After last week reviewing “Billy Jack,” I’ve taken a further dip down my father’s movie nostalgia trip with the cult teen movie “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” a Roger Corman produced B-movie built around The Ramones. No, it’s not exactly “A Hard Day’s Night,” but then The Ramones weren’t exactly the Beatles either. This musical comedy is as rightfully low-brow and fun as the band.
Sometimes you watch movies and wonder where some of these cliches come from: the extremely snooty principal, the dorky music teacher who only likes Beethoven, the freshman who gets put into a locker, the fat, disgusting hall monitors and the thick-headed football star with a great head of hair. They’re all here in spades, and it’s notoriously stupid.
After a while however you begin to realize the movie isn’t exactly smart, but at least realizes how dumb it is, bringing back completely absurd gags in which rats explode from hearing rock music and human-sized rats who attend the Ramones concert anyway. There’s also the grin worthy “Rock-o-Meter” and the “scalper” selling tickets to the show. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Rock 'n' Roll High School”