Porky’s – Blu-Ray Review

21st September 2014

Along with Animal House and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky’s one of the first wave of the more sexually explicit teen comedies that paved the way for those of my generation like American Pie and Road Trip. It’s not the kind of classic that wins awards or gets documentaries made about it. It’s the kind that passes from generation to generation by word of mouth in the back of classrooms and from older siblings, and it’s great to see films of this kind getting the Blu-Ray treatment.

Porky’s follows a group of teenagers living in 1950’s Florida as they laugh, grow and, most importantly, try and get laid. It’s not the most intricate or complicated of plots, but being a teenager, for the most part, isn’t a complicated time. It’s the time when everything is black and white, when the grey area is just around the corner but you’re too busy taming new urges to notice, and this film really captures that feeling.

One of my favourite things about this film, and pretty much every comedy of it’s kind that I like, is that we see the characters cracking up and getting the joke. It may seem like a minor thing, but it shows a real focus on the characters instead of the situations to generate the humour.

It’s not a perfect film, with the over arching line of the eponymous bar becoming the far-fetched anchor weighing down the hormonal vignettes, but there is so much joy to be found in great pranks and howling gym teachers that it is easy to forgive it.

Bob Clark’s portrayal of teenage life isn’t realistic but it is honest. These feel like situations and attitudes that are deeply engrained in every secondary and high school the world over, practically carved into the walls.

Bonus

Along with the trailer, we have Skin Classic, a short appreciation of the film by Mr Skin himself, Porky’s Through the Peephole, a glimpse at Porky’s history, production and legacy with writer/director Bob Clark and a more in-depth look with the Clark commentary.

Available on Blu-Ray from Arrow now.

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