Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Animal House

This is topic Animal House in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 05-15-2002, 10:20 AM:

I got out my special edition DVD of this movie and watched it in its entirely last night on my new 16:9 set, and other than saying the movie looked better than I've ever seen it look, it is important to note that this movie was quite refreshing to watch.

Sure, I've seen Animal House at least 10 times during the past 14 years, but it's one of those classic comedies that is worth pulling out and rewatching occasionally. I noticed many little details and a few little jokes I'd never caught before thanks to the significantly increased picture quality due to the progressive scan image on a 57 inch screen.

For 1978, I'm sure audiences thought of "Animal House" as outlandish in the same way that today's audiences thought of "There's Something About Mary" as outlandish. It's just that back then, moviemakers didn't have to go as far. Now, they have to keep finding new ways to overstep previous borders.

Animal House is a true classic comedy.

For years, I always wanted to look at the Psychology exam that was being copied on that old-style copier. I was able to freeze the frames and see the individual letters on the page with no problem. As a service to the film-tech audience, here is a reproduction of the text on the page that is legible or not covered. Note that it is a history test of some sort with "PSYCHOLOGY 101" placed at the top!

PSYCHOLOGY 101
Midterm Examination

I. Write on two items from each group. Give all essential information concerning each of the items chosen. Date it as closely as you can. Comment on its historical significance (i.e. its relation to the history of which it was a part). Cite and utilize pertinent readings whenever possible.

Group I (two items; 30 points each)

1. The idea of "covenant" in Hebrew history.
2. Crisis and conflict in Greece from the age of Pericles to the fall of the Athenian Empire.
3. Tarn, Hellenistic Civilization
4. Crisis and social conflict in Rome from the Gracchi to Sulla

Group II (two items; 30 points each)

1. The Principate
2. Charlemagne
3. Expansion of Western Civilization, 1000-1300
4. Plan of the French national monarchy from Hugh ..

The rest was cut off or illegible

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-15-2002, 10:56 AM:

A truly great comedy. And I find the "sanitized" network TV version to be just as funny as the original raunchy version. John Landis was untried as a director, and the studio didn't have much faith in him, so at first they gave him very little budget to work with (the guy who played Flounder, Stephen Fuerst or something like that, said he was paid something ridiculous like $500 for his work). Landis needed more money to shoot the parade scene, and once the studio saw the dailies they realized "We have a funny movie here" and they gave him the money to do it. Much of the movie was filmed here in Eugene. The scene where they're outdoors hitting golf balls was shot at UO's Hayward Field (world-reknowned track & field facility). The cafeteria food-fight scene was shot at the student union at the UO (now Erb Memorial Hall). I believe the frat house used for Delta House still stands but I think it's boarded-up now. The big parade scene at the end was shot in Cottage Grove, about 20 miles south of Eugene, because it had that old small-town 50s look to it.