Out of Control

There's a germ of a good exploitive drive-in movie here - teenagers stranded on an island getting into sex games, then fighting drug smugglers who arrive and threaten to kill them. It might have worked had it not all been presented in such a dull and unimaginative way - as well as if the teenagers were a likeable bunch that we cared about. It doesn't help that the movie was severely cut up before its release (look at the running time), with a narrative device added to explain things that not only doesn't explain much, but is pretty annoying.

This flick is hilarious to watch today. The bad outfits, the bad hair, the gratuitous nudity! It's everything a teen wanted. Sure the plot is not in Oscar contention, but this is entertaining bad TV and eye candy. There is also one (at least!) editing screw up of note: when you get your one and only overhead shot of the entire deserted island, the picture is taken from a mountain on a nearby island (or more likely the mainland). You can see branches at the bottom of the screen! Oops.

Eight high school seniors in Seattle leave the Prom and take a seaplane to a private island in order to celebrate, but they end up at a deserted isle where they may or may not bond, not to mention face serious challenges. Will they survive?

Released in 1984-1985, "Out of Control" is an obscure youth adventure that starts off like the future "The Edge" (1997), but has more in common with "April Fool's Day" (1986) since both flicks involve a group of youths on an island in (or near) Puget Sound. While there's no slasher angle to this one, there's still a serious threat to the students, which I'm not gonna give away.

A well-done spin-the-bottle sequence is reminiscent of the opening playing-in-the-mud sequence in "Village of the Giants" (1965), as well as the ensuing 'dancing giants' piece. But "Out of Control" is a serious adventure compared to that somewhat goofy flick.

What happens to the teens on the island is a microcosm of what is to come for them as adults: Fun times, unforeseen challenges, sudden death, enthusiastic partying, romances, unfaithfulness, fights, making up, unexpected evils, teamwork and survival. Sure, something happens in the last act that's thoroughly unbelievable, but "Where Eagles Dare" (1968) did the same thing and no one blinked an eye.

As far as the cast goes, Martin Hewitt (Keith) and Jim Youngs (Cowboy) are entertaining as the warring male protagonists. Meanwhile the flick is exceptional on the female front with Betsy Russell (Chrissie), Claudia Udy (Tina), Sherilyn Fenn (Katie) and Cindi Dietrich (Robin), all beautiful in their unique ways, and all tastefully caught on film in the physical prime of their lives. Both Sherilyn Fenn and Betsy Russell went on to have decent second-tier acting careers. Be sure to look for Sherilyn in "Zombie High" (1987), "Two Moon Junction" (1988) and "Of Mice and Men" (1992).

At the end of the day this is a low-budget coming-of-age drama/adventure/thriller that's thoroughly comic booky, but works for what it is because it wisely checks all the staples and doesn't overstay its welcome.

The full-length version runs about 1 hour, 28 minutes, but there's also a cut version that's around 10 minutes shorter (which I suggest avoiding). As far as the locations go, it was shot in the USA with second unit work done in Yugoslavia. I can't find any more detailed data, unfortunately.

GRADE: B-/B.

Fairly entertaining low-budget teen action pic, set on a deserted (almost....) island. Rather amateurishly made, but it has some surprisingly tender moments. The characters are stereotypical, but also believable. Best thing about it: the catchy title theme that is SO wonderfully mid-1980s. ** out of 4.

My husband and I put on this movie after he read the plot summary about kids stranded on an island and they are confronted by drug smugglers. Interesting, we thought, so we played the movie ... And soon afterwards, I had to double check to make sure he didn't stumble across some soft-core p#rn film. For about 10 minutes straight, we watch these teens get drunk, make out (and more) and the girls undress. We got the feeling the director just wanted to see young, naked girls bouncing around for the men. Made me feel really uncomfortable. Even if these characters were suppose to be adults, that scene just made no sense. I'm not a prude, but it definitely gave the wrong vibe. I wouldn't suggest this movie to anyone, especially if you're expecting a survival story. I know they're suppose to be young, stupid teens but that scene was really uncalled for. Since it felt really out of nowhere, and again, underage characters, it made us feel uncomfortable. It could have been trimmed down to 2 minutes. Because after that, it felt really unnecessary and uncalled for. The rest of the movie is pretty bad, to be honest, but that scene made me feel really unsettled, especially as a woman.