Screwballs

Severin Films

R1 DVD

Any randy boy growing up in the 1980s (in that long dark period when there was no internet porn), who wanted to see semi-naked women and maybe even boobies turned to teen sex films. There were lots of them and Porky’s helped bring them into the mainstream. Roger Corman, the master of exploitation and B Grade, not to be outdone, decided to make his own take on the genre and as expected he took it to the ninth degree and presented the world with a work of truly trashy exploitation cinema, Screwballs.

Corman is a perceptive filmmaker and under the guise of a B grade film shyster is an astute marketeer, he knows what the market wants. So in the Eighties while other films padded their tales of teen sex with nerd storylines or sporting plots, Corman gave the audience what they craved; flesh, sex and dirty humour.

At T & A High School, there is big hair, Eighties music and lots of bad boys. Five of the worst meet in the detention room thanks to the evil virgin princess Purity Busch, one of the only girls in the school who still has her cherry intact. They are all typical stereotypes; the jock, nerd, fat dude and a couple of snobby rich guys and are all in detention for the worst possible reasons. Rick dressed as a doctor and examined the beasts of new girls at the school and Brent sexually teased Purity in French class. Poor old Melvin Jerkoffski was caught wanking in the meat locker and Howie rearranged the mirrors so he could see up the skirts of the schools cheerleaders. Finally there is Tim tricked into entering the girls washroom. Each one has been fooled by Purity and each wants revenge and together they decide it is time somebody gets to third base with her. Sure the plot is simple, filled with stereotypical characters and ridiculous set-pieces, but it is so absurd, so utterly ludicrous it is actually damn funny.

In many ways it is a teen fantasy film, none of these events would ever happen in real life and if they did, in our modern “politically correct” society, would land you in lots of serious trouble. I think this is what makes Screwballs even more outrageous today than went it was first made. We have become so uptight, so “PC” so careful with what we say that its low grade humour actually becomes more amusing not less. Screwballs is, honest, rude, crude, down and dirty good fun with lots of dick and fart jokes, a silly plot and an unapologetically B grade feel. Don’t expect deep themes or moving dialogue, insightful commentary or perceptive cinematography, just accept it for what it is and have a damn good laugh. Marvellous.

The reproduction of this film is impressive and it is amusing to think how much loving care Severin has taken with this film which was really a minor Canadian Porky’s rip-off and yet has managed to somehow claim cult status over time. It is a great DVD transfer with excellent sound and picture quality.

The extras are good too with a commentary and interview with director, Rafal Zielinski. An 18 minute interview with the writers Linda Shayne and Jim Wynorski and other cast and crew interviews.

There is also an interview with Canuxsploitation scholar Paul Corupe, but the best is with Mr. Skin and McBeardo who discuss the impact of the teen sex genre. There are also some deleted scenes.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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