Starring Corey Feldman, Evan Richards, Patrick Malone, and Liane Curtis
Directed by Deborah Brock
Music and Lyrics by various
Rock n' Roll High School wound up being a surprise hit in 1979, enough for original director Arkush to consider a sequel. He didn't get to it until the early 90's, by which time the music scene had changed considerably. Cable channel MTV debuted in 1981, making "music videos" necessary for any music group of the time. The punk scene faded around the same time, splintering into many forms of hard rock. Heavy metal and rap were the choice music of a new generation of teen rebels. Kids, however, still rebelled, often against other kids, as in the many class-war comedies pitting local poor kids, or "slobs," against their wealthy "snob" peers. How does this play out in a teenage wasteland that's very different, but still the same in many ways? Let's begin at the rebuilt Ronald Regan High School over a decade later as the teachers discuss their anarchic students and find out...
The Story: The Eradicators, the hippest band at school, initiate "Rock and Roll High School Day," the anniversary of the original school's destruction, by flushing all the toilets and overflowing the aging plumbing. That's enough for the school board to call in Vice Principal Vadar (Mary Woronov), a frightening disciplinarian. She initiates a series of far stricter rules, breaks the Eradicators into different classes, and forbids them from seeing their favorite band or playing at prom. That's enough for group leader Jesse Davis (Feldman). He declares war on Vader and the school's conservative yuppie clique, playing pranks and doing everything he can to get the Eradicators to appear in the prom and prove rock means a lot more to teens than what they hear on MTV.
The Song and Dance: Considering it went straight to video in the US, this was surprisingly kind of fun. Feldman and Woronov are having a great time as the anarchic musician who wants to stick it to the snob kids and the rigid vice principal who wants to make the student body behave in any way possible. Liane Curtis, as the Eradicators' smart goth guitarist, and Patrick Malone, as their keyboardist and mechanical genius, do the best of the remaining kids, and we have an early performance by later tough guy Michael Cervantis taking over as school businessman Eaglebauer. The costumes and cinematography scream "1991" in every way possible, giving it a wacky camp vibe that makes it almost like a less-dark Heathers at times.
Favorite Number: We open with the kids taking over the school with their flushing the toilets at once and ousting the teachers as Jesse rides a motorcycle down the halls, to the tune of "Bring It On Down." The Eradicators somehow convince a lady to let them worship her refrigerator while singing "I Yi Yi Yi Yi Like You Very Much." "I'm Walkin'" and "Tutti Frutti" are their big numbers at the first dance. The latter covers a huge fight, with the Eradicators throwing food around and destroying decorations. "High School Is a Prison" is played over the Eradicators ending up in the basement detention and seeing how strict Vader's ridiculous rules are. The Eradicators manage to clear out the other band hired for prom long enough to come in for the finale, including "Dare Dreamer" and "Rock Us Danny" as the kids laugh at their videos depicting how imperfect the frigid Vader and spoiled yuppie kids are.
What I Don't Like: Um, yeah, did I mention how of-its-time this movie is? From the brightly patterned and slouchy or dark leather clothes on the Eradicators to the pastel or neutral plaids worn by the rich brats, this production screams "low budget 1991." It lacks the grittiness of the first film, though the humor is just as raunchy, if not even more annoying and juvenile. It's less off the cuff weirdness than trying too hard to be cool. And don't look for the Ramones - the band they want to see here is the little-known Pursuit of Happiness.
There's also the cliched subplot involving Jesse and the pretty substitute music teacher Rita (Sarah Buxton). Other than a hilarious sequence where Rita shows football players how cool classical music can be, she doesn't have much to do. Vader chases after her in the end only so Jesse can rescue her; she barely noticed Rita during the rest of the movie.
The Big Finale: Some folks seem to have fond memories of catching this on cable or checking out that video in the early and mid-90's. There's some funny sequences, but it's mostly unnecessary. Only if you're a gigantic fan of Feldman or the comedies of the late 80's and early 90's.
Home Media: On DVD with another raunchy Feldman comedy from the 90's, South Beach Academy.
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