Rock n' Roll High School Movie Review

Rock n' Roll High School Movie Review

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Rock n' Roll High School

D. Allan Arkush
1978 93 min. PG

"Riff Randell, rock n' roller."

Thus we were introduced to one of cinemas most beloved heroines, who reaffirmed that the primary obligation of the young was to rock. PJ Soles plays the irrepressible (and heinously-dressed) champion of all things rock, in particular her very favorite band, The Ramones.

Riffs only goal in life is to score front row tickets to a Ramones concert, and when the boys hit town -- swinging chicken vindaloo from their spindly fingers as a convertible chariots them onto the scene like the kings that they are -- Riffs dreams become a reality.

In the quintessential role of her career, castrating cult goddess Mary Woronov plays Ms. Togar, the tightly-wound new principal on the scene who outlaws rock music and takes a particular disliking to the dangerously popular Riff Randell. When Togar orchestrates a bonfire of valued 70s vinyl, Riff decides to head up a revolution, taking over the premises and inviting the Ramones to become honorary students of the newly christened Rock n Roll High School.

The film is rife with Corman regulars, including Paul Bartel, Don Steele as the amphetamine-driven news anchorman and Dick Miller as the befuddled and ineffectual police chief. And lets not forget the guru of boysroom wisdom, Eaglebauer (Clint Howard of Evilspeak) -- the eternal student who walks awkward jock Vincent Van Patton through his first bra-tearing session and promotes general deviance among the teen populace. It's 1978 and the Ramones are in town -- do you know where your children are?


Kier-La Janisse, Rock n' Roller

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