I was recently complaining about the National Lampoon's series and how they do just about everything wrong within the teen-sex genre. And even though they left the original gang of Jim, Oz, Finch and Stifler behind three films ago, the American Pie series has done surprisingly well. I seriously had my doubts when they went to Band Camp, but it turned out to be a fairly funny flick, especially considering its straight-to-DVD source; the kid playing Stifler's little brother, was particularly funny. The second sequel, The Naked Mile, wasn't very good, but it had a couple of redeeming moments. I rented Beta House, because Adam & Eve left such a bad taste in my mouth. And well, in all honestly, I'll watch almost anything that involves the mix of comedy and boobs.

And sadly, Beta House, is probably the best of its type over the last year or so. I say sadly, because it's really not a very good film. It's passably funny, but makes up for it with a lot of naked flesh. So much so, that while I was watching this with my wife, I began to feel guilty, and she doesn't care about that sort of thing. So yeah, if you enjoy hot naked girls, this is a good film for you perverts out there.

The film involves the cast of characters from The Naked Mile. Erik Stifler, a cousin of the original Stifler, and one who embarrasses the family name by not being an obnoxious lout, was only visiting college in Mile, is now a college freshman. Character actor Christopher McDonald, who always seems to show up in these sort of films, has a funny bit as Erik's dad, even challenging Erik to have sex with as many girls as he did in college. Within seconds of meeting his roommate, Erik is awkwardly pulled into a three-way with his roommate and girlfriend, who the dad then proudly walks in on.

A few minutes after that, Erik uses the bathroom, which is coed of course, he meets-cute a girl who is taking a shower, while another completely naked girl walks unabashedly out of her shower. (I wish I'd lived in these dorms!) And we haven't even got to the frat party yet, run by another Stifler cousin, Dwight, also from Mile, who is much more like the original Stifler, only more suave, as the girls actually fall for his charms. More boob flashing and then some puking ensues.

The film gets completely unoriginal for the next half. When they decide to rip-off the greatest teen-sex comedy of all time, Revenge of the Nerds. The only twist being that the nerds are now the bad guys. Their college has a time honored, yet banned, tradition of putting on a Frat Olympics; with games like beer chugging and bra snapping. They make an agreement, that the losing frat must leave the college. Eugene Levy, the only character in all six American Pie films, shows up as a former frat-house legend and serves duty as the master of ceremonies. Obviously we all know who wins, the guys get the girls, more boobs are shown, and our intelligence isn't too badly damaged.

Where Adam & Eve got everything wrong, swerving terribly from chick-flick to guy comedy, Beta House does it mostly right. It starts as a guy comedy and stays a guy comedy. And while they share the same kind of juvenile humor, Beta House pulls off the same jokes so they're at least half-way funny. It's nowhere near a comedy classic, I won't ever bother to rent it again, but if I came across it on cable I'd probably give it a few minutes. If you're desperate for comedy and/or naked girls, you could do worse. - Grade: C+

Before Porky's was a huge success and the 1980's were full of teenage sex comedies, there was 1977's The Chicken Chronicles. Steve Guttenberg stars in his first major role; right from the start you can see some of the charisma that made him a major star for much of the 80's.

The film pretty much set the standard for the teen-sex comedy plot. It's about a virgin trying to lose it with one of the hottest girls in school. It's fairly tame compared to the films that followed; with minimal swearing and no nudity, but they aren't shy about the use of marijuana. You could probably call it one of the first pot comedies as well; it proceeded Up In Smoke by a year.


The film is fairly funny, nothing gut busting; but of course I've seen most of these jokes a thousand times, it probably felt fresh at the time. Guttenberg does a good job carrying the film, he's in almost every scene. His buddy played by Branscombe Richmond, is good as his partner-in-crime. But Gino Baffo, who was only in three films in his career, steals the show as his wise-ass little brother. The film climaxes at the big end of the school year party, and Guttenberg of course ends up with the "plain looking" girl that he's been friends with throughout the film.


Update: You can now watch the entire film on YouTube