Saturday, January 5, 2013

King Frat



Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Ken Wiederhorn

Starring: John DiSanti, Charles Pitt, Roy Sekoff, Robert Small

From: Mad Makers Inc. (at least that's as much info as I have)

I apologize for this being up a day late. Things were out of my hands, and this wasn't what I was originally going to watch. But I was inspired by a few things (including a guy on a messageboard talking about this ultra-obscure film) and a podcast reviewing yet another movie (like Pinball Summer) where the heroes are referred to as “asstagonists” due to them being the people you're supposed to root for and yet they act rather repugnant and many people would end up loathing them. 

I've seen some clips from this after the messageboard mention, and those and the trailer below (where they act like this incredibly immature movie is called King Fucking Frat) seem to make those guys look like asstagonists.



Once I saw the movie (not that I'd tell you the less than ethical way to find it), THESE guys are asstagonists above most others in film history, I am going to reckon. I know I shouldn't expect much given that the college these asses go to is called Yellowstream University, but still...

To steal the plot from the IMDb: “Set on the quiet campus of Yellowstream University, this comedy follows the rivalries that build between two of the college's fraternities. When they're not mooning everyone they pass and throwing garbage on the lawns of rival frats, the members of the Pi Kappa Delta fraternity are mainly interested in drinking and... well, drinking. When a campus- wide farting contest is announced, Grossout, the leader of the Deltas, is all too eager to stand up, bend over and defend the honor of his fraternity.”

Yes, the main engine that propels the first half of this movie is a FARTING CONTEST. The rest of it is random vignettes... and the dean wanting to kick them off campus; sound familiar? Now, let me tell you about the first few minutes of this bold-faced Animal House ripoff where the Bluto character is interpreted by a character here named Grossout Grumbowski and looks-wise was obviously cast because of his resemblence to Belushi... over a terrible title song these guys drive around in an old herse with the license plate “Hey 4Q2” and not only do they drive the wrong way down the street under construction, they moon everyone from college chicks to a kid in a stroller, preppy guys to the president of the college, the shock of which gives him a heart attack! And remember, you're supposed to root for these guys. What a way to start off the film. 

Oh, and one of those aforementioned college chicks looks like a low-rent version of Reese Witherspoon. There's someone who not by coincidence looks like Tim Matheson did back in the late 70's.

The other people in the frat include the standard black guy with an afro, a Native American who looks to be in his 40's (no lie) and a stereotypical nerd who looks to be in his 30's. They love drinking Busch beer in a place that looks worse than that old house the Nerds moved to before they remodeled it in Revenge of the Nerds. Various stereotypes are abused in a rather juvenile way, from Native Americans to Chinese and other ones. But the character of Grossout... besides being badly acted (at least it matches most of the acting seen in the film) is really a giant villain, even more so than the other jokers you see here. I really hated how exaggeratedly disgusting he was, even more so than the other jokers you see here. He farts often and is just a slob of a pig. Not even him wearing a t-shirt advertising the original Howard the Duck comic redeems him.

Among the other atrocities from the asstagonists... two of them burn a hash brick into the ventilation shaft of the church where the service for the dead president is being held. Everyone ends up laughing; HI-larious, right? There are forced vomitings, they bilk the parents of a new pledge to get the money to enter the farting contest... They try to run over preps. Yep, these are truly terrible characters acting in a movie that is real low-budget and doesn't even live up to that; this is pretty terrible filmmaking.

Despite some genuine laughs and there being such things as a girl character named Bucky who isn't so bad and you getting to see classic posters from the likes of Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent and of all people Jim Croce... this was a struggle to get through this South Florida-filmed movie. Your mileage may vary but I wonder why that messageboard person enjoyed it so much. Stick with the more famous raunchy comedy classics set in college.

I'll be back Monday night.

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