Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Pinball Summer


Pinball Summer (Flipper Girls, Pick-up Summer) Directed by George Mihalka, starring Joey McNamara (1980).

Just one year later, this director made My Bloody Valentine, one of my favorite Great White North slashers. What makes that film so enjoyable is how ear assaultively Canadian it is--I mean heavy on the ooots And ooses on words like "house" and "about" plus gratuitous Molsen and Moosehead beer swilling. Since this one (which is also super Canadian) just played at the SF Mission Drafthouse, I figured I'd dial it up on YT and check it out, also I think I heard Hollywood Highs #1 fan Paul "Sharkey", my best pal and Porky's fan fiction aficionado mention it. That dude knows bad teen schlock, he has a degree in Frat-onomics (he even teaches cartooning at Oakland's 3 O' Clock Rock) and I always trust his recommendations. I urge everyone to see it in the theater though, I'd imagine it will be a crowd pleaser.

The only character I sort of liked in a sea of retarded cut off wearing dicks and bra less butt cheek flashing babes is Whimpy (Joey McNamara). This runty virgin has no idea how to dress properly (his belly is always hanging out) and he wears a sailor type hat with a King Crimson button, (brownie points for that shit)! Bert the biker attempts to get him laid while fucking with the main characters. I was dying during one part where Whimp attempts to have sex with a hooker and she gets grossed out by his smelly socks.

you really gotta hear Lark's Tongues in Aspic on meth and screaming yellow zonkers aye?


Speaking of music, the soundtrack is power pop lite puke by Jay Boivin and Germain Gauthier. The one thing this plotless sexploitation flick has going for it is all of the girls are super hot! All the guys led by Greg (Michael Zelniker) and Steve (Carl Marotte), two white dudes with Afros are typical leering potential rapists. I guess Whimpy would be the I Spit On Your Grave Mathew character, but thankfully it never goes beyond light and airy beach party fun. There's a greaser guy named Burt who's busty girlfriend works at a burger joint that everyone is constantly eating at. She was in a few other Canuxploits like The Blue Man, with Karen Black by this same director and even the mainstream Fly remake as Jeff Goldblum's trophy lady for melting a bikers wrist during that famous arm wrestling scene. Bryan Thomas even waxes nostalgia like on the Night Flight site.

Let's reenact that Jodie Foster gang rape scene in The Accused

There's more scenes of people spying and secretly listening while others have sex, smoke dope or hang out at the drive in then in any other film I can think of (maybe it's influenced by the recent Watergate scandal)?
It's never boring even though it's extremely plotless and derivative. There's a stubby jew-froed manager of the arcade named Pete who looks like Cousin Larry and the singer from Air Supply if they mated, the big finale contest offers a trophy and a date with the pinball queen. Man, in the 70's everything seemed to revolve around pinball, check out this pic of Bob Dylan playing the flippers.



It's all about context, if you compare it to Rape Squad (aka Act of Vengeance) where the women being objectified and seen as militant feminists, fight back they're met with disdain, but in this era where dudes can just feel up chicks and as long as they giggle it's total cool--no lawsuits! I know I'm kind of zapping the fun outta this one but it's interesting to see a bad teen sex comedy in this perspective. I like how there's an old timey trench coat flasher who's in almost every scene lurking in the background.

I'll solve that flasher case, right after I polish off this case of Ontario swill

People's lives just revolved around pinball back then and there's even a beauty contest at the arcade ( not a Ms Pacman or Q-Bert machine in sight sadly)! There's a frightening talking clown game named "Arthur" that talks and even reacts when a bikini babe sits on it, I'm fascinated by this weird oddity but it's never explained.
Oddly enough this uber horny machine doesn't make an appearance in tonight's feature

The most surreal part of is the end pinball battle on the featured movie game (which has the cast or characters featured on the machine)! This is like Spaceballs when they're able to see the movie before it's finished. If you're a completist for UP ALL NIGHT style shit and why wouldn't you be, then definitely give this a whirl, it's fun in a totally lecherous creepy way.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE BEFORE IT'S GONE

I hate this Nova Scotia remake of Dawn of the Dead



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