Those familiar with this series will probably expect this installment to be more of the same, mindless slapstick, sex jokes and wall to wall T&A and sex..especially if you happened to see "Revenge of the Cheerleaders" first, which is pretty worthless junk. But this one, rather than going the expected route, offers some fairly compelling drama, and very little nudity and NO sex at all. Of course it isn't deep, but some serious issues are dealt with, such as loyalty among friends, jealousy, rape, (in the movie's saddest part with Cheryl Smith) as well as the damaging effects that can arise from casual affairs. Self-proclaimed feminist Kate initially joins the cheerleading squad to secretly do research for a term paper about the sexism and objectification of women involved in being a cheerleader. She thinks she won't be able to relate to such silly girls, but to her surprise she strikes up genuine friendships with them and changes her mind about writing the article, but they find out anyway, which leads to some dramatic situations. Meanwhile each girl has her own story; Cheryl Smith's Andrea is a virgin, afraid to go all the way with her boyfriend. He eventually becomes frustrated and leaves her, and that causes her to do something very stupid and self destructive. Lisa is having an affair with her math teacher, but she doesn't stop to think of what it is doing to the guy's wife, who confronts Lisa in the film's most dramatic scene. Finally Mary Ann (Colleen Camp) has her delusions shattered when she finds out her father is not the great guy she thinks he is. At the center of it all is the illegal gambling ring involving the team coach and a couple faculty members, in which they are rigging the football games in hoping of becoming rich on a crooked betting scheme. Maybe the fact that Jack Hill is at the helm is the reason that this one is so much more polished and respectable than the other 'Cheerleader' movies, with it's glossy production values and cast that is very beautiful rather than cheap and slutty looking like in the other movies, but this is quite a fun movie that is more intelligent than most of the films of this genre. And for fans of the Great Cheryl Rainbeaoux Smith, this is a must-see film, as she is so good in it, and is quite believable as the virgin who is afraid of sex. Out of the series I can only recommend this one and "The Pom Pom Girls." The rest of them are pretty bad.
Review of The Swinging Cheerleaders
