Il liceo del rock 'n' roll

93 minutes of mindless fun from 1979. So what if P.J. Soles was damn near 30 when this was made...she can rock my high school any time she wants! Now that we're down to only one original Ramone (and even he isn't in this), we have to salute the Boys by watching this movie. It's the way we want to remember 'em best, blowing up a high school.

So screw you Principal Togar, and all your exploding mice! WE JUST WANNA ROCK! P.S.---R.I.P. Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Mr. McGree, & Screamin' Steve. And if anybody knows whatever happened to Angel Dust (Lynn Farrell-who made 3 movies in 1979 and seems to have dropped off the planet since) please post it on the R&RHS message board.

Rock'n'Roll High School is arguably the freshest, fastest, funniest, most ROCK AND ROLL teen movies ever. If you love The Ramones you'll love this one! And hey, if you don't love The Ramones, you're already dead, so get outta here. Halloween's P.J. Soles really hits the spot as The Ramones number one fan Riff Randell, and Clint Howard will always be Eaglebauer to me. No suprise that b-grade legend Roger Corman had a hand in this, and as an added bonus Corman cronies Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel and the God-like Dick Miller round out the supporting cast. Great Ramones set and lots of other cool music featured (MC5, Devo, Eno, Todd and Eddie and the Hot Rods "Teenage Depression") puts this at the top of the Rock'n'Roll heap.

Too cool for school!!

It's amazing that actress P.J. Soles didn't become a big star after playing Riff Randell, #1 fan of the punk rock group the Ramones, in "Rock 'n' Roll High School". Soles is so exuberant, you don't mind she's obviously too old to still be a student in high school (that fact is leveled out by having all the kids look 25). The movie is a fast-paced frolic that doesn't cop-out; everything gets blown to smithereens at the end, and that's just as it should be. Mary Woronov, a kinky and funny presence as the Nazi-like principal, gets a great, one-of-a-kind bit at the beginning where Frisbees fly dangerously close to her head (how many takes did they use on that, or was it a fluke?) and Dey Young is very appealing as Randell's best friend, Kate Rambeau. The weakest link, ironically enough, in this "High School" chain-gang is the Ramones. They can't act, they're not funny, and their concert segment goes on too long. One Ramones song, "I Want You Around", is treated as a fantasy and is well-captured; other incidental songs are good, particularly a rare Paul McCartney ballad, "Did We Meet Somewhere Before?" Great fun! *** from ****

And this is a great rock'n'roll movie in itself. No matter how it evolved (at point being a movie about disco), it ended up as one of the ultimate movies in which kids want to rock out, but the principal stands in their way. Think back to those rock'n'roll movies of the 50's in which the day is saved when Alan Freed comes to town with Chuck Berry to prove that Rock & Roll Music is really cool and safe for the kids, and Tuesday Weld gets a new sweater for the dance. Forward to the 1979, repeat the same plot, but throw in DA RAMONES, whom no one then realized would become one of the most influential bands of the next quarter century (and then for the obligatory DJ guest shot, "The Real" Don Steele). Throw in, too, all the elements of a Roger Corman-produced comedy-exploitation film, except for the two-day shooting schedule, some of the familiar Corman repertory players like Clint Howard, Mary Wournow and Dick Miller (there since "Bucket of Blood"), and you've got one of the great stoopid movies of the day. One of the few films that uses deliberate cheesiness and gets away with it. I showed the new DVD to a friend who could only remember seeing parts of it through a stoner- induced haze at the drive-in, and he agreed that this is one of the great movies to be watching drunk, not the least for the lovely leading ladies and the great Ramones footage.

Yet, another cult movie made by B-movie great Roger Corman. Unlike those ridiculous B-Movies he made prior to this one, Rock 'n Roll High School is actually cool! In this one, the protagonist is a teen girl who is a hard-core Ramones fan, and she and her fellow classmates are up against a dictator-like principal who wants to make the school a living hell. The girl, Riff wants to write music for her favorite band as well.

Rock 'n Roll High School is a really fun, edgy, tongue-in-cheek, feel good kind of movie! It's a teen movie I actually enjoy! Even today's teens can like this movie, too! The soundtrack is really enjoyable, and full of songs from The Ramones, Brownsville Station, Alice Cooper, and all those greats from the 1970's! It was cool to see Joey Ramone and the others make an appearence. Sadly, last year we lost Joey to cancer.

Want to see a real teen comedy? Then see Rock 'n Roll High School! This movie puts all those pathetically unfunny teen comedies of today (i.e. American Pie) to shame! I give this 5 stars!