Review of Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) by Eric A — 24 Apr 2010

I love the Ramones and, naturally, this was my main interest for wanting to see this film. (FIrst saw it at a friend's house in the mid 80s, never getting a chance to see it during the midnight movie run it had in my hometown.).

RNRHS is a fun sendup on music movies -- my only criticisms are that some parts are a bit weak/plodding at times, and the Ramones are mostly bit players in their own movie. The rivalry between Mary Woronov as Miss Togar, the rock music-hating principal of Vince Lombardi High and her nemesis, Riff Randell (as played by PJ Soles), whose love of rock (and the Ramones in particular) drive this film. Lots of great sight gags (the lab rats, the 'scalper' -- very un-PC but still funny) and excellent tunes by the Ramones, along with some memorable lines (to this day, I cannot have pizza without quoting Dee Dee Ramone's "Pizza! Great! Let's dig in!").

Interesting side note: originally Cheap Trick (at the height of their popularity, and another fave band of mine) was originally approached to be the band for the movie, but not sure why they turned it down.