Porky's III - La rivincita!

The last part of the epic "Porky's"-trilogy is undeniably the weakest, mainly because it feels so straight to video. The production often seems lazy and cheap, and the director didn't exactly work overtime ever. Basketball has never looked this lackluster. The screenwriter tries his best to copy the style of the original, but the way things are directed makes the raunch look nasty rather than funny. The scene with Tommy and Balbricker, presumably one of the most hilarious scenes in the movie, just kinda made me ashamed for watching this. Has it come to this, I wondered, as Balbricker attempted to pull down his underwear for minutes straight. The only redeeming factor left are the actors, that surprisingly still look like they want to be there. Pee Wee is always entertaining, even if he doesn't get to do much. It's still Pee Wee. I also appreciate that Porky is back for the occasion, even though his evil plan makes little sense. And why is he telling people about it? That's just asking to be stopped. Either way, this is not too bad for a second sequel, but it's just so clearly not by the original makers.

Believe it or not, Porky's is the most successful Canadian-made film in history (still!). Porky's was the movie that first graduated from the drive-in circuit to the cinema. A big hit in both Canada and the U.S., it was the commercials that became my gateway to adult entertainment. Sadly, I was only 9 when the movie came out, so I had to wait.

After seeing all three movies a number of times, I have to admit that Porky's Revenge is the best one. The story: Set in the late 1950's, a bunch of boys with "sex on the brain" battle with their nemesis, Porky. Porky is a "southern gentleman" who runs an illegal casino/brothel situated on a riverboat. The boys have been wanting to make this man's life miserable ever since he embarrassed them in the first movie. So once again, they plot to destroy his operation once and for all.

The movie had some great scenes, like the pool party, the sneaking into a teacher's apartment and then seeing her and another faculty member doing S&M, and the basketball scenes. This one's script is a lot better and James "Welcome Back, Kotter" Komack does some decent direction. It's not very good, but it's watchable enough, I've seen this one about 7 times, including today.

One last note: Porky's riverboat casino looks like the insides of The Hard Rock Hotel/Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. I guess now we know where Peter Morton got his inspiration from!

This film wasn't as great as the first one, but it was still good nonetheless. The song "High School Nights" at the end of it was a good song to close the series. Although some of the characters from the first two (Tim, Mickey, Officer Jarvis) are missed, this film has a good plot, I reccomend seing it.

The final film of the Porky's trilogy is clearly the better of the two sequels. It ignores the next day plot of the second film and goes back to direct raunchiness that made the first film so successful. However, the story should have put them in a different setting such as college, since the actors portraying the high school seniors were well into the late 20's early 30's by the time the third film was made. Overall, it is good comedy compared to the other films that were made in the mid 80's ** out of ****

Porky's Revenge (1985)

*** (out of 4)

The third and final film in the series finds the boys of Angel Beach High School having to deal with Porky once again when their basketball coach gets into some gambling trouble. Between dealing with Porky the boys find plenty of time for various sexual acts. Look, you're either a fan of the PORKY'S trilogy or you're not. I personally love the series and grew up watching these movies so they certainly are special to me no matter how silly they are. This third film in the series isn't nearly as good as the first but I thought it was a step up from the good, if flawed, second film. I think what works so well here is that it's just fun seeing the gang back and getting into more trouble. Again, if you're wanting comedy in the style of Charles Chaplin then you're not going to find it here but if you enjoy toilet humor, sex jokes and plenty of nudity then this here really delivers. I thought the story itself was mildly entertaining for a film like this but it was certainly a major plus having Porky back in action. After the events in the first film it's just obvious that he really would want some revenge so this adds another layer of fun. As with the first two, there are all sorts of dirty sex jokes and I thought the majority of them worked. This includes the foreign exchange student, a pool orgy and the highlight of the film a sequence inside a motel room. The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this but the entire cast fit their roles nicely and deliver a good job. There's no question that the film has some major flaws throughout but fans of the series should find this to be a good way to close things out.