A legend in US college comedy movies, this is the granddaddy of them all with its infectious blend of slapstick humour and wicked one-liners delivered by characters that have been often imitated, but never bettered. Finally Dean Wormer and his gross-out Delta House Fraternity members come to a special edition DVD that tries out a follow-up gag over 25 years on from the original movie's release.
Frat Catch Up
Full marks for effort to the Where Are They Now? documentary, which catches up with the cast members as the characters they played in the movie. The results are only mildly amusing, but people like Kent Dorfman (Flounder) with his urine injections, Verna Bloom (Mrs Wormer) as an old lush, and John Vernon as a now senile Dean are funny, and they really go for it.
Kevin Bacon Gets Desperate
Hard to believe but there were days when Kevin Bacon couldn't make it with the laydees! His is one of a raft of great anecdotes to be sought out from the Animal House Reunion documentary. You want to know about Bacon? Well, not only did the poor tyke get shoved to the back in the premiere screening, he also couldn't convince any women he chatted up that night that he was in the film. Amongst the memories are the thoughts of the cast and crew on John Belushi, who is genuinely fondly remembered - not only for his warmth but also his professionalism.
The genesis and writing of the film should prove of interest to any budding scriptwriters out there. The team behind House didn't even know what a movie script looked like when they started!
Animal House Restored
The film has been transferred to DVD to give us a fresh-looking picture that's far superior to any video release. The 5.1 sound mix is quite tame but is nevertheless effective. Frankly, this is a disc any comedy fan (with pencils up their nose) should be deliriously happy to have in their collection.
EXTRA FEATURES
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.