Silly exploitation movie. It's about tough kid Tony (Russ Tamblyn) going to live with his nymphomaniac aunt (Mamie Van Doren) and attending a new school. He meets the head kid J.I. (John Drew Barrymore), gets involved with his girlfriend Joan (Diane Jergens) and gets involved with selling drugs. But Tony may not be who he seems to be.
At times funny but mostly boring teen flick. This throws reality out the window right at the beginning with Jerry Lee Lewis on the back of a truck (with a band no less) "singing" a tune and all the "high school" kids (they're easily all in their 20s) start dancing! The 50s slang is way out of date and makes most of the "teenagers" sound like a bunch of idiots. The story is predictable and the attempt to sell this as a serious drug movie are just laughable. And seriously--Russ Tamblyn as a tough kid?????? He's terrible but he's totally miscast and the dialogue does him no favors. Barrymore adopts a hysterically stupid Southern accent and Van Doren shows off her "assets" by wearing VERY tight shirts! Sterling and Jergens try to act but nobody could make this work. I suppose this might be fun for some people but I was mostly bored. Might be worth catching to see some of the actors so young and Michael Landon in a small role but the dull story, bad acting and real jaw-dropping vamping by Van Doren make this a chore to sit through. I give it a 4.
At times funny but mostly boring teen flick. This throws reality out the window right at the beginning with Jerry Lee Lewis on the back of a truck (with a band no less) "singing" a tune and all the "high school" kids (they're easily all in their 20s) start dancing! The 50s slang is way out of date and makes most of the "teenagers" sound like a bunch of idiots. The story is predictable and the attempt to sell this as a serious drug movie are just laughable. And seriously--Russ Tamblyn as a tough kid?????? He's terrible but he's totally miscast and the dialogue does him no favors. Barrymore adopts a hysterically stupid Southern accent and Van Doren shows off her "assets" by wearing VERY tight shirts! Sterling and Jergens try to act but nobody could make this work. I suppose this might be fun for some people but I was mostly bored. Might be worth catching to see some of the actors so young and Michael Landon in a small role but the dull story, bad acting and real jaw-dropping vamping by Van Doren make this a chore to sit through. I give it a 4.