be free! We wannabe free to do whatever we wanna do! We wanna be free to ride!
We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the MAN! And we wanna get loaded! And we wanna have a good time! And that is what we’re gonna do! We are gonna have a good time! We gonna have a party!

No doubt this speech resonated with the 1960s counterculture, yet is exactly the same type of speech Frankie Avalon would give in a similar situation. The only difference is that he would want to be “free to surf without being hassled by the Man.” I make this point, because by 1966 the Beach Party movies were considered old hat by the counterculture, yet this so-called “anti-establishment” movie seems content on plagiarizing them.  

Did the 1966 youth take this movie seriously?  I initially thought my theory of The Wild Angels being a Beach Party parody was correct, when I saw that Charles B. Griffith wrote the screenplay.  Griffith wrote a few scripts for Roger Corman; most notably Bucket of Blood and the original The Little Shop of Horrors.  Most of his scripts contain an element of dark humor; that includes his more “serious” scripts like The Undead and The Attack of the Crab Monsters. So, clearly The Wild Angels is a dark comedy.  Not so fast!  While Griffith is the credited writer, the script was largely rewritten by future director, and Orson Welles lackey, Peter Bogdanovich.  Corman found Griffith’s script to be unacceptable, so he brought in Bogdanovich to “fix it.” I have to wonder if Griffith’s script had more humor in it, which is why Corman found it unacceptable. Who knows?  All I know is that the finished script is a mess and completely devoid of any humor.

The movie helped establish Peter Fonda as a counter culture icon (Easy Rider would further cement this status). I must admit, I am completely baffled as to why that is.  Sure, Peter Fonda looks cool riding on his motorcycle, but he is completely devoid of any real personality. I would even argue that Fonda gives the weakest performance in the entire movie. It’s hard to believe a biker gang would follow this guy’s lead.  Fonda faired slightly better in Easy Rider, and that is largely because his character is devoid of any real agency. He just goes where the road takes him.  I also find the character to be somewhat problematic. I don’t think it was Corman’s intention to glorify the behavior of The Angels; they are, after all, white supremacists. Yet, Heavenly Blue’s speech at the end probably did resonate with many young people in the audience (especially since it was directed at a preacher – a symbol of the Establishment if there ever was one).  His treatment towards Mike is especially appalling; he dismisses her concerns and, out of pure spite and right in front of her, screws another woman in the church.  When Mike returns the affection of another biker, Heavenly punches the guy and gives her a dirty look.

Heavenly Blues fits well into Roger Corman’s galley of existential losers.  He could easily be descended from such characters like: Walter Paisley (Bucket of Blood), Seymour Krelboin (The Little Shop of Horrors), Quintus Ratcliff (The Undead), Roderick Usher (House of Usher), and Prince Prospero (The Masque of the Red Death). These are characters that have a skewed morality; “the ends justify the means” applies to them.  They avoid taking any responsibility for the actions, and that inevitably leads to their downfall.   There are multiple times throughout The Wild Angels where Heavenly could potentially right the ship, but he chooses to double down on his actions. It is fitting that movie ends with him all alone, burying the corpse of his best friend.  Movie critics and film historians like to slap the tag of auteur onto many filmmakers; but if you were to apply that to Roger Corman, most of them would probably laugh.  Yet, with the exception of The Raven, there is a fairly cynical, almost nihilistic world view that pervades most of Corman’s movies.  Not to mention that Corman had his own stock company of writers and actors who worked on many of his movies; in the Wild Angels, Corman regulars Dick Miller and Barboura Morris appear in small roles.

While 1967 is regarded as “The Summer of Love,” there was a significant shift in pop culture in 1966.
The Beach Boys released their album, Pet Sounds, which essentially signified an end to their surfing songs. The Beatles released, Revolver, which offered up more introspective songs (often fueled by drugs) and helped shed The Beatle’s “clean cut image.” They also announced they were done touring, which meant the only way fans could hear them was by purchasing their albums.  It should be noted that Walt Disney, the man who essentially symbolized the old studio system, passed away in late 1966.  Without Walt at the helm, Disney studios would flounder for the next couple of decades before achieving a renaissance in the 1990s. Whether that is a good or bad thing is entirely to up to you.

While The Beach Boys and The Beatles got all the attention in 1966, another significant song that charted the year was “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” sung by Nancy Sinatra.  It is interesting to contrast Nancy Sinatra’s character of Mike with her chart topping hit.  The song is about a woman who has had enough of her man’s shit and threatens to leave if he doesn’t straighten up.  Mike is the complete antithesis of this song – she is loyal to a fault.  Heavenly Blues is exactly the type of man that “Boots” is talking about.  He is completely dismissive towards Mike, often puts her in dangerous situations, and treats her like complete garbage.  When Mike asks Heavenly if he still loves her, he responds with “I don’t know.”  Interestingly enough, Sinatra played a similar role in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini – where the man she pines for is fairly oblivious to her existence.  The only difference is that Bobby, her object of affection in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, is a good natured idiot. Heavenly is a first rate asshole - to the point where, just to spite Mike, he has sex with another woman on a church altar.  When she, hesitantly, responds to another biker’s advances, Heavenly gets jealous and punches the guy in the face; and the shoots Mike the evil eye.  

1966 - The Three Faces of Nancy Sinatra. 

The problem I have with Mike is that she is completely devoid of an agency. She constantly sides with Heavenly no matter how idiotic his schemes are.  While Heavenly and Mike could be seen as a sick parody of Frankie and Annette, the main thing that separates these two female characters is that at least Annette Funicello’s character, DeeDee, was constantly calling Frankie out on his bullshit.  If this were a beach party movie, when Frankie gives his speech about wanting to “be free,” this would be accompanied with a close up of Annette rolling her eyes at his juvenile mindset.  Mike is content with going along on the ride even though there is no real destination.   This is not the fault of Nancy Sinatra, who manages gives Mike an air of vulnerability, but the writers.  The fundamental flaw of many counter culture movies is their inability to write compelling female characters.  Don’t believe me!!!! In Easy Rider, the women solely exist to pleasure the main characters, Wyatt and Billy. They hook up with two women at a hippie commune and later on hook up with two prostitutes in New Orleans.  These women are barely in the movie and don’t have much in terms of personalities (despite being played by capable actresses).  In The Graduate, Mrs. Robinson is an interesting character, but she is the villain of the piece, while her daughter Elaine is kind of a flake. I often hear about how these movies “spoke to a generation.” Did they speak to women, as well? While watching The Wild Angels, I kept hoping Mike would follow the advice offered in “These Boots Are Made For Walking.” Kick the no good bum, Heavenly Blues, to the curb! Move on with your life! 

The also brings me to the movie’s most egregious moment – the rape of Gaysh (Diane Ladd) by the bikers Frankenstein and Dear John.  In fact, it could be argued that Frankenstein’s arc is that he successfully rapes a woman, after two failed attempts earlier on in the movie; he attempts to rape Gaysh at party and then a nurse while the other angels are sneaking Loser out of the hospital, both times he thwarted by Heavenly. However, at the end, while Heavenly is busy screwing the older Momma Monahan, Frankenstein persuades Dear John into helping him rape Gaysh (Loser’s grieving widow).  What I find so repulsive about this scene is how the filmmakers completely shrug it off. It has no relevance to the plot, and Frankenstein and Dear John are never held accountable for their actions. After having been raped, Gaysh walks up to Loser’s corpse and asks him for forgiveness. Why?
Even more troubling is that this trope would often pop up in many movies Corman produced for New World Studios – the only difference being that those rape scenes are far more graphic than the one in The Wild Angels (it happens offscreen).  There was an odd logic in many exploitation movies of the 1970s and 80s that there is no such thing as bad female nudity, hence they would often include a rape scene just to meet their quota of female nudity. Like The Wild Angel’s, these movies would rarely explore what effect the rape had on the victim; instead it was merely a plot device to motivate the heroes into action.
It’s also odd how sex in many counterculture movies is rarely depicted as a healthy or pleasurable act -
sex is either depicted as unhealthy (rape) or completely sterile (Benjamin sleeping with the older Mrs.
Robinson simply for the hell of it). Also, the question needs to be asked:  Wouldn’t Heavenly expel Frankenstein from the gang?  He’s not only a threat to members of the Angels, but it is his attempted rape of the nurse that leads to her identifying Heavenly to the police.  He is a total detriment to the Angels, yet Heavenly allows him to remain in the gang.  Hell, even the incompetent Eric Von Zipper would have had the common sense to boot this guy out.

The Wild Angels is interesting more as a curio than it is an actual movie.  It was a movie that marked a shift in the popular culture and anticipated more famous movies like The Graduate, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, and Billy Jack.  Like those movies (with the exception of the superior Five Easy Pieces), it has aged fairly poorly.  What was once extremely controversial is now kind of laughable. Its screenplay is extremely haphazard in places and the more “titillating” scenes drag on endlessly.  It is essentially a half hour short film stretched out in a full length feature.  It is not the worst of its kind, but it’s not a classic, either. 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits
Cast:  Peter Fonda (Heavenly Blues), Nancy Sinatra (Mike ‘Monkey’), Bruce Dern (Joe ‘Loser’ Kerns), Diane Ladd(Gaysh), Buck Taylor (Dear John), Norman Alden (Medic),  Michael J. Pollard (Pigmy), Lou Procopio (Joint), Joan Shawlee (Momma Monahan), Marc Cavell (Frankenstein), Coby Denton (Bill Puckey), Frank Maxwell  (Preacher), Gayle Hunnicutt (Suzie), Kim Hamilton (Nurse), Frank Gerstle (Hospital Policeman), Dick Miller (Rigger), Barboura Morris (Mother).

Director: Roger Corman
Writers:  Charles B. Griffith, Peter Bogdanovich (uncredited)
Running  Time:  93 min.

Three O' Clock High (1987)

In its initial release Three O’ Clock High was a box office bomb.  It was panned heavily by the critics and had the misfortune of being lost in the shuffle – the movie market was heavily saturated with teen movies at this time. It was a good year for movies like Can’t Buy Me Love and Dirty Dancing, but Three O’ Clock slipped through the masses completely unnoticed.  It’s also hard to fault the movie critics for their hostile reviews – on the surface Three O’ Clock High is your standard 80s teen comedy. It shares the same tropes of most teen comedies:  the socially awkward protagonist; the uncompromising bully; the “cute” female best friend; the popular girl who the protagonist obsesses over; and a “believe in yourself” message.  Yet, on closer inspection Three O’ Clock High is a more interesting movie than most critics gave it credit it for. 

The plot is fairly straightforward – Jerry Mitchell, our protagonist, is given the assignment of interviewing the new kid, Buddy Revell. The catch is that Buddy has pretty violent history (he has been expelled from other schools for assaulting students and teachers, alike). It is heavily emphasized that Buddy does not liked to be touched and anyone who violates his personal space usually ends up in a body cast.  Jerry violates this rule when he gives Buddy a friendly pat on the shoulder and this enrages Buddy so much that he challenges Jerry to a fight after school (three o’ clock high).

Jerry Mitchell is your typical teen movie protagonist. Casey Siemaszko often comes across as a low rent John Cusack or Michael J. Fox. He is a decent actor but he lacks the charisma of those two actors. In fact, one could easily imagine John Cusack in the role of Jerry Mitchell; the character is fairly similar to the roles he played in Better Off Dead and The Sure Thing.

 Ironically, Siemaszko’s lack of charisma actually works in the movie’s favor, because it only further emphasizes just how unremarkable Jerry Mitchell is.  He is pretty much ignored by his fellow classmates and doesn’t really want to make any waves – he is perfectly fine with coasting his way through his high school (like most students).  The only interaction he gets with his fellow classmates is when he is working at the school store.  He acts like a complete buffoon whenever he is the same room as his high school crush, Karen.  When she wants to buy paper and a pen, he gives her a whole range of options, and simply won’t shut up and let her decide.  He then short changes her and struggles to open the register to give the correct change until she finally tells him not worry about it. It is a perfectly embarrassing moment!  It also something I can relate to, as I had plenty of embarrassing moments in front of my school crushes.   Jerry completely violates the guy code when he attempts to engage in conversation with Buddy while pissing in the urinal. This is a complete NO NO; especially in the 1980s.  Jerry attempts to smooth over this faux pas but makes matters worse when he gives Buddy a pat on the shoulder. OOPS!!!  Not only does he violate Buddy’s personal space, but he does it before washing his hands.  GROSS!!!

If Cusack would have played Jerry, we would have immediately been in his corner – he would have won us over with a few witty quips and self deprecating humor, but with Siemazko in the lead role we merely empathize with Jerry.  In fact, Three O’ Clock High is probably the rare teen movie where the lead character is slightly unlikable; this is in large part due the extreme measures he takes to weasel out of the fight with Buddy.  He tries to reason with Buddy, but his pleas fall on dear ears. He tries to sneak off the campus, but is caught by school security.  Finally, out of desperate, he embezzles four hundred dollars from the school store to pay a football player to fight Buddy for him. This, predictably, fails and he is back to square one; not to mention this leads to him being investigated by the police. He, apart from Mr. Rice, is the only who has keys to the school store, so he is the only real suspect they have. At the advice of his sister, he tries to weasel out of the fight by getting after school detention – he figures the best way to go about this is by making a pass at his attractive English teacher, Miss Farmer.  He gives a sexually suggestive book report and then kisses her on the lips. The ecstasy of the moment causes him to faint and he wakes up in the nurses’ office.  When he asks to the nurse where he is to report for detention, she tells him there isn’t any and that Miss Farmer really enjoyed his book report (this is something movies couldn’t get away with in modern times). 

Finally, Jerry bribes Buddy (with the money refunded by the football player) to call off the fight.  Buddy accepts but can only express nothing but disgust for Jerry’s cowardice (“you are the biggest pussy I ever met”).  Jerry, ashamed of his cowardice, decides to make a stand and calls the fight back on.

Jerry’s problems are further exasperated by his friend, Vincent.  It is Vincent who gives him the assignment of interviewing Buddy. It is also is Vincent that comes up with the bright idea of planting a switchblade in Buddy’s locker and writing an anonymous letter to the principal tipping of Buddy’s possession of the knife.  Jerry knows this will enrage Buddy even more, so he pleads with Vincent to get the switchblade out of the locker, but the school bell rings before he is able to remember the combination to Buddy’s locker. He, however, is successful in retrieving the letter from the principal’s office. This completely backfires against Jerry – when he attempts to sneak off the school campus, he finds the switchblade lodge in his car’s steering wheel.  When the campus security catches him, Jerry has the switchblade in his possession.  Jerry tries to explain the whole thing to dean of discipline, Voytek Dolinski, however, because Vincent had successfully retrieve the anonymous letter, Jerry has no evidence to back his case.  While most of Jerry’s miseries are of his own making; a lot of his troubles could have been avoided had Vincent minded his own business. Vincent knows all about Buddy’s troubled history, yet he still assigns his best friend to interview the troubled individual. Granted, Jerry should have flat out refused to do the interview, but he also doesn’t want to let the paper down.  With friends like Vincent, who needs enemies?

Buddy Revell, as played by Richard Tyson, is a fairly interesting screen bully. He looks like Jim Morrison on steroids.  Buddy is not a bully in the classic sense – he doesn’t go out of his way to pick on random people. He just wants to be left alone.  The only reason he targets Jerry is because Jerry violated his personal space.  If the incident in the bathroom never occurred, Jerry wouldn’t be a blip on Buddy’s radar. While his behavior could be described as “boorish,” Buddy is no dummy. When Jerry tries to ingratiate himself to Buddy by letting Buddy copy off of his algebra test, the two of them are caught by teacher and sent to the principal’s office.  Jerry, in a desperate attempt to win over Buddy, claims he was the one cheating. The principal says he will accept Jerry’s story, if Buddy can solve two algebra equations by himself.  Buddy passes the test with flying colors and Jerry realizes Buddy didn’t need to cheat off of him – he was being presumptuous.  Buddy is not an overly aggressive person, but lives by a strict code – if you violate his personal space he will break your face.

Three O’ Clock High often feels like the story of David and Goliath adapted as a teen comedy.  In real life, Richard Tyson is only about four inches taller than Casey Siemaszko, yet, through the use of camera angles and forced perspective, Buddy completely towers over Jerry. This is a fight that Jerry has no chance in hell of winning. The filmmakers are aware of this fact and rather than having the scrawny Jerry put a beating on Buddy, instead they make it a team effort .  Just when it looks like Buddy is going to deliver the decisive blow (with his brass knuckles) to Jerry; Vincent jumps on Buddy and gives Jerry enough time to catch his breath.  This also gives Jerry’s sister, Brei, enough time to notice Buddy’s brass knuckles lying on the ground, so she picks them up and tosses them to Jerry.  Jerry is able to evade Buddy’s punch and then is able to deliver the knock out blow.  The final showdown between Buddy and Jerry is well done – it’s fairly exciting without looking overly choreographed. In fact, the nice thing about this scene is the attention to detail; you can actually see the physical toll that this fight takes on both of the participants – they are constantly out of breath and sweating. Early in the fight, Jerry lands punch of Buddy’s nose, which starts to bleed.  Their punches often fail to connect (just like in real life) and there is a sense that had Buddy not being overly aggressive at the end of the fight, he probably would have won despite Jerry having the brass knuckles. 

There’s a feeling of dread throughout the movie, as if the universe simply won't allow Jerry to escape his fate.  Practically everywhere he looks he is reminded of the upcoming fight with Buddy: in his science class, the teacher is showing a sixteen millimeter movie of a scorpion eating a grasshopper; in another class, the teacher describes, in great detail, Achilles’ murder of Hector in The Iliad; and, while at pep rally, cheerleaders are beating up an effigy of an opposing football player and the head flies off and lands right next to Jerry.  It’s also quite a coincidence that Buddy walks into the restroom the same time Jerry is there; especially after Jerry was just given the assignment to interview Buddy.  The clock is a prominent character in the movie – every few minutes the movie will cut to a close up of a clock to remind us that Jerry’s time is running out.

Phil Joanou is probably best known for the music videos he directed for U2, Three O’ Clock High was one of just a handful of feature movies he directed.  His directing style is fairly reminiscent of filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, it’s very moody at times and often gives us a detached view of humanity.  There a few clever ideas scattered through out the movie. Our introduction to Buddy occurs off camera, via gossip, his reputation has already preceded him.  We first see a cheerleader talking about Buddy to her friends until the dialogue overlaps with two other teens having the same conversation and the camera follows them. This movement gets repeated multiple times until it leads us Jerry and Brei standing inside the school store.  This is not only clever way of doling out exposition, but it also gives an insight into the student body and just how quickly gossip spreads through the school.  When Buddy challenges Jerry to a fight, another student just happens to be in one of the bathroom stalls and overhears the entire exchange.  He runs out and tells his friends, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the entire student body hears about it.  Just like in real life, there are people who want to profit off of Jerry’s misery - two wannabe filmmakers ask Jerry if they can make a documentary about his final hours.  It is revealed that there is a betting pool based on how long Jerry can last against Buddy – one of Jerry’s classmates expresses confidence that he can last three minutes against Buddy. 

After Jerry has managed the impossible by beating Buddy, he becomes a folk hero to his fellow students.
When it looks like he’s going to jail for embezzling money from the school store register, the students come to his rescue by buying a sheet of school paper for one dollar each.  Buddy even stops to return the bribe money, the ultimate show of respect.  It’s a nice moment for Buddy – he raises his fist and we believe he’s going to punch Jerry; instead he plops the money down on the countertop and flashes a smile at Jerry.  It also indicates how much Jerry has changed, while the rest of the student body gasps when Buddy raises fist, Jerry doesn’t bat an eye. The old Jerry probably would have ducked for cover, but the new Jerry is no longer intimidated by such theatrics. 

Credits
Cast:  Casey Siemaszko (Jerry Mitchell), Richard Tyson (Buddy Revell), Annie Ryan (Franny), Stacey Glick  (Brei Mitchell), Jonathan Wise (Vincent Costello), Jeffrey Tambor (Mr. Rice), Philip Baker Hall (Detective Mulvahill), Mitch Pileggi (Duke Herman), John P. Ryan (Mr. O’ Rourke), Charles Macaulay (Voytek Dolinski), Caitlin O’Heaney (Miss Farmer), Liza Morrow (Karen Clarke), Mike Jolly (Craig Mattey), Yeardley Smith (Cheerleader).

Director: Phil Joanou
Writers: Richard Christian Matheson, Tom Szollosi
Running Time: 90 min.