Joysticks

You could make a case that genre films are more important for cultural study than any movie that pops up during awards season.  The reason being, while the latter makes every effort to be timeless, genre films are distinctly of their time.  Take Joysticks (1983) for example, a blatant cash grab that tries to take advantage of two popular trends.  “You got your video games in my sex comedy.  No, you got your sex comedy in my video games!”  Either way, director Greydon Clark had dollars signs in his eyes when he shot this T & A quickie that captured – in truly embarrassing fashion – the early ‘80s generation fascination with boobs, bits and flatulence. 

Bailey’s Arcade is the hangout for all of River City’s disaffected youth who bond over games like Gorf, Galaxian and Defender.  But local big wig Joseph Rutter (Joe Don Baker) doesn’t like the affect it’s having on his impressionable daughter so he arranges various acts of sabotage to shut the place down.  After some rude pranks and lots of popped tops, it all comes down to an epic battle of Super Pacman to determine the fate of the arcade.

 

Combining the plot of Animal House with the libido of Porky’s, Joysticks is poorly written trash from beginning to end.  If you removed the dirty parts it ranks below any episode of Square Pegs in terms of entertainment value.  But…as a 90-minutes of gratuitous memorabilia, it tallies up a high score.  Clark’s film is the sort of aspirational debauchery that shuffles nerds, babes and MILFs with impunity, even throwing in a few punks for good measure.

 

Speaking of which, the cast includes more than a few familiar faces like John Diehl (Miami Vice), John Volstad (one of the “Daryls” on Newhart) and Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite) as King Vidiot, decked out in a purple mohawk and studded collar.  Joe Don Baker seems right at home surrounded by lame jokes, bad valley girl accents and the worst theme song in cinematic history.  So, if he’s not ashamed to be in it, why should we be ashamed to enjoy it?

 

The latest entry in MVD’s Rewind Collection, this one is presented with a dated but still solid 2K transfer, Greydon Clark interview and audio commentary (plus a bonus fan commentary), mini-poster, slipcover, trailer and cool Atari-style packaging.

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