Simply A Masterpiece

People are voting emotionally.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Very funny. Sexy and quite an adventure. This is the type of film that would not get made in 2018 because it doesn't pass the Hollywood censor test.

A group of horny high-school pals visit Porky's, a redneck bar in the Everglades, where they have heard that they can pay to get laid. After they are ripped-off by the bar's obese owner and his brother, a corrupt sheriff, the friends decide to take revenge.Porky's was one of the first American teenage sex comedies to be a major hit at the box office, but I find its success rather perplexing. As a coming-of-age story, I think the film works well enough: the nostalgic setting and strong sense of camaraderie is certainly appealing, while the bitter feud between the teens and the Everglades rednecks, and a subplot that deals realistically with the issues of racism and family violence adds drama to proceedings. I do, however, find the film's raunchy antics nowhere near as funny as its characters, and director Bob Clark, obviously think they are.The 'Mike Hunt' telephone gag which has the teens in stitches isn't that hilarious, or original, having been conceived in the mid '70s by pranksters John Elmo and Jim Davidson; the repeated jokes about penises soon become very tedious; and as much as I enjoy seeing a young Kim Cattrall without her kecks on, her 'Lassie' scene is embarrassingly bad and far too drawn out. Clark seems to think that if his characters roll around in uncontrollable fits of hysterics for long enough, it'll eventually have the audience laughing along with them. Not in my case… I just found it irritating.

The first American Pie film and its subsequent sequels were the 'gross out' teen films of my generation and I have gone on to enjoy all of the main American Pie films (except the direct to DVD offerings which were all beyond awful). I was therefore surprised how much I disliked Porky's (considering the fact that the central idea from American Pie has been lifted from Porky's - the only difference is that in American Pie they make a pact to lose their virginity before Prom night). I think what made the Pie films better was that the writers seemed to make more of an effort to develop the main characters and I think for that reason it made it easier to identify with them.In Porky's rather than giving us characters we can identify with or relate to the writers give us characters that, at best we are unable to connect with, and at worst are going to end up hating. Many of the jokes in the film are crass without being funny and much of the dialogue is clumsy, irritating and unfunny. The writing is also very uneven whereby it starts out as a bunch of high school kids wanting to lose their virginity and then that concept is all but abandoned in place of gaining revenge against ol Porky himself. I can perhaps understand the change of tone as I was losing interest in their quest as well so perhaps the writers did too. This shift in tone admittedly makes the second half of the film slightly better than the first half, but it's still pretty weak - although I did find the final act quite amusing even though I could see it coming a mile off. Some people may condemn a film like Porky's for its lack of subtlety, but I think that's probably a little unfair (that's a bit like criticising a porn film for having poor acting or a lack of plot). The sign for Porky's that we see at the start is beyond suggestive, but to me much of the humour felt a little forced rather than feeling natural. The performances from the cast are variable - none of the male leads are that good and are rather forgettable. Kim Cattrall isn't given much to do in the first half, but she does have one memorable scene in the second half (she looks good here too). Nancy Parsons is the scene stealer in this film as the feisty PE Teacher who's aptly named Balbricker.Ending on a positive note there were a couple of scenes that I did enjoy; the shower scene with Balbricker was funny as was the aftermath of the event. The prank call to the diner was quite funny as well even though I'd heard the joke before. Porky's is more than likely where the creators of The Simpsons got their idea from with Bart's prank calls to Moe. All in all Porky's isn't completely terrible, but there are nowhere near enough laughs to warrant the running time. I can (and have) watched The American Pie films (particularly the first 3 films) over and over again, but I can safely say that watching Porky's once was more than enough for me.

I remember in junior high the shock and excitement about Porky's! The forbidden pleasure concept is out of date. With internet porn, cable, every other sex comedy trying to out do the other with toilet humor Porky's is tame and or lame by today's standards. The nudity and pranks/stunts are used in mainstream comedy. (ie The Hang Over) Even a few of the concepts would never be used with today's 24 7 cable news, with sexual predators, hazing incidents etc. Anyone peeking in the girls showers in today's environment would be a candidate for intense counseling. The male bonding, and pranks of the 1980's are of a gone by era, where a hand shake after a fist fight was common. I like the music, and had a few cheap laughs from Porky's which was low story line. The story-line of messing with Porky got across as lame for anyone who remembers the, sinister, Harlan DeGroat character from Out of the Furnace movie. Overall six Porky's out of ten.