Animal House (1978)

Animal house is definitely a classic, there is no denying that. It helped define the genre. This movie, as a whole movie, is pretty bad. I loved it. I loved it a lot. John Belushi is fantastic, but the reality of it is that the movie is just a bunch of hilarious frat house sketches that are too dirty for television, stitched together with a weird but funny story that barely exists.

The movie does a pretty good job of getting you introduced to all the characters you need to know about pretty quickly. Pinto and Flounder go to the douchey Omega house pledge rally where were we meet our “villains”, they don’t last long before leaving and stumbling upon their last chance to get into a frat. This is where we meet the loveable miscreants at the Delta house that round out our main cast. Bluto, Otter, Boon, and D-Day welcome Pinto and Flounder into the frat and give them their delightful nicknames.

Bluto (Belushi) is undoubtedly the highlight of the film. His rendition of Louie Louie is unparalleled.  He is the driving force behind most of the shenanigans. Literally everything he does is funny, but mostly just his general behavior and body language are my favorite parts of his performance. He is the ultimate party animal. I would have to say my second favorite was D-Day, he had the best entrance by riding his motorcycle up the stairs in the frat, he looks like a young J. Jonah Jameson, and he is always there helping Bluto pull off the hijinks.

When it came down to Flounder, Pinto, Otter and Boon, they were all good and they played their part. I liked the scene where Pinto, Boon and Katy (Boons girlfriend) smoke pot with their hippy teacher. It was a little cringe worthy with how “stoned” they were acting.

I have always enjoyed at the end of a movie when they give you a little bit of info on what happens to the characters in the near future. This is the point when I realized that the movie takes place in 1962… I probably should have clued in to it considering the music, clothing and hair.

I found myself shaking my head a few times throughout the movie, like with the “double secret probation”, but that is what a movie like this is supposed to be. It doesn’t need a good story, all it needs is a bunch of funny things going on. Those are the types of things that make this my favorite type of movie. I absolutely love pointless comedies and Animal House is royalty in the genre.

I’ve decided that as a Canadian who never went to college, this must be an accurate representation of college life in Middle America. I think I would have enjoyed myself, I would have fit in well with the Delta Tau Chi.