Fraternity Vacation
(1985)

Okay. So, I'm breaking the rules. Not "breaking" them so much as bending them, really. Though not explicitly stated, the perameters of a "Teen Sex Comedy Festival" implies high school hijinx. As you probably surmise from the title, Fraternity Vacation is not a high school movie, but instead centers around a group of college buddies heading to Palm Springs for winter break. While Joe and "Mother" seem to be relatively "experienced" members of the Theta Pi Sigma fraternity, geeky pledge Wendell Tvedt is an eighteen year old with a severe case of arrested development. So by my estimation, that puts hime in about the same boat as most other protagonists we've encountered so far.

Upon arriving in Palm Springs the trio run into a pair of rival members of a more upscale fraternity who prove to be intent on ruining spring break for the "Theta Pigs." Joe and Mother refuse to take the abuse lying down... or maybe I'm better off saying that while refusing to take the abuse, they do indeed make a bet as to which fraternity will be the first to be lying down naked with local hottie Ashley Taylor (Sheree J. Wilson). Hijinx ensue as the two fraternities hatch elaborate schemes to fenagle their way into Ms. Taylor's undergarments.

With Mother and Joe preoccupied, Wendell is left to his own devices and strikes up a friendship with Nicole Ferret (played by "Married With Children's" Amanda Bearse), the daughter of the local police chief. Without the guidance of his frat brothers, Wendell is forced to take trial and error approach to this whole party with the opposite sex thing. As you would probably expect, a series of missteps lands Wendell in hot water with the local po-po and threatens to end his relationship with Nicole.

The movie is just as formulaic as it sounds and offers up a twist ending that Ronnie Milsap saw coming. Aside from an interesting, pre-photoshop porn-faking scene, there's not much here to hold your attention. Fraternity Vacation is probably most notable because it is one of the earliest screen credits for Tim Robbins, who plays embodies the role of Larry "Mother" Tucker with such zeal that you just know he's destined for success in producing didactic, one-act plays that no one actually wants to see. But probably more interesting is the career of Stephen Geoffreys who plays Wendell Tvedt.

Fraternity Vacation followed up Stephen's supporting role in the cable tv standard Heaven Help Us. Afterward, he parlayed his notoriety into a starring role in Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund's directorial debut, 976-Evil in 1989. In 1991, after a string of television appearances and straight to video roles Geoffreys left the mainstream spotlight and entered the world of... wait for it... gay porn! Yes, between 1991 and 2002 Stephen Geoffreys assumed multiple stage names (Larry Bert, Stephan Bordeaux, Sam Ritter ) and produced such adult, man-on-man classics as, Mechanics Bi Day... Lube Job Bi Night, Latin Crotch Rockets, and who can forget Leather Intrusion 4: Down to the Wire.

Anyway, I guess that Fraternity Vacation is like a reminder of a time when things were simpler. You know, back in the days when if you put down money on a sex bet... hetero sex was implied. Of course, those days are gone, but we still have the warm memories and of course, the trailer to keep us warm at night.

Labels: dvd