Animal House

Animal House (1978)
Director: John Landis
Cast: Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, John Belushi, Stephen Furst, Karen Allen, John Vernon, Donald Sutherland
Memorable line: "Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?!?"

Raucous, raunchy, irreverent in almost every way, but also hilarious. That's the legacy of Animal House.

The Plot of Animal House
Set in the early 1960's, Animal House starts by following to freshman (Hulce and Furst) as the are shuttled out of the most desirable Frat house on campus to the one with the worst reputation, The Delta House -- also called Animal House. The Delta House Frat has little entry level criteria other than you can pay your dues and drink like a fish. The lead members of the Frat are the suave Otter (Matheson) and laid back Boon (Reigert).

Of course, in the orderly world of higher education, the Animal House frat cannot be allowed to function in this manner and enter the menacing dean (Vernon) who puts them on double secret probation. But the slippery and defiant Animal House keeps up it's antic covertly and the dean enlists the aid of the preppie frat to bring down the Delta House.

The antics lead from a food fight, to an expedition to an all-girls school, to a horse ended up dead in the dean's office. Needless to say, the Delta boys have gone to far this time...or have they? Watch for the climatic homecoming parade debacle to find out.

The Performances and Direction of Animal House
You would think that with as a topic and treatment as low brow as frat-boy antics the performances would be lacking, but the acting is first rate. Matheson is just too smooth as Otter and Peter Riegert is very natural as the rudderless Boon. Hulce who went to on to be nominated for an Academy award for his work in Amadeus , so he is no slouch. John Belushi fresh from the skyrocketing fame of Saturday Night Live upstages everyone with his slovenly Blutto.

The script has many quotable lines and Landis brings a competent, workman-like style to the movie.

Summary Judgment on Animal House
Certainly not for all audiences, there are moments when Animal House crosses the lines of decorum, but this movie never ascribes to be noble. If raucous fun is what you're yearning for, look no further