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The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
The bawdy teen comedy from director Bob Clark Porky’s hit the big screen in 1982 and went on to inspire numerous loud, puerile teen comedies in the same vein from the early 80s, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Revenge of the Nerds. What Porky’s and all the rest of the films that followed it have in common is their admittedly misogynistic streak and their non-“PC” swagger. This is all about horny guys, naked girls, and abrasive language – those with delicate sensibilities need not apply.
Clark’s film, love it or hate it, has a certain appeal in the misbehavior of its main characters and off-color humor. Setting the film in the Southern Florida of the 1950s gives it a nostalgic charm and the pace is quick – we’re zipped from one humorous set piece to the next.
A group of friends in Angel Beach spend their days during school hours trying to pick up “chicks” and spy on their female classmates in the gym shower through a peephole. But their sexual appetites get them into trouble when one member of the group, Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), convinces them to head to the redneck erotic roadhouse out in the Everglades, Porky’s, to pay for some girls, but they run afoul of the dive’s big man in charge, Porky (Chuck Mitchell) and his town sheriff brother (Alex Karras). Increasingly violent confrontations ensue as Pee Wee can’t leave it alone and wants payback.
In between all of that, there are some classic and memorable scenes in Porky’s, such as the “gloryhole” shower scene with strict P.E. teacher Miss Balbricker (Nancy Parsons) and, of course, “Lassie”, featuring a young, and howling, Kim Cattrall in a rather rambunctious, over-the-top, sex scene in the boys equipment room.
A subplot that speaks to the stupidity of racism acts as a counterpoint to some of the crudeness and offensive language, a buffer if you will, but also feels a little shoehorned in and cheesy in what is an otherwise wisecracking and unapologetic film that revels in its naughtiness.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Arrow Video presents Porky’s in a 1080p AVC digital transfer prepared by 20th Century Fox on Blu-ray Disc. Comedies rarely offer the best reference material for HD viewing in the home theatre, and this 1982 film is no exception. The image is very soft, dim, and has a rough grain structure. We don’t get a lot of crisp detail extension into the background and the colors are only average, but they do offer decent flesh tones.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3/5]
We get the original mono soundtrack in LPCM 1.0 (48kHz/24-bit). It’s unavoidable, but the sound is boxy, and the opening country music is definitely tinny sounding. Apart from that, the dialogue does come through intelligibly.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
- Audio Commentary with Bob Clark
- Porky’s Through the Peephole (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:15:11)
- Skin Classic! (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:11:30) – “Mr. Skin” talks about how much he loves Porky’s and what makes it so good.
- Trailers:
- Porky’s (1.85:1; 1080p/24; 00:01:38)
- Porky’s II: The Next Day (1.85:1; 1080p/24; 00:02:25)
- Porky’s Revenge (1.85:1; 1080p/24; 00:01:28)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jim Rugg
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe, creator of the Canuxploitation website, and a previously unpublished interview with director Bob Clark conducted by Calum Waddell, illustrated with archive stills.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Porky’s was squarely aimed at a certain young, male, adolescent crowd and, in some ways, despite being older now, it still amuses, despite being able to see just how crude of a film it actually is. It’s all one big romp, however, and anyone who takes this film seriously probably has to look at themselves a little more closely.
Additional Screen Captures
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