Cheerleaders Wild Weekend


The thing about ‘70s exploitation movies is they could get away with pretty much anything as long as there was the requisite amount of boobs, blood or action.  Which led to a whole lot of films that didn’t just break the mold, they never bothered to conform in the first place. This burst of creativity might have been luck, thievery or a complete accident but the result is the same: movies sold to the lowest common denominator that often wind up being more interesting than the mainstream titles they were competing against.

Cheerleaders Wild Weekend (1979) involves a bus full of precocious teenage girls hijacked on its way to the state championship by a trio of ex-professional football players. Demanding two million dollars as ransom, the bad guys are sorely tempted to take advantage of their hostages, all from rival schools. But when the girls realize that teamwork is the only way out of the situation, they hatch a plan to get home…and get some payback.

The first 15 minutes of director Jeff Werner’s film is a sleazy playbook for where T & A flicks were headed in the ‘80s. But then it takes a hard left turn into darker territory when the kidnapping plot kicks in.  Lead actor Jason Williams – best known for the softcore cult classic Flesh Gordon – pulls off a creepy Stockholm syndrome seduction while his fellow criminals cut straight to sexual assault. But that doesn’t stop the film from staging an impromptu “beauty contest” and even a consenting romance subplot. 

Cheerleaders Wild Weekend is all over the place. But that’s exactly what makes these films so dangerously unpredictable. Even casting cutie Kristine DeBell, who co-starred in the much more family friendly Meatballsthe same year, is a clever bit of misdirection. This square peg simply refuses to fit into any round hole…unless it involves sexual innuendo. 

Part of the MVD Rewind Collection, the transfer cleans up nicely after the opening credits and extras include interviews with DeBell, Williams and actress Marylin Joi plus two commentaries (one with Werner, Joi and editor Gregory McClatchy and another solo track with DeBell). The retro packaging includes a slipcover and fold-out poster.

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