Oregon daily emerald., June 27, 1978, Page 3, Image 3

‘Animal House’ premieres in Portland
‘A moosehead with a
ski pole up its nostril’
By JOCK HATFIELD
Of the Emerald
There may be no point in re
viewing Animal House, which pre
viewed in Portland Saturday night.
Good or bad, everyone in Eugene
is bound to go see it anyway, if
only to shout yippie every time a
piece of Eugene or a friend or the
campus appears on the screen.
Universal filmed Animal House
here last fall. The local media, hav
ing nothing better to do, covered it
religiously. The crew hired 4,623
extras, mostly from this area. Film
ing took place all over campus, in
some Eugene locations and on
top of Skinner’s butte. The Univ
ersal crew was a pretentious lot.
They look better on film than in
person.
During the filming the press
person, a scrambled egg named
Saul Kahn, tried to give the impres
sion through Eugene papers that
Animal House was a clean-cut,
wholesome movie. But in spite of
Kahn, Director John Landis stuck
in plenty of tits, “eat me's” and
dildoes.
As a movie, Animal House is
heavy-handed, tasteless and ir
reverent — well worth seeing. It
has some great racial siurs and
several top sex jokes.
It tells the story of a fraternity
that owns, among other things, a
moosehead with a ski pole up its
nostril, a screw room and a mer
maid with goldfish bowls for
gazongas. This fraternity rebels
against this and that and has an
existentialist’s good time of it.
The movie has its high points:
for example when Otter, a frat
member, goes to pick up a blind
date and discovers she was killed
in pottery class when her kiln blew
up. Hee, hee, hee. Or when the
horse dies in the Dean’s office and
has to be cut up with a chain saw.
Animal House is a walk down nos
talgia lane.
The University does a great job
of playing the pretentious, over
rated Faber college. It’s easy to
see why they selected us.
The characters of Animal
House are wonderfully flat.
John Belushi does a fine job of
hopping around and contorting his
face.
Tim Matheson, of Walt Disney
fame, is revolting as Otter.
Donald Sutherland, as a pro
fessor, is blah.
Doug Kenney, who also helped
write the Animal House script,
gives an inspired performance of
the brain damaged stork. He was
made for the role.
Steve First, as Flounder, was
my favorite. I identify with Floun
der. My only regret is that the
scene where he tells about the
dog he once flushed down the
toilet, Fluffy, was cut.
Cottage Grove‘residents did a
good job of running amok in the
parade scene, but they had too
much fun doing it. In one scene
where they are supposed to be
fleeing in terror from a death
mobile, several of them are crack
ing up.
The Portland theater hosting
the preview showed American
Graffiti first. This was a wise
move. It makes Animal House
look good in comparison. Animal
House is supposed to be a satire
on nostalgic 60s movies. If it were
shown with The Omen, audiences
might get the wrong idea.
The Portland audience, com
posed mostly of extras, laughed in
all the right spots and gave the
movie rousing recommendations.
Animal House will open in Eugene
on August 26. Extras hoping to
find themselves in the movie are
advised to bring a magnifying
glass and tweezers.
The Animal House crew puts the finishing touches on the demolition of the “Delta " fraternity, one of the sites
of the National Lampoon movie. Filmed in Eugene and Cottage Grove late last fall, Animal House will open
here August 26.
lillif*111,1'- --
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