Severin Films | Buy at Amazon | Review by Dan Taylor
There are few things I love in this world as much as a good teen-sex comedy. Thanks to coming of age during the genre's golden years and having unfettered access to pay cable channels and a VCR while a horny adolescent, teen-sex comedies were there for me even when dates weren't. Whether it was the criminally underrated UP THE ACADEMY, the schizophrenic THE HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS or even the early Troma effort SQUEEZE PLAY, I could always count on such flicks to provide a few laughs and at least a fleeting glimpse of some boobs. Which is more than I can say for my teenage dating years.
Among the slew of "horny teens on the make" comedies that followed in the wake of the success of PORKY'S, few have as many defenders as SCREWBALLS, finally available in all its glory on DVD. And just to show you how beloved this flick is, Severin's new DVD features not one, not two, not three... but six interview featurettes covering everybody from the flick's director, stars and screenwriters to teen-sex comedy experts waxing poetic about the legendary strip bowling scene and the film's role in the very development of Canuxploitation.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. What really makes SCREWBALLS stand out is the fact that it's unabashed about its role as a walking, talking live-action comic book. No joke is too low, no gag too base. Before we're even treated to the credits we've got busty gals being poked in the butt by a giant hot dog-shaped sign promoting a 69-cent special. Subtle it ain't.
What it is, however, is the ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL of the teen sex comedy genre. While Allan Arkush's genius musical-comedy (overseen, like SCREWBALLS, by Roger Corman) posits an alternative universe where The Ramones are arguably the most famous and popular band in existence, SCREWBALLS creates its own time-warpy version of 50s America as seen through the eyes of a foreign director and crew in the 1980s complete with rockabilly and new wave, vintage cars, Playboy, granny panties and sex shops!
As viewers we're dropped into this bizarro version of our past in order to follow the goings-on at Taft & Adams High School (T&A!) where The Stud, The Prep, The New Kid, The Cafeteria Masturbator and The Horny Geek have all teamed up for one reason: to get a look at the boobs of Purity Busch, the only girl at T&A who hasn't put out.
Originally known as CRAZY TIMES, SCREWBALLS may be one of the most democratic of all teen-sex comedies. While most flicks of its ilk would waste our time having the jock, prep and nerd warring or at the very least butting heads over a girl or sporting event, the flick is single-minded in its purpose and brings the male leads together as allies in their quest.
It's really that simple and screenwiters Jim Wynorksi and Linda Shayne (who co-stars as blonde bombshell Bootsie Goodhead) do little more than load up the joke machine and push start, delivering freshman girl breast exams (topless, of course), names like Melvin Jerkovski, a stuttering secretary, a drive-in riot complete with anachronistic footage from a 70s Pam Grier movie (!), Spanish Fly in the punch, and homecoming dress bra measurements all in the name of the "plot" to get Purity (Linda Speciale) topless.
While I might be partial to other genre offerings of the era, it's easy to see why SCREWBALLS remains a beloved low-budget gem. Non-stop jokes, a blink-and-you-miss-it 79 minute running time and what Mr. Skin correctly labels "Hall of Fame" nudity all add up to a true classic of its time.
