Though 1939 is considered by many to be the greatest year in American cinema, 1978 isn't too shabby either. That year brought us seminal films across many genres, including The Deer Hunter, one of the first films to deal with the Vietnam War; Grease, a groundbreaking musical; and Halloween, the classic and oft-imitated horror flick. And of course, 1978 also brought us the first in a long line of teenage sex comedies: National Lampoon's Animal House.
Animal House starts with college freshmen Larry Kroger (Tom Hulce) and Kent Dorfman (Stephen Furst) looking to join a fraternity. They start with the Aryan-esque Omegas, where they are quickly relegated to the room with the other undesirable would-be pledges. Realizing shortly thereafter that they are not one for the Omegas, they head to the Deltas. As Larry says that "I heard the Deltas are the worst frat on campus," they are quickly greeted by a flying headless female mannequin, loud choruses of "Louie, Louie," and John Belushi's urine. Have they found their house or what?
It is safe to say that most people reading this are going to be familiar with the happenings of Animal House. We quickly learn that Dean Wormer (John Vernon) has it out for the Deltas and are looking to get rid of them any way he can: he even puts them on "double secret probation." Soon enough, after various and marginally illegal acts, the Deltas find themselves with their charter revoked and expelled from school. However, as one has learned from these now ex-students, they are not to be beaten easily and exact delicious revenge at the school's homecoming event.
The beauty of Animal House is that it makes the supremely ridiculous eminently plausible. It's hard to say what makes it work so well but the brilliance of the casting seems to be the most obvious reason. Everyone seems custom made for their roles. Tim Matheson as the dashing and confident "Otter" makes it easy to believe that he could bed every lady he can find, from a non-existent fiancée's roommate to the dean's wife. Vernon is the perfect antagonist when it comes to making you hate him, but you gotta love the way he relates to the Deltas their grades, or his reaction as a dead horse is being chainsawed in half in order to be removed from his office. Even Furst as the newly-nicknamed "Flounder" plays the lovable pushover to the hilt as he is abused by friend and foe alike.
Of course, this is a comedy, and damn if it is still not hilarious after all these years. Witness: Niedermeyer (Mark Metcalf) screaming and spitting at Flounder while he is being inspected in his military uniform; the road trip to the bar where, as they observe, they are "the only white people here," is probably even funnier now due to its complete political incorrectness ("Do you mind if we dance with your dates?!"); and, of course, the final homecoming scene where the Deltas' float of a cake, emblazoned with an "Eat Me" slogan, is shed, leaving behind only the "Deathmobile" which wreaks havoc on all that have dared to cross them during the year.
25 years after its original release, Universal has given us this "Double Secret Probation Edition" which has been digitally re-mastered with a few bonus features. One of the extras, an interview session titled "The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion," details how much of an accident it was that this movie was ever made in the first place. Basically, three writers with roots at the Harvard Lampoon, Douglas Kenney, Chris Miller, and Harold Ramis, started with Kenney's and Ramis' script titled Laser Orgy Girls. The three began by discussing the most ridiculous stories they could remember from college, then once they had a treatment, they split it into thirds and each worked on a segment before swapping. They kept working on draft after draft until they got one they liked. Through one serendipitous act after another, the movie was green-lit and made to the delight of millions. This piece is full of truly interesting aspects of how any film gets made along with what helped make this movie so special. One anecdote relates how the cast actually entered an Omega-style fraternity for research purposes and exited with bruises and cut lips.
In addition to the reunion, there is a hilarious mockumentary ala Spinal Tap where they update the "graduates" from Faber College. Turns out Babs is still a tour guide at Universal, though she is not truly appreciated by her supervisors, Otter is still a successful gynecologist (in more ways than one) in Beverly Hills, and Hoover (James Widdoes) is still practicing law in Baltimore, though he has switched sides and is now a DA instead of a public defender. It is by far the best aspect of this new edition. Other features include a video by MFNX of "Shout," which after seeing once, doesn't require repeat viewing. There is no audio commentary on this set, unfortunately, though there is a text commentary feature called "Did You Know That?" Alas, it does repeat a lot of what is said in the "Reunion" feature, but there is enough new info in it to make it a worthwhile endeavor.
Without Animal House, we never would have had a Porky's, a Hardbodies, or even a There's Something About Mary. For the fact that it was great movie in its own right, and also served to usher in many other great teenage sex comedies, we all have a lot to be thankful for, accident or not.
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