The Party Animal

What can I say, this is one of the movies that my group of friends took to heart in the mid 80's. We would, no kidding, watch this once or twice a week for a few years. It was our cult favorite. I found a copy on eBay a few years ago (I think from the folks that produced it). I see it's on Amazon these days.

The movie, it's pure teenage bubblegum. Pondo Sinatra is looking to get pussy. The movie is all about how he tries and fails repeatedly. It takes on a Benny Hill-like feel for a while as he goings about his trial and MOSTLY error. But then he has a breakthrough in the chemistry lab and discovers a compound that brings the women on in drives; and there's no way to turn it off. Midas touch.

This was really funny when I was 15. I find it funny today. I haven't grown up much. If you can find a copy, give it a look. The Untouchables performance of "The General" stands out. See review on Amazon, they pretty much mirror this: Nostalgia, boobies, fun...

Vanity projects are mostly disasters, let’s face it. They can be fun to laugh at but they are usually failures with little point other than to boost up the star. And 1984’s The Party Animal is definitely one of those disasters. It’s a sad, pathetic and often mean-spirited flick romp that is more memorable as a VHS cover on the shelf than anything you would even attempt to entertain yourself with. Yes, this film tries to fancy itself as a comedy but that’s stretching it quite a bit. And the only real character we get is Pondo, played by Matthew Causey. He’s insufferable. Leaving me wondering how can a movie even try to be successful with a main character you hate?

And this flick is just that, a montage of this asshole doing assholish things for over sixty minutes. And what makes it worse is that he walks into these situations acting like a total prick and everybody sees him doing it and recognizes that. It makes it so much harder to enjoy.

There’s a scene of him showing up to a party and just consuming large amounts of drugs to the point of him choking. And everybody at this party just watches him consume all of these drugs. None of them participate. He just walked into this party. Everything stopped and they’re just staring at him in shock. That’s it. Next scene. And the next scene without any continuity whatsoever. He isn’t tripping on the drugs anymore, no side effects in this next scene. It’s just another situation. It’s very scattershot. Just a smorgasbord of this misogynist’s random horny exploits.

Filmmaker David Beaird films these scenes in order for us to feel bad for the character and that maybe Pondo can change. It’s just not happening. And it doesn’t help that this chud adorns himself with the Alabama rebel flag. The Stars and Bars. Worn to really hammer home how much of a rebel the character or the filmmaker is. But it fails.

I can’t really put into words why this boner comedy exists. Clearly they had a story to tell and if I had to focus on some of the positives I guess I let out a few chuckles due to disbelief of what I’m actually witnessing. I can safely say though that the soundtrack is not terrible. The Buzzcocks, R.E.M. The Fleshtones, Dream 6 and other artists. If you like ska then there is a music video for The General by The Untouchables. In fact, there’s quite a lot of music videos, most of which just have Pondo acting like a fool and these are the best parts of the movie.

This is a tough one for me to recommend. It’s crass, it’s mean, it’s offensive, it’s chock full of cringe. But it’s also got a whole lot of eighties everywhere. The fashions, the music, the atmosphere. If nothing, this is a time capsule to a completely different age. A look at just what filmmaking with zero rules and a whole lot of cocaine can achieve.