Main Cast: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Cyril O'Reilly
Release Year: 1981
Country: CA
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Love it or loathe it (and there are a goodly number of people on either side), Porky's was one of the most successful comedies of its day, spawning two direct sequels and inspiring an incalculable number of lowbrow teen comedies, most recently including American Pie (1999). Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Billy (Mark Herrier), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), and Mickey (Roger Wilson) are four painfully horny high school kids growing up in South Florida in the 1950's. Desperate to rid themselves of their cumbersome virginity, they head out to a sleazy bar near the swamps called Porky's, where local legend has it that the owner will fix you up with a prostitute for a reasonable fee. After Porky takes their money and dumps them in the swamp, the guys vow to get revenge. Meanwhile, Pee Wee has to deal with his shrinking penis, someone drills a hole in the wall of the girl's shower, the guys encounter a prostitute named Cherry Forever, and anti-Semitism rears its ugly head. Cheerfully rude in a manner few mainstream films had achieved at that time, Porky's, for better or worse, changed the standard of what was acceptable in a screen comedy. Remarkably enough, two years later director Bob Clark made the holiday favorite A Christmas Story, which displayed his considerable range, if nothing else. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Porky's opened the floodgates for a multitude of cheap, obnoxious teen sex comedies in the early '80s, adding untold hours of mirth and playground whisperings to the lives of preteens and the chronically immature. Unlike its imitators, Porky's benefits from genuine laughs and a fond sense of nostalgia courtesy of director and screenwriter Bob Clark (who imbued his family-oriented classic A Christmas Story with the same qualities). While the movie is aimed at the funnybone of the adolescent male, it accurately captures the frenetic, desperate energy of this age, its obsession with sex and one-upmanship intact. Indeed, the constant practical joking that fills Porky's is part of the charm, and though tentative steps towards character development are made with an anti-prejudice subplot, the boys remain steadfastly immature to the end. The easily offended should steer clear, but Porky's is the best of a deservedly maligned breed. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Gary Goch - Associate Producer, Marci Liroff - Casting, Larry Wells - Costume Designer, Mary E. McLeod - Costume Designer, Bob Clark - Director, Stan Cole - Editor, Harold Greenberg - Executive Producer, Paul Zaza - Composer (Music Score), Carl Zittrer - Composer (Music Score), Ken Heeley-Ray - Musical Direction/Supervision, Reuben Freed - Production Designer, Reginald Morris - Cinematographer, Bob Clark - Producer, Don Carmody - Producer, Melvin Simon - Producer, Mark Freeborn - Set Designer, Paul Harding - Set Designer, Bob Clark - Screenwriter, Orin Borsten - Publicist
Similar Games: Bugs Bunny (Atari Video Computer System), Frogger (Atari Video Computer System), Cannon Man (Atari Video Computer System)
Game Description
An exercise in frustration and poor game design, Porky's is even more infantile than the film on which it is based, and certainly less entertaining. The game has four scenes: County Line, which is a poor man's Frogger; The Swamp, which is a pole-vaulting type of contest; The Shower, which is a ladder/platform game featuring a shapely babe; and Porky's Bar, in which players must perform the near-impossible task of blowing up the bar. Uneven graphics, lame sound effects and horrible controls make Porky's all but unplayable.
~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
20th Centry Fox Video Games developed a slew of videogames based on films during its intial two year life between 1982 and 1983. Other games include Alien, MASH, and Flash Gordon.
The main plot concerns the efforts of a group of Florida high school students in 1954 intent on losing their virginity. The group consists of bad boy Tommy Turner; socially-awkward Edward "Pee Wee" Morris; star athlete Anthony "Meat" Tuperello; proud redneck Mickey Jarvis; Billy McCarthy, who acts as the voice of reason for the group; and bigot Tim Cavanaugh. They (minus Billy) travel to Porky's bar located outside of town on the basis of a rumor that if one pays the owner Porky, one can hire a prostitute. Initially reluctant, Porky takes the kids' money and promises them "a night to remember" and then humiliates them by dumping them in the swamp. When the group seeks revenge, the sheriff, who turns out to be Porky's brother, arrives to drive them away, but not before Porky's minions extort the rest of their money and cause them more embarrassment. After this incident, the group becomes hellbent on exacting revenge on Porky and his brother, eventually succeeding in sinking his strip club in the swamp. After the group makes it across the county line (where Porky's brother is out of jurisdiction), they meet Porky and his brother with one of the local police officers, who happens to be Mickey's brother, and the high school band. After Mickey's brother damages Porky's car, he says that none of the previous events will be spoken to the authorities. Because the boys were not allowed in Porky's strip club in the first place, Porky and his brother have no choice but to agree. The film ends with the group getting their revenge and Pee Wee finally losing his virginity.
Although it was written and directed by an American and was filmed in Miami, Florida, Porky's was funded by a Canadian production company, which means that it is classified as a Canadian film. Porky's is the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time in domestic box office. In October 2006, Bon Cop, Bad Cop appeared to surpass Porky's in nominal box office revenues, but as of the end of its theatrical run, Bon Cop, Bad Cop had not surpassed the inflation-adjusted revenues for Porky's. Taking inflation into account, Porky's has grossed more than twice what Bon Cop, Bad Cop has earned to date. Porky's is also the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time internationally.
The first movie featured Canadian actors Art Hindle, Doug McGrath, and Susan Clark and the British-Canadian actress Kim Cattrall, appeared in one of her first major roles in a sex scene in the boys' locker room. Her character's nickname was "Lassie" due to the way she howled during intercourse.
In 2002, talk show host Howard Stern's production company acquired the rights to remake the film. On May 22, 2007, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released all three films in an "Ultimate Collection" box set. In May 2008, American Pie 2 co-writer David H. Steinberg announced through his MySpace page that he had turned in his draft of the script and had received word from the studio that it would be made the following year, though as of August 2009, there are no plans being made for a remake.
