![]() ![]() ![]() He is an actor whose comedy works because he himself is an actor who has a keen sense of what each individual moment calls for.īy comparison, the rest of the cast is a bit underrated in typical discussions. He is needed to give the worst pep talk in film history. He is needed to swoop down at the end scene from a ripping banner and steal a woman. He is more of a loose canon, not having a through line compared to his co-stars, but the film doesn't work without him. If the film had one breakout, it was him. He was an actor not too far removed from Charles Chaplin. In fact, Bluto's role in the film required more dialogue, but Belushi found ways to innovate with gross-out gags and eyebrows that alluded to his dastardly behavior. Belushi was a star on Saturday Night Live and became known for his physical humor and ability to be just as funny silent as he was with any script. Of course, the discussion of Animal House wouldn't be prescient without mentioning the breakout star, whose short-lived career is itself tragically ironic when compared to his character. In that way, the comedy is more fascinating because it's likely that the audience revels in the characters' depravity without wanting to actually go out and drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels in a single swig. They're the chaotic side of the coin, the one that is willing to try anything once. With exception to the iconic end, which gets by on sheer ingenuity and awe, the film sympathizes the snobs enough that they're just boys being boys - for better and worse. Yes, they did kill a horse in Dean Wormer's office - but the premise established suggests that the death was an accident. For as much as the experiences relied on shock humor, there was never a sense of malice - at least in a way that made the dimwitted characters seem vile. It's just that Landis had a bigger idea at the center of his comedy beyond simply having Bluto pop food out of his mouth (he's a zit, get it?) and start a legendary food fight. In another movie, that would be the moral center of the movie, for Landis and the staff at National Lampoon (who released the film), that's more of a challenge that is met with gleeful depravity.īut what exactly makes Animal House timeless compares to the other films that used ribald humor, sexual misconduct, and racy moments towards similar effect? This isn't to say that films have failed to capture the film's charm, such as the even sketchier Superbad from 2007. Dean Wormer (John Vernon) once says that "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son." as Flounder stares drunkenly at the man who told him that his grades are an embarrassment. It's a film that glamorizes the worst in college behavior, finding men being antagonistic to those who hate them while also doing little to better themselves. Every one of their problems' answers are solved by parties or drinking (or, most commonly, both). The Delta House is a fraternity that should've disappeared years ago due to failing grades, destructive pranks, and a bad reputation. ![]() Everything is heightened, and dumbed down, for the sake of the comedy. In that regards, the more salacious details are given an extra layer of shock thanks to the fact that it feels real even as Bluto (John Belushi) sneaks across a campus to peek into the sorority's upstairs window. Animal House made comedy edgier than it had been, and it's likely that modern films wouldn't be the same without it.Īccording to filmmakers, Animal House is itself a film based on various frat house lore from over the years. 40 years later, the spiral into the only frat house that would accept him has become a bit of a thorny title, thanks in large part to its ribald and off-color humor, but essentially embodies the anarchy that always spirals out of control, but is held together by the sturdiest of glues: a quality cast of young actors willing to reenact "Louie Louie" while drunk, barreling around like there was no tomorrow. There was already a sense of rejection before Delta House, "the snobs," came in and swooped him amid a 50's soundtrack and toga parties. The underlying nature of Flounder's (Stephen Furst) evening on campus already went through the "snobs," who picked pledges based on elite standards that even the legacy student couldn't achieve. Before the madness that laid inside of the notorious Delta House could be seen, there was already a sense of change in director John Landis' groundbreaking Animal House. In 1978, comedy changed forever with one beer keg flying through a frat house window. ![]()
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