This unblushing look at teenage adolescence in the 1950s follows the comic misadventures of six high-schoolers whose most fervent wish is to find some sexual satisfaction at Porky’s, a notorious honky-tonk strip joint. When they’re ripped off and thrown out by the owner, they plot a vengeful scheme that is truly “a night to remember”...

This double-disc collection, which is being re-released as part of Fox’s Maximum 80s campaign, contains the first two Porky’s movies (but not the third one, Porky’s Revenge).

The original Porky’s, though not as funny as Animal House, a film from which it obviously draws inspiration, was required viewing for teenage boys in the 1980s, mainly for its notorious shower scene, and it remains very watchable today. The tone is set straight away, when we see Edward “Pee Wee” Morris (Dan Monahan) waking up with an erection and measuring its growth on a chart. Other classic scenes include the “Mike Hunt” joke, the revelation of how Ms Honeywell (an early appearance by Kim Cattrall) got her nickname “Lassie”, and the scene in which Ms Balbricker (Nancy Parsons) tries to take a complaint to the Principal (Eric Christmas).

It’s interesting to view this film post-American Pie, as both franchises have a similar set-up: sex-hungry high-school kids played by an ensemble cast. However, whereas four kids are trying to lose their virginity in American Pie, here it appears to be only Pee Wee who hasn’t yet had his “cherry” popped, and even he denies it most of the time. It shows how times have changed: nowadays audiences can more readily accept that not everyone is having sex left, right and centre, and those who haven’t had any yet aren’t necessarily losers. Having said that, apart from the shower scene and the “Lassie” sequence, there’s less sex and nudity in Porky’s than you might expect.

Another difference between Porky’s and American Pie is the lack of well-rounded female characters. Only Wendy Williams (Kaki Hunter) counts as a character at all (as opposed to being merely decorative) and her main characteristic is that she’s an easy lay (though this is addressed in Porky’s II).

What the Porky’s films lack in gender equality is made up for in terms of race relations. Both movies have a (some might say heavy-handed and even out-of-place) anti-racism message, which centres on a Jewish student (Scott Colomby) in the first film and a North American Indian (Joseph Running Fox) in the second one.

Though by no means a classic, I’m not telling porkies when I say that Porky’s is still worth a butcher’s.

7

Proving that they haven’t matured a bit, the kids of Angel Beach High School are back to take on right-wing bigots, religious fanatics and double-talking politicians. Count on more delicious revenge against Ms Balbricker, the gym teacher everyone loves to hate, and outrageous antics that never enter the realm of good taste...

Though Porky (Chuck Mitchell) is named in the title, the character doesn’t actually appear in Porky’s II: The Next Day, once you get past the opening recap from the previous film. His name is merely there for the purposes of series identification, like the words Pink Panther in the titles of several Inspector Clouseau movies that don’t feature the titular precious stone. Instead, this time the kids of Angel Beach High take revenge upon the various people who try to put a stop to their school’s production of Shakespeare on the alleged grounds that the Bard’s work is obscene. Their unfortunate victims include Ms Balbricker, members of the Ku Klux Klan, corrupt politicians and a hypocritical preacher (Bill Wiley).

This movie is neither as funny nor as sexy as the previous one. It actually features more male nudity than female nudity! The only full-frontal nakedness to be seen here occurs when Pee Wee and a bunch of overweight middle-aged Ku Klux Klan members get the respective tables turned on them and end up nude in public.

Another problem is that despite supposedly taking place “the next day” (well, the next few days to be exact), two years elapsed between the production of Porky’s and Porky’s II, which means that many of the actors look visibly older.

On the plus side, though, Wendy’s character develops, as she reveals that she is nowhere near as promiscuous as her reputation suggests. It’s the same old double standard: if I guy sleeps around, he’s a stud (Wendy uses that very word), but if a girl does the same, then she’s a slut.

As with Porky’s, the film’s print and soundtrack appear to have undergone little or no restoration. The only special features are a theatrical trailer for each movie (but at this price, I wouldn’t really have expected anything more).

As is common with many sequels, Porky’s II is inferior to its predecessor in almost every way, but it’s an interesting exercise to see it literally the next day.

5

Chris Clarkson