Grad Night

As 1980s-era high school comedies go, GRAD NIGHT is even worse than most of the output of Crown International Pictures, who themselves put out one stinker after another. This one's a deservedly forgotten effort with zero budget and zero laughs. It's a cheap-looking, school-set comedy in which the jokes and hijinks are non-existent and the whole film is difficult to sit through.

Many of the attempts at humour in this film are repetitive and obnoxious. The most notable is a male streaker who seems to show up at random moments only to be chased by authority characters. The main characters are so bland that you don't even notice their presence in the film and the running time feels slow and drawn out. It's goofy, fun-loving kids versus stuck-up adults again, and truly is the worst of its type.

This film gets bad reviews all the time, and yes it was low budget. However it is unique in its own way and if you invest a little in it you find some funny characters such as weird Charlie played by Russ Woody who went on to be a t.v writer for many popular shows (too many to list here). Then there is Gary who farts a lot and just his goofy look makes him hilarious, he is played by Sam Whipple who unfortunately passed in 2002, but Sam got roles in other films including a spot on an episode of Seinfeld. Bob is pretty much the main character played by B star Joe Johnson, who is breaking up with his ceremony flashing girl friend jenny (Suzanne Fagan). Barry Stolze plays Tim Sutton Bob's buddy and drunk driving friend. Also noted the music in this film is unique early eighty's pop/disco, but if you really listen it's pretty good stuff by a unknown (cant find nothing on them) J. D Boreman band, who I think do the song during a strip show the boys sneak out of the school dance to go see, and ends up being the funniest scene with Gary jumping on stage obsessed with the dancer. Yes this film is low budget and the cast are not award winning actors, but if you are a fan of old B movies this one is worth watching, has some nostalgic and unique moments.

My girlfriend wanted us to go participate in the call for crowd scene volunteers for this movie--it was filmed in Sacramento. We milled around all morning and then went into the school auditorium for a reaction shot when one of the girls was supposed to open her gown and flash the audience (my reaction would have been better if we'd really had the girl up there flashing). We could tell it wasn't going to be much of a movie, but years later, late at night, I turned on the TV and there was GRAD NIGHT running. And it was coming up on that very scene! Guess who got about a five second full-face shot, looking shocked? Well, me. So you should watch it for that reason. I think it was the best acting in the whole movie!

Grad Night is a pre-Fast Times teen comedy that was made before teen movies were really popular. It boasts a very low budget, a no-name cast (who are of very limited talent) and a plot that has virtually no laughs. It's the kind of film where you keep expecting something funny to happen and yet, it never does. Forget about this turkey.