(1979)

The Principles: 

The Ramones, PJ Soles, Vincent Van Patten, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Clint Howard, the tight purse strings of Roger Corman

The
Premise:  When a new principal takes over Vince Lombardi High School, rock music is endangered. But with the help of plucky young kids, the Ramones, and a complete school takeover, the rock can still rule.

Is It Good: 

It’s a blast. Rock n’ Roll High School is a weird, silly and fun movie that’s dripping with great music and youthful energy. Corman wanted a movie that hit the youth market and originally was going to make Disco High School, but sounder minds prevailed and we ended up with a paean to mostly harmless teenage rebellion and the power of rock n’ roll. There’s a strange innocence to the movie – it has no nudity and fairly little swearing – that makes it incredibly charming.

The goofy humor is refreshing these days. You can see the template for self-spoofing teen movies in Rock n’ Roll High School, but this film isn’t cynical, despite being very sarcastic (although back in the day I think it was called being a wise-ass). And its cartoonish sensibilities make it the perfect showcase for The Ramones, as cartoonish a band as ever existed.

Is It
Worth
A Look:  I think it’s worth a buy, and the Blu-Ray just hit stores (click here to buy it from CHUD). The movie is a lot of fun to watch but it’s also a really intriguing bit of cinematic history. Dean Cundey, one of the great cinematographers of the 80s and 90s, shot the film. Joe Dante directed some bits of it when director Allan Arkush couldn’t be there. The Zucker Bros second unit directed a very funny sequence with a paper airplane, before they went on to make Airplane!. It’s got a zip to it that’s missing from movies these days, even as shots get shorter and edits get tighter.

Random
Anecdotes: 
The Ramones cannot act. This could be PJ Soles’ best performance. Clint Howard’s Eaglebauer influenced a whole generation of dweeby high school entrepreneurs from Booger to Stiles and beyond. But seriously, The Ramones cannot act. At all. Famous FX artist Rob Bottin shows up at a Ramones concert in a big mouse suit. The first time you hear the title song PJ Soles is singing it for some reason. Paul Bartel is, as always, perfect.

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Soulmates:  Rock Around the Clock, A Hard Day’s Night, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Never Mind the Bollocks

(2010)

The Principles: 
The Sperig Brothers (writer/directors). Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Isabel Lucas. Some really skinny dude who fits into emaciated vampire costumes.

The
Premise:  The vampires that rule the world have done that very human thing: overconsumed and gotten themselves into deep shit. Is there a blood substitute, should they not exist, or are they becoming something much worse? One good vampire and a few human survivors aim to get to the bottom of it.

Is It Good: 
Yes. It’s actually quite good and the kind of vampire movie that reminds you of the potential in the oversaturated genre if actual creativity and a love of the medium shines through. It’s not perfect but there’s a lot of fun to be had in a movie that lives somewhere between Blade and Gattaca. Ethan Hawke is quite good as a vampire scientist trying to solve the crisis in a way that protects the humans but opposition is in every direction. His pacifist ways cause ripples amongst his peers and boss (Sam Neill, who does not enjoy his time in the film’s climax) and eventually he is on the run with a rogue group of humans led by Willem Dafoe. Fighting, politics, and happen. People explode into blood. We all smile.

It’s fun. It’s violent. It’s artfully made. The leads are all quite good. There’s also this undercurrent of old school that really clicks for me. The film seems very polished and serious but the more you pay attention the more you realize that the filmmakers are not taking themselves or their material too seriously. The reason it all works so well is the Sperig Brothers’ knowledge of FX and how hands on they are. Watching the DVD’s special features is a lesson in how much these guys bring to the table. I’m not a huge fan of their Undead but I appreciate it. These guys did so many FX shots in post on their own to make it bigger and more ambitious, it’s amazing. Entire CGI shots that sell this future as well as wire replacement, blood, eye coloring, all sorts of stuff.

It’s hard not to fall for a film this solid and flashy, yet intimate.

Is It
Worth
A Look:  Most definitely. It’s a vampire film and I’m recommending it. That should be a clue. Vampire films and zombie films have run their course ten times over, yet any argument I try to concoct gets kicked to the curb as long as stuff like Let the Right One In or Thirst or Daybreakers comes along. This is a great addition to a collection, especially considering there’s a feature length ‘making of’ on the discs.

I like it a little more than most, I think part of that is how surprised I was that I was sold on the concept ten minutes in but either way the film is definitely quite a worthy genre entry. 

Random
Anecdotes:  I love how immediate some of the violence is. I have doubts Sam Neill survived. Ethan Hawke is such a good actor and so interesting it makes me wish he’d do more genre stuff. Willem Dafoe keeps his clothes on, which is nice. I wish this was more successful. Because it’s good, unlike almost every other vampire movie [not mentioned in this article] over the past ten years.

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Soulmates:  Blade, Gattaca, Equilibrium.