STATE PARK (1988)

STATE PARK (1988)

Tagline: No one will be admitted after the bear steals the bulldozer.

(Comedy, Nature, No Alcoholic Beverages) [R].

Note: This movie was also known as “HEAVY METAL SUMMER”. 

Don’t look now, but it’s Mr. Rocky Horror Picture Show in person. 

In this one, a rich dude named Rancewell wants to turn a natural park into a waste dump. The owner of the park “Truckie”, is going to do everything in his power to stop it. 

First off, this is one of the few movies made in the 80s where you are going to see people actually playing video games on an early Atari system. It might be the only one where you are going to see old people doing it. It is also probably the only movie ever made that features a hairdryer with a metal design and spikes on it. That being said, this movie lacks the charm of a lot of the films in this wheelhouse like MEATBALLS, GREAT OUTDOORS and ERNEST GOES TO CAMP. My guess is they were kind of banking on people showing up to see this due to the amount of nudity in it, but it’s not enough to repair the fact that this movie just isn’t written with any funny lines. I think Eve was the best character in this, but they really don’t give her any great lines either.  

The main actress in this is Kim Myers (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE) who plays Eve. She does a decent job, but there isn’t challenged much given that this is more of a situational comedy than one that relies on good writing. Kim is still getting roles these days. We also get Isabelle Mejias (MEATBALLS III: SUMMER JOB) as Marsha and she is just okay. Marsha is sort of the promiscuous girl at the park. Jennifer Inch (SCREWBALLS) plays Linnie and is basically the other promiscuous but more focused girl at the part. James Wilder takes on the role of “Trunkie” and does a pretty good job. Wilder is probably most famous for ZOMBIE HIGH. Finally, Peter Virgile is pretty decent as Johnny Rocket. For whatever reason he pretty much stopped acting after 1988 with the exception of another film that came out in 1998 called ICE. Outside of that, he’s never taken another role that I am aware of. 

If I am really fishing for good things about this movie, I would say the soundtrack is pretty fun. It’s awesome that we had a scene with the metal band in this that featured a couple of old people on guitar that are meant to be Ted Nugent’s grandparents. Ted Nugent also shows up in the movie, so if you hate his politics or whatever, that might be one reason to skip this. As a rule, I try to separate the art from the person unless it’s over-the-top egregious. Like we all find out they are still drinking JOLT or some crap like that (sarcasm). I also liked that this was shot in a really beautiful area. 

If I never see another Speedo again, it will be too soon, but overall in your search for 80’s comedy deep cuts, this one is far from the worst out there. The final half hour or so does feel more like a bad episode of the “A-Team” that doesn’t really work with the rest of the film, but whatever. It was the 80s, they just did whatever they wanted. Like literally all of us just did what we wanted.

Overall this gets a 3 out of 7. I don’t think I will be watching it again, but it wasn’t ridiculously bad like some of the reviews might have you believe. 

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