The Film: 
Rock n’ Roll High School

(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.

Cinematc

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

The
Tally

So
Far

 Positive  Negative
 Pontypool Deadgirl
 State of Play The Children
 Orphan  It’s Alive
 Grace  Friday the 13th, Part 3
 Inside  Hounddogaudition

 3000 Miles to Graceland Columbus

Day

The Last Supper  Angel

Eyes

 Things To Do In Denver
When

You’re

Dead

Highlander:

The

Source

 World’s Greatest Dad  
The Killing Hour (aka The
Clairvoyant)
 Lady Beware  
The

Neverending
Story

 Pitch Black  
Battlefield Earth
 For All Mankind Heaven’s Prisoners
 Splinter Adrenaline:

Fear The Rush

 Blessed

by

Fire

 
 Outland  
The Kindred  
 

Top

Secret

 
 

Beer Wars

 
 
The Brood
 
The

Incredible

Hulk 

 
Undertaking

Betty

 
 Cache  
 
Taxi
Blues
 
 
Across the Universe
 
Lord of War  
 
Dead Heat
 
 
The

Adventures
of

Buckaroo Banzai
Across the

8th Dimension

 
 
Every

Which
Way

But Loose

 
 
The

Entity

 
 
The

Slammin’
Salmon

 
 
Gremlins
2:

The New Batch

 
Master Of The Flying
Guillotine
 
Against All Odds
 
  The

Last Waltz

 
 
David Cross – Let America Laugh
 
 
The

Vanishing

 
Tupac: Resurrection