Intended as a sequel to Malibu High, which is itself an absolutely berserk film that has a poster that promises summer love and delivers a nihilistic blast of hatred, Young Warriors is possibly directed* by Lawrence David Foldes, the one-time teen wunderkind - or publicity machine, the jury is out - who made Don't Go Near the Park before he turned twenty and produced the aforementioned Malibu High at the same time.
Produced by Victoria Paige Meyerink, who was once Danny Kaye's TV daughter and at the time of this movie's creation, the wife of Foldes and another twenty-something mover and shaker, the resulting film is like nothing before or since. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
The first part of this movie seems like a teen comedy, with Kevin Carrigan (James Van Patten) and his frat buddies Fred (Mike Norris, brother of Chuck) and Stan (Ed De Stefane), chase Linnea Quigley nude from their bed and pull off pranks like tying pledge's cocks to bricks and then tossing said masonry, appendages be damned. You may think that this entire movie is going to be a wacky story about their hijinks, but Young Warriors decides to rug pull you throughout the film.
So when another frat guy named Roger (Nels Van Patten) is getting a copy of Dr. Alex Comfort's The Joy of Sex and re-enacting it with a librarian in the stacks, as well as the rest of the guys shaving a pledge's ass and making him pick up a cocktail olive with his butt, drop it in some vodka and drink deep, that's when we discover Kevin's sister Tiffany coming home from the prom. As if the future ghost of Michael Winner is directing this with his ethereal perverted old man hand, she and her date are chased home from the prom and assaulted. This scene is intercut with the frat guys riding a horse through a party and then you remember, oh, this is a Cannon movie.
That's when you may be led to believe that Kevin's dad Lt. Bob Carrigan (Ernest Borgnine) and his partner Sergeant John Austin (Richard Roundtree) are about to become the leads of the movie, hunting down those who hurt Tiffany. But nope, not even these two movie tough guys can get through all it takes to get over police procedure - maybe Bob is too busy with his wife, played by my favorite tennis-playing undercover cop Lynda Day George - so Kevin and the frat guys go commando and grab guns, grenades and shades and become Bluto Blutarsky cosplaying as Frank Castle.
Somehow, this goes from being an Animal House film with cute dog named Butch wearing sunglasses reaction shots to a Death Wish film with cute dog named Butch wearing sunglasses reaction shots. I'm obsessed by sequels that change the narrative or genre of the original movie, so just imagine how wild I am about a movie that does it within the very same movie. It's jarring and it's also astounding that the movie becomes a sensitive indictment - well, sometimes - of the downward spiral of being a vigilante after so many dick jokes.
Also: Kevin's path of revenge takes a break for some sweet lovemaking surrounded by an infinite number of candles, joined by his woman Lucy (Anne Lockhart from the original Battlestar Galactica and the first Troll).
Also also: major points for having Dick Shawn as a professor that debates the entire plot of the film with its protagonist. Shawn would follow this with his turn as Mae in Angel. Always great in everything, I always look for him to make movies better.
Also also also: this movie is dedicator to King Vidor. Yes, really.
Produced by Victoria Paige Meyerink, who was once Danny Kaye's TV daughter and at the time of this movie's creation, the wife of Foldes and another twenty-something mover and shaker, the resulting film is like nothing before or since. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
The first part of this movie seems like a teen comedy, with Kevin Carrigan (James Van Patten) and his frat buddies Fred (Mike Norris, brother of Chuck) and Stan (Ed De Stefane), chase Linnea Quigley nude from their bed and pull off pranks like tying pledge's cocks to bricks and then tossing said masonry, appendages be damned. You may think that this entire movie is going to be a wacky story about their hijinks, but Young Warriors decides to rug pull you throughout the film.
So when another frat guy named Roger (Nels Van Patten) is getting a copy of Dr. Alex Comfort's The Joy of Sex and re-enacting it with a librarian in the stacks, as well as the rest of the guys shaving a pledge's ass and making him pick up a cocktail olive with his butt, drop it in some vodka and drink deep, that's when we discover Kevin's sister Tiffany coming home from the prom. As if the future ghost of Michael Winner is directing this with his ethereal perverted old man hand, she and her date are chased home from the prom and assaulted. This scene is intercut with the frat guys riding a horse through a party and then you remember, oh, this is a Cannon movie.
That's when you may be led to believe that Kevin's dad Lt. Bob Carrigan (Ernest Borgnine) and his partner Sergeant John Austin (Richard Roundtree) are about to become the leads of the movie, hunting down those who hurt Tiffany. But nope, not even these two movie tough guys can get through all it takes to get over police procedure - maybe Bob is too busy with his wife, played by my favorite tennis-playing undercover cop Lynda Day George - so Kevin and the frat guys go commando and grab guns, grenades and shades and become Bluto Blutarsky cosplaying as Frank Castle.
Somehow, this goes from being an Animal House film with cute dog named Butch wearing sunglasses reaction shots to a Death Wish film with cute dog named Butch wearing sunglasses reaction shots. I'm obsessed by sequels that change the narrative or genre of the original movie, so just imagine how wild I am about a movie that does it within the very same movie. It's jarring and it's also astounding that the movie becomes a sensitive indictment - well, sometimes - of the downward spiral of being a vigilante after so many dick jokes.
Also: Kevin's path of revenge takes a break for some sweet lovemaking surrounded by an infinite number of candles, joined by his woman Lucy (Anne Lockhart from the original Battlestar Galactica and the first Troll).
Also also: major points for having Dick Shawn as a professor that debates the entire plot of the film with its protagonist. Shawn would follow this with his turn as Mae in Angel. Always great in everything, I always look for him to make movies better.
Also also also: this movie is dedicator to King Vidor. Yes, really.