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October 8, 2025 48 mins

Today we’re rewinding to 1982—a year packed with iconic hits and trends—but instead of E.T. or Fast Times, we’re looking at a National Lampoon experiment that didn’t quite land: Class Reunion.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie (00:48):
Hello.
Hello, I'm Katie and welcome back to RetroMade where we dive into the movies and
moments that shaped our pop culture past.
Today we're rewinding to 1982, a yearpacked with iconic hits and trends.
But instead of each year, fast Timesat Richmont High, we're gonna look
at National Lampoons experiment thatdidn't quite land class reunion.

(01:15):
Now, today I am gonna go guest free solo.
So, I hope you like it.
Now, the reason for that is because thislovely movie, uh, not readily available.
And so what I do a lot of times when thishappens, which isn't super common, but
in the rare instances where it does, I gothe extra mile and I will tell you guys, I

(01:37):
want the extra, extra mile for you today.
Believe it or not.
Some of you might be wondering,Katie, how old are you?
Use the library.
Heck yeah.
It has this feature called Prospector,where you can search for the
title that you're looking for and
branches might be in another Denverlibrary branch, but more often
than not, it's from a participatingbranch somewhere in the network

(01:58):
. One.
One thing that I washighlighted by my doing this is.
that dvds can be damaged and thusunplayable There were scene chapters,
so I could tell that I had only seena, a small portion of it, so I went
to YouTube for clips to fill in theblanks even that was hard to come by.
So I pieced together as much as Ipossibly could, um, from the synopsis

(02:19):
online and the YouTube clips.
And, you know, I, I did a littlebit of guesswork, but, um.
This is maybe gonna be a shit show of anepisode, but I hope you tune in anyway.
And, um, you know, if you'rethinking, well, Katie, I'm not sure
why you went to such trouble forthis movie that no one knew existed.
Well, I can't help it because I did onthis season set out to cover John Hughes

(02:43):
and Damnit, I'm going to complete it.
And now it would be a goodtime to request a tip.
Uh, if you appreciate the effort,you can check the show notes for a
link to my tip page on Captivate.
It's the last link.
If you've never done that before,I'd certainly appreciate it.
There is a lot of effortthat goes into this.
I'm also using, a different software torecord this episode, because each piece

(03:07):
of software that I use costs a few hundredbucks a year, and so I'm thinking about
consolidating because now the softwarethat I use to edit also offers a way.
To record video.
So I'm testing that out on thisepisode, so perhaps I can, uh,
consolidate and get rid of whatI had been using to just record.

(03:27):
So, uh, we shall see.
So anyway, , hey, this isn'tfree, it's a hobby podcast.
I'd appreciate a tip ifyou feel so inclined.
Alright, let's get into it.
This is a great time to also tell you thatif you have thoughts, requests, anything,
email me Retro Made podcast@gmail.com.
Now, one person who did just that,Zoe from Backlog Cinema podcast, he

(03:51):
writes and this is in reference tothe last episode that I'm sure some
of you missed as well because itwas on Flubber, but you shouldn't.
I do highly recommend you listento it because even if the movie
doesn't trip your trigger, perhapsthe episode covering it might 'cause
sometimes those kind of movies, um,have some interesting discussions.

(04:11):
At any rate, Zoe writes,thank you for watching Flubber
so that I wouldn't have to.
Disney probably sawthat movie as a failure.
Is, there are a few things thatDisney needs for a movie to do
for them to consider it a success.
Um, and he's got some bulleted pointshere, which I very appreciate one.
It had to have made at leastthree times it, its budget.

(04:33):
Two, it had to drive trafficto the amusement park.
And nowadays Disney plus three,it had to drive merchandising,
like toys and clothes.
And the last point, he says it had todrive sequels, prequels, or remakes.
This is a big one becauselike a car salesman, they're
not selling you one movie.
Three.

(04:53):
Those are my theories.
Thanks again for all you do.
See you around.
Well, thank you Zoe.
I very appreciate yourthoughtful insights.
And like I said, if you wannabe like Z, send me an email
Retro Made podcast@gmail.com.
Okay, this is 1982.
And there are no other John Hughesmovies that we're gonna cover in 1982.
There were a couple in 83, but we shalldo an abbreviated version of the time

(05:17):
capsule so that we don't miss some ofthose fun pop culture memories from 1982.
So let's open the time capsule.
This movie came out October 82, soyes, we will consider this a spooky
season episode for a couple of reasons.
We'll get into it, but before weget into the movie, let's talk about

(05:39):
some of the movies that were in thetheater that did well unlike class
reunion, uh, at the box office.
Now, since I'm going solo, I amgoing to still ask these in the form
of a question so that you at home.
It can, uh, test your knowledgeand see if you can guess.

(06:00):
The movies, the number one movieat the box office for 1982.
Here's your clue, guys at home.
This film was so successful that itdisplaced the original Star Wars as
the highest grossing film of all time.
Its screenplay, was a joint effortbetween Melissa Matheson and its Oscar

(06:20):
winning director who chose not to usethe character's signature flying ship
and instead depicted his transportationvia a child basket and a bicycle.
I think I just gave it away.
What was this film, you guys?
Yes, of course.
It was E, the Extraterrestrial.
Okay.
Number two, this might be a little.

(06:42):
Tougher.
This 1982 comedy drama features acharacter played by Dustin Hoffman,
who takes on a new identity, includinga specific hairstyle after finding
inspiration from a real life Broadwayproducer he'd worked with previously.
What film is this?
Yeah, I guess I'm kind of surprisedthis was the number two film,

(07:05):
but it is Tootsie, you guys.
Tootsie, number two, film 1982, man.
All right, number three.
In this drama, a key sequenceinvolves a character played by Richard
Gere, probably giving it away end.
During punishing physical trainingat the mercy of a sergeant
portrayed by Louis Gossett Jr.
Gossett Jr.

(07:25):
Famously stayed in his roles personaoffset and in once seen Ashley
injured gear while berating him.
I didn't know that, but whatwas this film, you guys?
Yep, an officer and a gentleman.
Number four.
A.
Um, I'm gonna be really disappointedif you guys don't get this immediately

(07:47):
because there's no way to give a cluefor this movie without giving it away.
I think, um, this boxing sequelintroduced a new theme song I of the
Tiger by the band's survivor afterthe original theme was unavailable.
PS bonus points.
If you know what the originalsong they wanted was.
The film also features the professionalwrestling debut of Hulk Hogan in

(08:10):
a match with the title character.
What was this movie?
There's also another, I think,introducing, of course, it's
Rocky three, and who was the othercharacter that I'm referring to?
Obviously Mr.
T.
And who was the original songthat they wanted is the theme
other than I have the Tiger.
I'm so glad that it's, I have thetiger, but Rocky nerds know this,
but if you're not a rocky nerd.

(08:32):
It's Queens.
Another one bites the dust.
Number five.
This ComEd's infamous shower scenetakes place at the fictional Angel
Beach High School in Florida.
This film was actually produced in Canada.
Well, I didn't know that.
And the school scenes wereshot at a real high school that
had been temporarily closed.

(08:52):
What is this film?
I didn't realize this was sucha popular movie in the theaters.
The answer's porkies.
I sort of thought it was just likea video rental that I don't know.
Anyway, yeah, there we go.
Alright, . I'm, cherry pickingare categories because this is an
abbreviated version since I don'thave a guest to spin the wheel with.

(09:13):
And I'm just asking youguys some questions.
Here we go.
No.
I was gonna do tv, but we dida lot of the tv last season.
And to be honest with you.
They're not as fun.
80, the early eighties are just all soapsand I didn't really care that much about
them, so, so I'm skipping those and,um, yeah, I think let's go, let's just
skip down to do the boombox bangers.

(09:35):
Maybe here are your trivia questions forthe top five Billboard songs of 1982.
Let's see.
They're all super easy.
One of which is a total giveaway, okay.
What Pop Rock Single, which wasthe highest ranking song of 1982,
had its first 10 weeks at numberone split between 81 and 82.

(09:59):
Hopefully that's a, a good clue for you.
Olivia Newton, John's Physical.
It is a really great song.
But yeah, so it was super popularunder 81 and then continued its
popularity so much so in 82, thatit was the number one song for that
year, even though it came out in 81.
Okay, number two, what song, whichreached number one for seven weeks

(10:21):
in 1982 was originally releasedby the Arrows in 1975 and written
by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker.
I don't know who they are, norhave I heard of the arrows.
If you do bonus points,but what was this song?

(10:42):
It is, I Love Rock and Roll byJoan Jet and The Black Hearts.
Okay.
Number three, this song from 1982.
Uses a black and white piano keys as ametaphor for racial harmony and unity
with the message that different peoplecan live together in perfect harmony.
It was a collaboration.

(11:03):
Who were the collaboratorsand what was the song?
Ebony and Ivory by PaulMcCartney and Stevie Wonder.
Number four.
This song was famouslyfeatured as the theme for.
For one of our top movies, the bandwas inspired to write it after being
asked to compose it by the directorof that movie, uh, himself, who

(11:26):
was a fan of their previous single
poor Man's Son.
Okay.
Tried to make it a littleharder than originally was.
What was this song?
It is Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.
Yes.
Hopefully you got that.
'cause I gave away one of the movies.
This is The last one.
What was the title of the number onesingle from Jay Gilles Band in 1982,

(11:48):
which featured a music video centeredaround a high school newspaper and
its editor's crush on a past model.
I actually don't thinkI've seen this video.
But yeah, I think the only song Iknow by Jake Isles band is this one.
Centerfold.
Okay, you guys, that was 1982.
Our little abbreviated time capsule withmovies and music, but now it is time to

(12:15):
get into National Lampoons class reunion.
Okay, so did anybodyknow about this movie?
Has anyone seen it?
You have to let me know now the title.

(12:35):
I think is a little misleading and we'llget into that a little bit more, in
a little bit, but yes, it is actuallyvery, very much in theme with spooky
season because it's a parody, slapstick,comedy and horror as the, um, actually
I will just read you I will read youfrom the actual DVD cover some stuff.

(12:58):
It says, written by the creator of FerrisBueller's Day Off and the Breakfast Club.
Let's see, it says ScreeningInternational apparently said that
it is splendid outrageousness packedwith sight gags and good one liners.
Hmm, interesting.
Eh, or it says this is whatit's about from National Lampoon

(13:21):
screenwriter, John Hughes.
And writer Michael Miller ofSilent Rage, which we'll talk
about, comes this very funny teenhorror parody set in the hallowed
halls of a boarded up high school.
It's not boarded up, so I dunno why itsays that, but it's the Lizzie board
in high school, I think, I don't know,I don't know what's happening here.

(13:43):
This movie, this, there's, there'sbait and switch all over the place with
this, but, um, it, okay, it goes onto say, then featuring Oscar nominee.
Michael Lerner, and he was Oscar nominated, for his supporting role in Barton Fink.
Okay.
Class reunion will make youscream and shake with laughter.

(14:07):
It's been 10 years since Lizzie Bordenhigh school's class of 72 graduated,
and everyone the preppies, thehippies, and the in-crowd has returned
to reminisce over good times past.
But classmate Walter Baylor hasreturned two with a vengeance.
While the rest of the gang ismisbehaving at their alma mater, Walter,

(14:27):
. Who was a misunderstood freak then anda certified psychopath now is still not
over a prank plate on him a decade ago andout to wreak havoc of a different sort.
Okay, so that's at that.
That's actually what happened.
So that's what it's about.
And based on the name of this, you wouldnot know that that's what it's about.

(14:48):
I sort of thought we were gonna be in for.
You know, like, uh, like an animalhouse style, like class reunion.
Like we, we get some of your typicalhigh school stereotypes and what usually
goes on at class reunions, and there'sa lot of fun to be had with that.
But they used that and alsocombined it with, a satirical

(15:11):
play on horror movies of the time.
So it is right at R and it didcome out just before Halloween
in 1982 October 29th to be exact.
It's pretty short.
It's only an hour and 24 minutes,which is wild considering that
there were several scene stretchingtactics going on in this movie.

(15:31):
Okay.
If you're wondering, geez, Katie.
I've never heard of this.
Is it good?
Well, it's a 4.6
on IMDB and, uh, let's talk about that.
So, national Lampoon's classreunion was the second big screen
movie that was released from theoriginal National Lampoon Company.

(15:52):
The movie did have a huge buildup becauseof, uh, animal House, I believe, and
viewers expected it to be another hit.
Yeah.
As a follow up to Animal House,their first big screen released in
1978, which for comparison has a 7.4
on IMDB.
That is shocking to me, and I, Idon't think I've seen Animal House.

(16:16):
It's possible I've seen clips, butfor whatever reason, I don't know.
It was that time.
I, it missed me and Inever came back to it.
And, uh, I don't thinkit sounds that great.
Um, but it does have a 7.4,
so stay tuned.
We shall see.
Maybe I'll give it a watch at some point.
Also what's interesting is that this isthe third film actually from the magazine.

(16:39):
It was the second film releasedbecause there was another movie
that should have come out beforeit, but was delayed, and that is.
Also a movie I'd never heard of.
National Lampoon goes to the movies.
It was filmed in 81, so beforethis one, but it was delayed and
not actually widely released.

(17:00):
I think it had like a really smallrelease at some point in 82, but
not widely released until 1983.
So interesting.
Sort of, I guess now MichaelMiller is our director here.
I am not familiar andyou might not be either.
He did direct Jackson County Jail in1976 and a number of made for TV movies.

(17:22):
Apparently we are supposed to,um, know him from Silent Rage
that maybe is like his most knownmovie and I've not seen that.
So, sorry.
John Hughes, the whole season we'redoing on Retro Made on John Hughes.
He is a writer here.
He, this was the first producedcinema movie screenplay,

(17:45):
solely written by John Hughes.
He admitted to not beingparticularly proud of the script.
Gee, I wonder, so he claims that hewas actually fired from this movie.
His quote is, they didn'teven want me around and I was
shocked when I saw the movie.
He said my screenplay had beencompletely butchered and my name will

(18:07):
nevertheless be on the credits forever.
Now, I feel like he's saidthis a number of times.
So whether purposefully or notpurposely as we've gotten to in show
in, you know, some of his later work,I think he had just given up and
pulled some of his, tropes into a hatand pulled them out and bing, bang,
boom, here's a script, a La Leber.
But this movie maybe he was, youknow, he was still kind of, not

(18:30):
still, he was actually trying tomake a name for himself at this time.
It was early on in his career.
But I guess I would be very curiousto see what his original script
was and how it differs from whatwe got because it's very, it's
hard to even describe this movie.
It's different than what youthink it's gonna be there's

(18:51):
certain parts of it that are fun.
There's certain parts of it that arelike, what on earth is happening?
And none of it makes any sense.
But there's little, little thingshere and there that are kind of smart.
But yeah, I mean, like for example,this is the graduating class of
the Lizzie Borden High School.
It says on the invitation theopening credits is actually kind of.

(19:16):
Unique, or at least it's kind of a,a unique way of introducing us to the
characters by showing us their yearbookpictures and like who they were in
high school, what clubs they were in.
This person was, voted to be most likelyx, y, z, that, that kind of a thing.
So that was, , a nice way ofintroducing us to who these people
were in the opening credits.
And I think then.

(19:38):
After that, then there's alittle, a little scene from
10 years ago, and then we
we show like the invitationin script writing with the
picture of the high school.
And I think there wassomething like there.
Uh.
Their motto or something in this highschool is like a cut above the rest.
So little, little touches like that.
And so I'm open-minded watching this.

(19:59):
I'm like, okay, this is gonna be fun.
I mean, this is not, I'll behonest, this is not usually my,
my genre, but I can have fun.
I can have fun with slapstickand I like a parody.
I don't love horror.
There are exceptions of those,but I'm like, oh, score, like
a parody of horror movies.
I'm in for this.

(20:20):
But it was, well, yeah, we'll get toit in a little bit, but, um, but, so
yeah, let's, now before we get into themeat of the movie, let's introduce you
guys to who some of our players are.
Um, some of them you'll befamiliar with and some not.
Again, this is a movie from 82.
I, I mean, like, I'm a yearold at this point, so I don't

(20:40):
know very many of these people.
But I did look them up and I'm like, okay,they're, so and so from such and such.
Our top build actor here, Ido know because he was in a
movie we covered last season.
Garrett Graham plays BobSpinnaker, and he is your typical.
Like he was the class president.
He's your typical, popular high schoolguy, and now he's a snooty yacht salesman.

(21:04):
And we talked about him lastseason because he played Jeff in
used cars with Kurt Russell and.
From 1980.
So yeah, I mean this, the early eightiesseemed very seventies esque to me.
I've talked about this on the showa lot too, where the eighties are, I
wonder if all decades are this way.
'cause I feel like the ninetieswere similar, early nineties,

(21:27):
very different from the latenineties, but I feel like the.
Eighties had three distinct periods.
The early eighties, the mideighties and late eighties.
Anyway, this is the early eighties,which wreaked of late seventies still.
So anyway, Garrett Graham.
So I'm like, all right, score.
And then Michael Lerner he plays Dr.
Robert Young, so he is the doctorof this insane asylum the killer.

(21:52):
Spoiler, there's a killer on the loose.
The killer breaks outof this, asylum and Dr.
Robert Young is from there.
He's played by Michael Lerner and someof you might be familiar with the name.
If not, he's very familiar lookingand like I mentioned, he actually
won an Oscar for his role inBarton Fink, and that was in 91.

(22:12):
He also played a gangsterin Harlem Knights.
An 89 movie.
And then also a movie that you'llall probably be rewatching in the
upcoming holiday season is Elf.
And he played Buddy's Boss in in Elf.
So that's Michael Lerner.
He's in this.
Then we have our, our in theyearbook is listed as the Class Zero.

(22:34):
No one rem remembers him.
And that's kind of the gagof, you know, of the movie.
Literally, he was a nobody in highschool and no one remembers him now.
His character's name is Gary Nash.
Really generic dude's name.
Well, he's played by Fred McCarran.
And, uh, just like his character, heis your typical every man character.

(22:54):
Just your like very av I mean, he's likekind of all right looking typical white.
Normal looking everyday guy.
Right?
And that's who he plays.
Like he's known for those,those types of roles.
'cause he, I mean he looks like that.
Well, I did not know that there wasa TV movie version of used cars that

(23:16):
came out four years later in 1984.
And, um, this Fred McCarranplayed Rudy Russo in that.
I don't know why we needed anotherversion of it, but apparently we got one.
And then this Fred he had a lot ofother episodic TV work including a
number of episodes on Hill StreetBlues, gimme a Break Too Close For

(23:37):
Comfort And The Golden Girls, MiriamFlynn is another character that must be
it's interesting because Hughes hashis people, and this is very early on
with Hughes, but Miriam Flynn playsBunny, the Class Ts, and she's like
kind of in charge of the reunion, and Ithink it's particularly her hairstyle.

(24:01):
She.
Fucking looks 50, but these people are 28.
Okay.
It's 10.
I mean, they're supposed to beplaying 28 year olds, which is wild.
Um, but they all look 45.
But Bunny especially looked 50 becauseshe has that old lady hairstyle and
her dress, like, she's just very,I don't know, prim and proper.
And she's in pr so she's justlike, um, just like a phony type.

(24:24):
You know the type everyone.
So that's, bunny played by Miriam flm.
We talked about her actually intwo episodes from 1983 because
she played ca cousin Catherine invacation, also National Lampoons.
And then she also played Annette in Mr.
Mom.
And Annette, I think was the onewho was like really, really angling

(24:47):
after, uh, Michael Keaton's character.
Those were both from 1983.
She also, has a lot of voice work.
She voiced ma in Babe, for example.
We have like your kind of slovenlylike sheisty guy that wears
a lot of chains, overweight.
Everybody thinks he's gross.

(25:08):
Hubert Downs is this character's name.
He's played by Steven first, anduh, he was also in animal house.
He playing flounder.
So there you go.
There's a blind girl and this isplayed for gags 'cause she has a
seeing eye dog that doesn't behave.
And so obvious, very cheap humor.

(25:28):
But being blind is played for gagshere, the character's name is Iris GaN.
She's played by Maria Small, which Iguess she goes by Muse Small now, but
in 1982 she went, her name was Maria.
She, uh, is known probably mostfor her character Candy and one

(25:51):
flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.
And then our pretty glamorous, thepopular girl who was used in the
prank that was played on the killer.
And we'll talk about that.
But Meredith is the character's name.
She's the pretty popular girl,and she comes to the reunion in
an evening gown but a sexy one.
And I think she's, supposedto be quasi famous.
I can't remember where they say she,oh, I just came from blah, blah, blah.

(26:13):
She probably does local commercialsor something dumb like that.
But yeah, so she's, she'sthe pretty attractive one.
Played by Shelly Smith.
She kind of looked familiar to me,but I didn't, I don't, I mean, maybe
you guys know her, but she didn't.
Nothing popped out at me that she wassuper well known for anything specific.
But most of her work was episodic tv andshe even had several recurring roles on

(26:36):
shows, like several episodes on a TV show,but they were TV shows I'd never heard of.
So maybe that's just me.
And then we have Dolores Salkwhich was an interesting character.
Because she was the quote unquote cripple.
But she's not crippled anymoreat the reunion because she says
she sold her soul to the deviland now she's kind of possessed.

(26:58):
She has fire breathing, abilities.
She's able to just like conjurefire at will, and she's able to
put spells on people, mainly Bunny.
But she is played by Zane Busby.
That is a super fucking fun name.
She does have some other acting credits,but she's really more a director,
including several episodes of my two dadsCharles in Charge, blossom, and Sister.

(27:23):
Sister.
So now you know who Zane Busby is.
Now one of the most famouspeople is funny, but like
us, 80 kids, eighties kids.
No.
Ann Ramsey, the actress's name.
Ann Ramsey was in this and she's, mamaFratelli from Goonies and also Mama
Lift from Throw, mama from the Train.

(27:44):
Those are probably her most famousroles, you guys know who she is,
like she's very specific looking.
Well, apparently for this classreunion, they brought the cafeteria
ladies back to serve cafeteria.
At the reunion.
I don't know why.
But she plays one of thecafeteria ladies, Mrs.
Zuki.
And that's played for laughs too.
'cause it's super gross.

(28:04):
Cafeteria food, her cigarettesin everybody's food.
, Now Walter is the characterwho is our killer.
He's our escaped psychopathfrom the mental institution.
Walter is played by Blackie, dammit.
Do you guys know whoBlackie Damme is or Damme?
Maybe it's not dammit.

(28:25):
Maybe it's Damme.
Well, and you can tell onceI learned this fact, you can
totally tell by the way he looks.
He is Anthony Kit's dad fromthe Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Blackie, dammit.
Look it up.
Damme.
D-A-M-M-E-T-T.
Interesting, eh.
And then there are two charactersthat are a duo of stoners

(28:48):
who have not changed at all.
It's Chip Hendricks and Carl Clapton.
Those are the charactersnames, and they're played by
Barry Diamond and Art Evans.
So gags and sue with a coupleof stoners throughout the movie.
And then we have a character namedMary Beth, who's also part of the,
um, like committee for the reunion.

(29:09):
Her and Bunny kind of put the reunion on,and she is played by Marla Pennington.
She did look familiar to me, but Icouldn't place her until I looked her up.
Well, she played the mom.
On the TV show.
Small Wonder with the little robot girl.
Yeah.
Also, if you guys watchedthe TV series soap.

(29:31):
I did not, but she playedLeslie Walker in that.
So maybe you know her.
And then another highschool alum is Cindy.
She's played by, and theonly reason I bring her up.
Is because of who played her Misty Rowe.
And apparently that's a big deal.
I did not know who she was,but she was known because she

(29:53):
was on the variety show Heehaw.
Anybody seen Heehaw?
I have not.
And also this entire time until I lookedit up, I've heard of Heehaw and I just
assumed it was, um, like a scripted.
Western Comedy television show?
No, no.
It's a variety show, I guess.
Didn't know.
Now I do.

(30:13):
What are we missing?
You guys, we've covered thestereotypes the dorks, the nobodys,
the popular kids, the pretty girls.
Who are we missing any stereotypical highschooler that should be at this reunion?
The exchange student.
I don't know why he or she would cometo the 10 year reunion, assuming they
went back to wherever they came from.

(30:34):
The character's name is super fun.
Egon Von Stoker.
And he is the TransylvanianExchange student.
'cause why not?
And yeah, he had like Dracula teeth.
He was played by Jim Stahl.
I don't know who he is.
I feel like I forgot to look him up.
But anyway, that was just fun.
Now John Hughes actuallyhas an uncredited role here.

(30:58):
He plays the girl with the bag.
On her head.
And that's part of the gagfrom the 10 years ago time.
That was such a traumatic experience forour killer Walter that caused him to go
insane and then come back 10 years laterto seek revenge on his shitty classmates.
We will talk about whatthat was in a second.

(31:19):
But yeah, John Hughes plays thatgirl, uh, with a bag on her head,
and then wildly Chuck Berry performs.
This high school reunion as himself,the real Chuck Berry plays a
melody of some of his famous songs.
So we are to believe that this high schoolreunion committee, instead of having a

(31:46):
nice catered meal, they thought, Hey,let's bring the cafeteria food back and
get the cafeteria ladies to serve us.
But.
They were somehow able to get Chuck Barryto perform at a high school reunion.
So this is the movie we're inyou guys, so it is a wild ride.
We have the music by PeterBernstein and Mark Goldenberg.

(32:09):
I don't know who they are.
Clearly there are no awards.
For this movie, the budget, while Icouldn't find an exact number, it is
estimated to be less than 4 million,somewhere between like two and 4 million.
It made about 10 million, whichis actually more than I thought.
So it at least made, doubledits budget, estimated budget.

(32:29):
Okay.
So that's our cast of characters whowas responsible for making this movie.
It was advertised as a school relatedcomedy, from the people who brought
you National Lampoon's Animal House.
There was no mention in theposter or teaser of the horror
parody angle, nor in the, trailer.
No, no information aboutthe horror parody angle.

(32:53):
Just that this movie was often perceivederroneously as being a sequel or
sequel of sorts, and totally wasn't.
But I, so that's why it was like abait and switch, like maybe on purpose.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I, executive producer Maddie Simmonsdescribed the film as a broad Marx
Brothers type parody of the horror genre.
Like I mentioned, the trailer hasabsolutely nothing to do with anything.

(33:15):
There aren't even words in it.
It's just a visual of a stage with thingsrelated to high school being thrown at it.
And so you guys, if you're listeningto the audio version of this, and the
first 30 seconds of this episode, youwere like, what the hell's going on?
That's the trailer and you shouldgo check out the YouTube version so

(33:37):
you can see what I'm talking about.
Now clearly, uh, class Reunionis known by many as a bad movie.
However, it must also be noted thatit's also a parody of bad movies.
So take that all with a grain of salt.
I'm still, I'm trying to be, tryingto give it as much courtesy as I

(34:00):
can, and clearly this is John Hughes.
Trying to find his footingearly on and, one of his first
screenwriting credits, key pieceof his filmography because of that.
But he, uh, reportedlydislikes it after the studio.
Clearly made significant changes,as we talked about earlier.

(34:21):
They, he even claims.
Like they fired him from it.
And I, I don't know, I don't know.
Maybe he was kind of a difficult'cause we learn through doing this,
that he can, I, I think he can kindof be difficult and it's easy to get
in a little bit of a feud with him.
So if he was that way early on inhis career, um, that's interesting
that he was even able to have one.

(34:43):
But he did have talent later thehybrid is unusual, so it combines
like lowbrow teen comedy in thevein of Animal House, which is.
Typical, like that's what we would kindof expect from LA National Lampoons.
They even advertise it baitand switchy style as sort of

(35:03):
like a pseudo sequel to it.
But then they also combine thatwith a parody of popular slasher
films of this particular era.
And the, it's, the mashupclearly did not work.
It was unsuccessful.
A lot of critics believed, that this was.
Partially why the movie didn't work.
They just kind of tried to combinetwo genres that, and it didn't,

(35:25):
didn't work in such a short movie.
They were just throwing things infor the sake of throwing things in.
And then they found some scenes for fillerthat we'll talk about in, in, uh, musical
numbers that went on for fucking ever.
Okay.
So this is 1982.
So they're graduating class of 1972.
It is disrupted when an escapedmental patient, a former student,

(35:48):
crashes the party seeking revenge.
Now, why was he seeking revenge?
What was the impetus of that?
Well, when we were shown this sceneright after the opening credits,
we get a scene like 10 years ago.
And we believe it to be a senior party.
'cause there was a bonfire itwas a bunch of people drinking.
There's a flashback revealingthe traumatic senior prank
that, drove Walter insane.

(36:10):
So Bob, the classpresident sets Walter up.
He's like, Hey, Meredith, like thepopular girl, you know, she's into
you, she's over in so-and-so's car.
Like she's super into you.
She, she wants to makeout or, or whatever.
And it turns out like wedon't know what happened.
We see her basically jerking him off.
Like there's something going onin the car, but the girl, oh, and

(36:31):
Bob tells Walter, you know, she's,she's kind of like, she doesn't want
people to know it's her whatever.
Like she's kind of nervous.
So she has a bag over her head.
And then.
While they're in the car, we see thebag is taken off and they are horrified
when, and we don't see who she is.
We just see the two people in the carthat were just about to get it on are

(36:56):
horrified and we don't learn the reveal asto who that is until a little bit later.
As to why that drove him insane.
Well, it turns out that was his twinsister and it's played by him in a dress,
so it's, but so, so that was the prank.
Now I thought that they knew that,and that was part of the prank.

(37:20):
But then I saw something laterlike a scene because I wasn't able
to actually watch every scene.
I was looking up some synopsis and I saw.
Or synopsis.
I saw something about Bob, somewhereit said he was also surprised
to learn that it was the sister.
I don't think he realized, I don't know.

(37:41):
I don't really buy that.
I'm not certain.
So maybe that makes no sense.
Like it kind of doesn't make sense.
I feel like the gag would beyou're kissing or like getting
it on with your twin sister.
I mean, and that would beeffing traumatic, right?
So that was the prank.
So now, at the reunion, people arestarting to get picked off, right?

(38:03):
Uh, Walter starts picking offhis former classmates in a series
of really over the top deaths.
We don't, we don't really seethe deaths, we just see the
aftermath of it, which is fine.
Like that's, that's fine.
And then, so the remaining eccentricalumni are forced to band together
to try and stop the killer.
Then there's a reveal where the doctor Dr.

(38:26):
Robert Young, played by MichaelLerner is actually a mask.
This is, it's wild.
'cause like it's, he's clearlylike a short stout man.
But then he pulls that, thatmask off and actually it's Walter
underneath, so there is no Dr.
Lerner.
That's how he was able to get inand infiltrate and lock everybody
in by pretending he was the doctorthere to, to confiscate this escapee.

(38:49):
So yeah, that's that.
, And then the ending is somehow.
I thought I had missedsomething, but I didn't like it.
Ends really with, they catch him,put him in a straight jacket, but
then they're just all dancing.
It's like a line dance like soultrain style, like a line dance.
Where they're all just dancing.

(39:10):
And that's the end of the movie, like acelebratory end of the movie where he's
just, there he is in a straitjacket,but he's dancing with everybody.
It is what it is.
Like you could take it for what itis and enjoy it for what it is, but
there were a lot of missed marks.
So I did read that some critics werelike they set up some storylines and
then they were just completely dropped.
And I kind of have to go withthat because I wasn't actually

(39:32):
able to see the whole movie.
I was only to see bits andpieces after the first third,
and then the character arcs.
There really aren't any character arcs.
Like there's just these charactersdoing weird things just for
the sake of doing weird things.
And sometimes movies do that.
So like, I don't know.
That's fine, I guess.
But setting up a storyline andthen dropping it, that's lazy.

(39:53):
Like why didn't youclose the loop on that?
Yeah, so clearly nobody liked this movie.
It has a low IMDB rating,like not that low though.
What did I say it was?
It's, um, a 4.6,
so like approximatelyhalf, so it could be worse.
I feel like there are moviesthat, that are lower than that.
In fact, now I'm wondering whatflubber, I feel like Flubber iss

(40:15):
lower than that, as it should be.
Jesus.
But yeah, so the criticsdidn't like it either.
So this was a flop of amovie and it was just wild.
Like clearly it was a bait and switch.
You can't tell by the.
Trailer, any of the ads for it,even how they set the movie up,
the name of it, everything makesyou think it's one kind of movie.
And then you're like, oh, it'snot that kind of movie, but okay,

(40:38):
let's, let's see what this is about.
You know, okay.
It's not what I thought it wasgonna be, but let's sit through
it and see what it's about.
It's super fascinating that this is.
A stepping stone for John Hughes inone of his early works, despite him.
I really wish I was able to see whathis actual script was, that that would

(40:58):
be, I really wish maybe we got that,because it doesn't sound like we got
that unless he's kind of copying out.
Because it was, you know howsometimes people do that, they're
like, oh, it didn't work out.
Uh, I, I'm gonna distance myself fromit, but let's assume there were at
least tenets of his writing in this.
So it's very raw and unpolished, whichis in stark contrast to the Breakfast

(41:19):
Club, which is I think kind of amasterpiece of writing for Hughes.
Just a few years later, that was 85.
That was just a few years later.
I still like the peopledon't look 28 I like at all.
And I, and I know we talkabout this all the time, why?
I know it is the hairstylesto some degree and maybe the
fashion too, but they looked.

(41:42):
My age or older than me, andthey were supposed to be 28.
So yeah a lot of dance and singingnumbers that went on far too
long and for absolutely no reasonin this, just to eat up time.
Also, those stoners had a lot oftime in this movie for no reason.
That's not that funny.
I don't know, maybe it was in in 82,but just like incoherent, stoner.

(42:07):
Tropes, so there's that.
Now let's talk about someof the pros, I guess.
There was a transgender classmatethey're like going through there was
a slideshow portion and they're like,oh, and that's so and so who's now a
mother of three in such and such suburb.
And it was like, no big deal.
Which I gotta give them credit forthat because it is no big deal.

(42:27):
No one told them yet in 1982 thatthey should be outraged by this.
So if you just allow yourself toenjoy this type of movie, you might
find some, shall we say, smart, even.
Albeit outrageous components.
So even with the script that John Hugheslater disowned National Lampoon's class

(42:49):
reunion does include some genuinely smart.
Albeit blink, and you'll miss it.
Details that reflect his satirical roots.
You do have to kind of be watching for itand you'll be like, oh, you know, they're,
they're very slight, which I quite enjoy.
We talked a little bit about it, butincluding the opening credit sequence
that's designed as a yearbook.
It is a trove of hidden jokes inintroducing our characters, not just with

(43:13):
their photos, but their nicknames andtheir absurdly specific club memberships.
And ironic, most likely to accolades.
For instance, the vapid snobbishcheerleader Bunny Packard is
listed as being in the futureMothers of Children Club.
Like I just, I dunno,I found that hilarious.
Perfect slice of darkhumor that both plays on.

(43:35):
As well as subverts the typicalteen comedy stereotypes.
The film setting at the Lizzie Borden HighSchool Whom's motto is a cut above the
rest pitch black Bit of foreshadowing.
Winking wildly at the audience before theslasher parody elements fully kick in.
So that's a good point.
That can be listed in our pro column.

(43:56):
And then another small but sharpdetail involves the class nerd
Gary Nash, who's inability to beremembered by anyone is a running gag.
A nuanced piece of commentaryon how high school hierarchies
impact long-term memory.
Okay.
Even the stoners were like bestfriends in high school, but they
couldn't remember each other.
That was a running gagthroughout the movie.

(44:17):
So there are some small overlookedquips that can showcase some original
talent that I would like to creditto Hughes like that, that , those
little touches, even in a projectthat by all accounts was mishandled
after he finished the screenplay.
And there was one questionthat I, had to look up.

(44:37):
I was like, did I miss a scene?
'cause I clearly misseda lot of the movie.
But I tried to watch some clips andlook into some synopsis of this movie.
So Walter, as the killer is wearingthe dress that we see played as
his twin sister in the originalprank that's played by him.
So I was curious.

(44:58):
I'm like, okay, well, what arewe supposed to glean from this?
Right?
You know, maybe this is likesymbolic of his revenge.
Maybe this is to make us thinkthat there's actually two killers.
But I think I was overthinking thisand it's, uh, I think it turns out that
it was just supposed to be a visualgag and was not otherwise meaningful.

(45:20):
Couple bits of triviayou guys for this movie.
This is spoiler, but it's thenotable distinction that National
Lampoon's class reunion has.
It's being the first slasherfilm to offer redemption to
its psycho killer at the end.
I hadn't really considered thatbecause I'm not a connoisseur of

(45:41):
slasher films, but yeah, he's likeaccepted sort of as part of the class.
Just like everybody.
Also, like no one learnstheir lesson in this movie.
There's no, I guess as one critic put,there's no arc to these people, but
everybody is who they were in high school.
Like to a t.
So including there's likeCheryl, Walter, Walter, like,

(46:04):
all right, you're a murderer.
Like, that's okay.
You just murdered like half ofour class reunion, but whatever.
Joining our little danceat the end of this movie.
Now the setting, and we are shown thisat the beginning, so the invitation to
the class reunion has a drawing of thehigh school, the Lizzie Borden High.
And then that kind of fades into ourfirst scene of like from afar, a shot

(46:28):
from afar of an actual building that is.
That is supposed to be Lizzie BordenHigh, and it's at nighttime with clouds.
It's ominous.
There might even be thunder.
And then we get introduced, I shouldsay, to our characters at the reunion.
Well, the University ofPasadena's Pasadena College.
Oh, that's a mouthful.

(46:48):
The University of Pasadena's, PasadenaCollege of Chiropractic that plays.
Lizzie Borton High School.
So it's a real place andit looks really scary.
Like I actually really enjoyed that scenebecause it reminded me of the spooky
castle in the beginning of Scooby-Doo.
But that's a real place, I guess.
Maybe not the outside shots.

(47:10):
Maybe they meant the inside shots.
I don't know.
It doesn't matter.
Anyway, who has seen this movie,national Lampoon's class reunion?
You must tell me.
You have to write in and let me knowyour thoughts if you've seen it.
There's no more to say.
I, I mean, I couldblabber on, but I won't.
So that was NationalLampoon's class reunion.

(47:33):
It was definitely a misfire in 1982cinema, but I will be honest, even
with its flaws, it was still 10times more watchable than flubber.
Revisiting the pop culture around itmakes the stumble worth talking about.
'cause there were some great movies, greatmusic, lots of pop culture is the reason

(47:54):
that we do this with the time capsule.
So I will keep pulling on these threadsas we explore the highs, lows, and
everything in between from the past.
And hey, don't justdisappear after the credits.
Drop me an email with yourthoughts, or even better leave a
review wherever you're listening.
It really is the best way to keep the showgoing and help more retro fans find it.

(48:15):
Think of it as your ticket tothe next nostalgia trip, and
until next time, be kind, rewind.
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