National Lampoon's Animal House

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) 

Runtime: 109 minutes

Directed by: John Landis

Starring: John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Stephen Furst, John Vernon

From: Universal

I was genuinely curious how this movie would play today after not having seen it for more than a decade; the world is of course different from even earlier this century. What many think is “acceptable” for humor has changed and between viewings, I realized a problematic person in director John Landis begat son Max who is a pretty repugnant individual.

Admittedly, some moments come off as creepy instead of hilarious; even with that and the general loose nature of the plot, Animal House still gave me plenty of laughs. In the past, I have seen some criticisms over this “bad boy” frat house being filled with characters that are detestable-no judgment will be made by me on anyone who feels this way. Personally, they in general belong in the “charming A-hole” category and I've seen more than one Animal House clone (none of which I've reviewed here) where our “heroes” are worthy of being hissed at, nevermind those movies being bad in general. 

It is a nice cast overall but of course the highlight was John Belushi as Bluto; he's a maniac who loves to party and did not pay close enough attention in history class, but he is lovable. Likewise, John Vernon as Dean Wormer is a real jerk about the whole deal even if the actions-and GPA-of the Delta Tau Chi house is worthy of at least complaint, if not condemnation. Another key aspect is the musical selection; it is set in 1962 so there's plenty of songs that I am sure are easy to find on the 50's and 60's music stations on satellite radio. And who can forget Otis Day and the Knights, the fictional band you see perform twice in the movie? DeWayne Jessie (who played Day) managed to have a career performing as Day for years afterwards. Add in a bravura finale and classic moments that still made me laugh in 2020... overall, our different world did not diminish the movie too much for me.

It has to be noted that since I was a kid, I have known that this has been one of my dad's favorite movies-he went to college in the mid to late 60's. A few times he claimed that everyone in the Delta Tau Chi frat house reminded him of people that he knew at university. As long as he wasn't analogous to Bluto, then that's fine with me! In addition, it is a gas to think what happened to the National Lampoon brand after this movie was an unexpected giant hit. It took them a few years to come up with Movie Madness (which I have seen and might be the least funny “comedy” I have ever seen and squanders a quality cast) & Class Reunion, not seen by me but is understood by me to be gross. While I've never looked in-depth into the subject, hearsay tells me that “copious drug consumption” is to be blamed for why Animal House and the first three Vacation movies are a small noteworthy accomplishment among a wide sea of crap motion pictures (whether theatrical or DTV). For a brand that had the magazine, various comedy albums, and even some theater productions, what a shame that something which was popular in the 70's went down the toilet because of copious drug consumption.