Hunk

Part of an 80's Teen Comedy - Back to School DVD set I just bought, it didn't look all promising, to be honest. However, I did give it the benefit. And was I ever surprised. This low-budget film has substance, and an actual plot - with actors who can actually act.

I found it charming, entertaining, and funny. In fact, many areas are downright hilarious. The dialog, acting, direction, and cinematography are decent. And I loved its overall moral theme: Beauty is over-rated. The film centers on tech-geek Brad Brinkman who grows bored with his overall life, and desires severe change, especially with women. He's visited by a sexy apparition who transforms him into a total stud. And then Brad/Hunk must decide thereon if he's indefinite happy with his 'transformation'.

The only downers to this were the club snobs who's performances were weak and way overdone. Otherwise this movie is 2 thumbs up.

A computer nerd makes a deal with a sexy she-devil to become a muscle-bound beach hunk.

Hunk shares quite a similar idea to the one later used (copied?) in Bedazzled (2000), where we have a hopeless nerd given the chance to become cool by a super-sexy she-devil, with the result that he realises that it is more important to be yourself than superficially good-looking. In that later film we had Elizabeth Hurley turn in a mind-bogglingly seductive performance, in Hunk its Deborah Shelton who is somewhat convincing as a rather hot seductress. The leading ladies certainly are very important to the success of these films but they both also feature other decent performances. In this case it is John Allen Nelson who most impresses in a role that has him play a stereotypical hunky guy while remaining nerdish at heart. It's a good comical performance that works well alongside Shelton's glamorous seductress.

While I wouldn't describe this as an especially funny film, it is definitely a likable one. It is much less moronic than quite a few of the teen comedies of its day and I think it stands up fairly well. It naturally has oodles of 80's cheese as well but that is pretty much a positive detail as far as I am concerned. All-in-all, a very fun film.

I have probably watched this movie way too many times too remember don't want too get too embarrassed but 80's poster model Deborah Shelton is in it and that's enough for me. It's actually probably the worst movie I've ever seen least the worst one that ever hit the theaters remember the hunk in trunk advertisements for your back car window oh please! Anyone who thinks this is a classic 80's movie never was in the 80's. If I want this too be submitted I have to write at least three more lines. So I don't know why I think Deborah Shelton turns me on so much in this movie I mean she doesn't even wear a bikini just a blue one piece swimsuit and some knock your socks off dresses that made me go crazy Maybe I actually am crazy for watching this movie so many times

Hunk is a retelling of the proverbial Ugly Duckling tale, only with humans, rather than ducks, epitomizing 80's trends. The makers of Hunk certainly had their work cut out for them whilst making this groundbreaking film, since the affliction of insecurity usually only strikes females with glasses on film.

The story: Bradley invents a successful computer program about yuppies, goes to live in a dilapidated beach house in the California yuppie colony Sea Spray, and discovers that he is quite different from the others because he is a nerd. He has already sold his soul to the devil in order to make the successful computer program, and so, once he wishes to be a hunk, his wish is satisfied by the devil's handmaiden, O'Brien, on whom Bradley develops a crush. Bradley, now Hunk Golden, is unleashed on the unassuming folks of Sea Spray to cause an uproar with his utter hunkiness, which he plays up by wearing a sleeveless, unbuttoned button-up shirt accented by a tie. Nice.

Despite finding love with his psychologist, Sunny, Hunk Golden soon discovers that being a Hunk isn't all he dreamed it would be and so he embarks on a metaphysical battle with the devil, a.k.a. Dr. D. (played by the one and only, James Coco) for his soul. Will Hunk Golden remain a hunk in exchange for his mortal soul, or will he give up his status as a Hunk and live as Bradley Brinkman?

What a relief to finally see a funny, smart, yet insecure male nerd wish to be a brawny, tanned hunk, and to be ironically reminded that the inner beauty of the male can also be obscured by a repulsively unattractive exterior. And Bradley Brinkman didn't even have to wear glasses to represent a nerd, because they just had a different actor portray Hunk Golden.

If you are an insecure nerd, this movie will undoubtedly boost your self-esteem. If not, you'll get lots of laffs from the endless cheese. Highlights: O'Brien dancing at the nightclub, and Hunk's trendsetting style. And, if WWIII ever breaks out, I guess those of us who have watched Hunk will know who's REALLY responsible.

A friend new the director, so I went to the premiere, which was in a prestigious Westwood (L.A.) theatre. We all found it very entertaining.

The story was this: Lawrence Bassoff went to USC film school, where he made a hilarious twenty-minute comedy about an outer space themed Bar Mitzva. http://www.film-making.com/breaking.html

From that, he succeeded in getting a low-budget movie deal from Crown International Pictures for his first commercial film, Weekend Pass, which was moderately successful. Then Crown said they wanted to fund him to make another low-budget film, and they wanted it to be called 'Hunk'. No treatment, no script, no plot ideas. Just make a comedy about a hunk, and do what you want.

A lifelong movie poster collector, he never made another film but has written three books on movie posters.