ROCK & ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (1979) Dir: Allan Arkush

Here we go all you Rockers and Rockettes, Roger Corman's Classic Punk rock anarchist Flick Rock N Roll High School.

The Roger Corman produced Rock 'n' Roll High School could've been a completely different film if it wasn't for director Alan Arkush and writer Joe Dante, as Corman originally thought of a film called Disc High School, to capitalise on the disco Phenomena in the late 70s, but Arkush said they should make it Rock & Roll instead, Corman agreed and what was made, has become a cult smash.

Featuring music by The Ramones and even the band them selves appearing in the film, including a short 4 song set filmed at a rock night for the film. The music also comes from Devo, Paul McCartney and Wings and Chuck Berry, truly Rock and Roll.

The Film fallows rebellious teen Riff Randell as she proceeds to meet her faveourite band and stop her high school from being turned into a dumbed down education only school with strict rules, to be presided over by the even more strict new principle, Miss Togar. Along with best friend Kate Rambeau, Clint Howard's Eaglebauer and Vince Van Patten's Tom Roberts, they meet the Ramones and end up taking over the school.

This Film is absolutely fucking nuts, it really is, It's the kind of film Troma would make if they had more that 25p budget, It's surreal, funny and just great fun to watch with a killer soundtrack. The Ramones know how to rock and Roll and show the Kids how to rock like them. The Title of the Film comes from Riff Randell's self penned song, Rock & Roll High School, that she writes for the band, to which she spend a good majority of the film trying tirelessly to get to the band.

The Cast is great, P.J Soles as Riff, is truly a great role, she's just so full of energy, always trying to rebel and always causing trouble. It's a shame that she didn't make much after it. Dey Young is cute as Kate Rambeau, Riff's bestfriend who's a bit of a science geek with affections for school sports star Tom Roberts. Vincent Van Patten plays the afore mentioned Tom, who although the big sports star, is useless at talking to girls, but fancies his chances with Riff. He enlists Clint Howard's Teen business mogul Eaglebauer in helping him get a date with Riff, while he's Trying to set up Kate With Tom.

The main cast members are great and as stated, P.J Soles is fantastic.

The music is also perfect for the film. The Ramones add a great Rock/punk image to the film and their songs suit the film perfectly.

The Ramones tracks are as followed...

Rock 'n' Roll High School
I Want You Around
Come On lets Go – The Paley Brothers / The Ramones
Blitzkrieg Bop
Teenage Lobotomy
California Sun
Pinhead
She's The One

It also features a rendition of the Title Song by P.J Soles.

The Direction by Alan Arkush is good, better than most Corman films, and the use of Color is great. One scene set in a nightclub is shot more as a concert film with a weird Fisheye lense that is commonly used by Skateboarders, and makes the Ramones performance look more like an actual concert than a narrative movie.

The story comes from Horror director and former Corman Alum Joe Dante and he seems to have really gotten the how some kids in the 70s were.

The UK DVD is released by 4Digital Entertainment and retails at around £7.99 but I picked mine up from amazon for £4.99 delivered.

Below are the extra's available on the disc...

Commentary by Roger Corman and Dey Young, director Allan Arkush, producer Michael Finnell and screenwriter Richard Whitley
Trailer (1:57)
High School Retrospective (23:46)
Roger Corman Interview (4:38)
Radio Commercials (1:04)
Audio Outtakes at the Roxy (15:37)

This is pretty good release for the UK and although the extra's are ported from the R1 release this is a rare occasion where the R2 disc isn't a let down.

The Picture is shown in letter boxed 1.18:1, but is non anamorphic, for me this is not a problem, the picture is clean and colourful and unlike the Corman films released on IN2FILM's Corman Collection, this is actually watch-able.

In Summary

Rock'n'Roll High School, is a fun, Anarchistic, punk rock riot with great characters, an insane story and some really kick ass music, this is highly recommended, especially because the of the awesome Ramones Roundtrack...

FILM: 9/10

DVD: 8/10