Okay, let's make one thing clear--this movie is dog doo, but a lot of people are misunderstanding it. It's awful, but it's the kind of movie that let you know that ahead of time. Nobody went to this movie taking it seriously. This was the kind of movie you went to when your purpose was to be with your friends and make asses of yourselves, not to actually WATCH it. Even better, you have to remember that even in '81, there were drive-ins everywhere, and people went to drive-ins to hang out, make out, socialize and eat greasy burgers and chili dogs with the gang. That a movie was going on was completely incidental. In fact, the more forgettable the movie, the better, which is why at drive-ins two movies usually played--one for watching, and one for background noise while you ran around to find your friends. The Kinky Coaches and the Pom Pom Pussycats (I REFUSE to call it "Heartbreak High") was definitely of the "background noise" variety. If you're expecting a brief review of the plot, you're about to be disappointed. I mean, there was something about a Big Game upcoming, and a rivalry between the opposing head coaches, some scheming and shenanigans, Norman Fell making his full array of funny faces, and buxom cheerleaders chanting "The bigger, the better, the tighter the sweater." I don't know! But that's the point! I'm not SUPPOSED to remember, because nobody expected anybody to pay attention to this in the first place.
It was a different time for movies, in a different economy. Nowadays, any movie you go to see, you probably expect some bang for your buck, given how expensive they are. That was not the case in '81, and this was one of those movies whose purpose was not really to entertain, but to just BE there while you and yours entertained yourselves. And this one . . . Magnificently succeeded in both objectives!
