Title: Animal House
Year: 1978
Director: John Landis
Country: US
Language: English
Animal House (1978) was the first over-the-top raunchy comedy that I saw in my youth. It excited me. It was such a daring, anything goes, "fun" movie that didn't seek to "teach" my anything. I would smile with Bluto (John Belushi) and yell "Toga! Toga! Toga!" The scene where the horse had a heart attack left me in stiches from laughing.
At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.
Animal House is the most popular, highest grossing film that National Lampoon has made. The picture embodies an "us vs them" anti-authority attitude that remains relevant 45 years later. Faber College Administration represent the bourgeoisie, yuppie Wall Street sycophants whose rigid conformity threaten to kill the American Dream. Delta House is the part of America that is disillusioned, but still anti-establishment (think Occupy Wallstreet, BLM etc.) .
Animal House is a very liberating movie that is more intelligent than it gets credit for. The screenplay was fresh for its time; the dialogue was consistently funny throughout its run-time. The soundtrack improves the film's party atmosphere. Belushi's acting is often imitated, but one-of-a-kind in how iconic it is.
Needless to say, some of the humor does not translate well in 2023. One scene, in which Bluto contemplates raping a girl who is asleep, is downright creepy. I can't believe they weren't demanded to remove that part. Overall it's a fine film that is more politically challenging than most viewers will realize.
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