User Reviews

The school jock(Peter Keleghan as Rick), rich Lothario(Kent Deuters as Brent), nerd(Alan Deveau as Howie), tubby masturbator(Jason Warren as Melvin), and new arrival(Jim Coburn as Tim) all partake in a quest to either score with or see the breasts of Homecoming Queen and high school virgin, Purity Busch(Linda Speciale).

Purity is a rabble rouser who likes to stir up trouble for the hormonal boys of her school who get all hot and bothered for the opposite sex. Purity knows she's desirable and that all the boys wish to have her as a conquest, so this is used as a tool to tease and antagonize. In other words, Purity uses her virginity and seductive charms as a weapon against the horny males. But, our gang will pull out all the stops in order to see those tits once and for all, even if they can not lay claim to having bed her.

Raunchy and spirited, unsubtle sex comedy, with plenty of lewd content, aimed almost exclusively at the Porky's crowd. Like Porky's, "Screwballs" is set somewhat in the 50's, with flaws in it's attempts to evoke that period elaborately. Almost entirely made up of little vignettes dedicated to unleashing sexual innuendo and cheeky, hearty humor about teens and their ribald antics involving all matters involving naked girls and making out. But, getting even with Purity is of definite importance as each male tries his own strategy, most of the time failing in their individual efforts, coming together at the end to develop one last attempt, taking place at the Homecoming basketball game. Such hi-jinx include strip bowling, a function turned upside down when punch is accidentally spiked with Spanish fly, a trip for the boys to a strip club, Rick's numerous disguises(..a doc examining school girls' breasts, dressed in drag as a Home Economics teacher), Howie's various tricks(..read from books)which backfire(..such as a mirror gag and poolside fiasco attempting to use hypnotism which ends miserably for him), Brent's disastrous near-tryst with his hot Biology teacher, and a drive-in movie which turns into a riot after Tim finds that Brent is making a move on his sister. Co-writer Linda Shayne(..as Bootsie Goodhead), all smiles, gets carried away(..and I wouldn't have it any other way), in her role as a free spirited, enthusiastic, and sexually liberated teen(..the movie's tone matches her personality). Shayne, who is quite yummy, even sacrifices nudity in an embarrassing gag for her character after her skirt gets caught in a van door, her breasts pressed against the vehicle's window! Speciale is perfectly cast as the object of desire, and she is quite the nice bit of eye candy, particularly in her two piece, white bikini. The sequence, I reckon which will remain a memorable moment in the film, is when a bowling ball gets caught on Howie's pecker.

Literally the ONLY reason you might gut it out until the end is to finally see the Prom Queen's talent...because there is no other talent to be found until the end. Oh, you will see plenty of other pairs of talent, in various shapes and sizes, but waiting for these moments is pure agony. Its shockingly difficult to understand how this movie was EVER sanctioned, but if i read it right, this movie pulled in north of $20 million at a cost of just over $200k. If true, then this explains how such a brutally bad movie like this was ever made.

On a side note, rolling credits that blocked the payoff moment was a virtual finger given to all of us who persevered to the end. Was that necessary? Nooooooo.

"Screwballs" is one of the most priceless of 1980s sex comedies, a deliberately nutty, over the top farce set in the 1960s and intended to be styled like a comic book. True enough that it doesn't have very much of a story, and is mostly a series of outrageous sexy gags. But who in their right mind is going to *want* a story when it comes to this sort of thing? They get exactly what they want, and that's titillation writ large. To hell with subtlety, am I right? The actors are all very enthusiastic, and the movie does have a certain energy and charm that makes it impossible to resist.

Basically, the set-up is that five disparate, incredibly horny guys - Rick (Peter Keleghan), Brent (Kent Deuters), Howie (Alan Deveau), Melvin (Jason Warren), and Tim (Jim Coburn) - meet in detention. They become obsessed with the reigning virgin / tease at their school, the aptly named Purity Busch (Linda Speciale), and make it their mission to either get with her, or at the very least, get an eyeful of her breasts.

Co-written by Jim Wynorski and co-star Linda Shayne (who plays the easygoing Bootsie Goodhead), and directed with verve by Rafal Zielinski, "Screwballs" is pretty damn childish, but that's the point of this whole thing. Among the assorted escapades, the sleazy quintet run afoul of their uptight principal, Stuckoff (Donnie Bowes), play a game of strip bowling, create havoc at a drive-in (where the Roger Corman production "The Arena" (or, as it's titled in this movie, "The Wild Women of Wango") is playing on the screen, ogle a stripper (who's played by the great Raven De La Croix), and contrive some methods of leering at the private parts of the many attractive female cast members.

There's just enough female flesh to satisfy, and the filmmakers do make sure that there's a proper payoff at the end - after which the end credits promptly start rolling. They do know how to send you away with a smile.

Eight out of 10.

SCREWBALLS is very much a typical teen sex comedy of the 1980s, inspired by the likes of PORKY'S and made on a relatively low budget. As usual, a bunch of male characters are extermely horny and trying to get off with every girl in the school, although part of the plot follows their vendetta against a prom queen. The emphasis is very much on bare female flesh and men spying on girls, but the humour isn't too bad at times and a precursor to the likes of AMERICAN PIE. Some of the characters, such as the geeky Howie, are fitfully amusing too. No classic, but it passes the time if you like the genre.