Porky's contre-attaque !

"Porky's II: The Next Day" was a weak and frustratingly tame movie that couldn't hold a candle to the wayward original; which I personally consider to be a classic in its own specific league. One of the – admittedly many – reasons of failure was the absence of the titular redneck character who was more or less profiled as the teen protagonists' arch enemy in the first film. Porky Wallace (glorious role of the late Chuck Mitchell) was a fat and sleazy night club owner from a neighboring county who humiliated and deceived the oversexed high school teenagers and prevented them from getting laid in his club. This led to fantastically comical and vulgar situations, but the first sequel skipped all this in favor of politically correct humor and ethically valuable morals. Well, just like the producers of "Halloween" found out after the disastrous third installment … every franchise also partly relies on a solid villainous character. The input of Porky's character in this third and final movie isn't exactly tremendous, but it definitely helps. The jokes and absurd situations are also a lot funnier again (albeit not nearly as funny as in the original) because they all revolve on raging hormones, bizarre sexual fetishes, embarrassing encounters and plain juvenile delinquency! Few weeks before graduating high school (about time, as they all appear to be in their mid-twenties…), the cheerful posse has the chance of realizing their biggest dream: winning the state championship in basketball. They face a big – literally – obstacle when it turns out their beloved coach has unsettled debts with Porky, who now owns a luxurious casino boat. The only way out is for the team to lose the finale and have Porky cash in the betting money, but their mind is too strongly set on winning… This is good old-fashioned and textbook 80's comedy, meaning relaxing and utterly brainless. Ideal stuff to re-watch after all these years and revive the spirit of 80's trash.

The third film in the Porky's trilogy is definitely the weakest of the three. It still kept to the spirit of the first two movies with some antics here and there, but it just wasn't as funny or memorable. The other two had somewhat unfocused plots, but this movie's plot was especially scattered.

However, it's still worth a watch if you got a laugh out of the first two Porky's movies.

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!

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.

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.