Porky's Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Porky's Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 10, 2014

Bob Clark's Porky's arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; audio commentary and archival video interview with the late American director; and video interview with Mr. Skin. The release also arrives with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe, creator of the Canuxploitation website, and a previously unpublished interview with director Bob Clark conducted by Calum Waddell, illustrated with archive stills. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Has anybody seen Mike Hunt here?"

Set in Florida in 1954, the film follows closely a group of high school friends from the tiny town of Angel Beach where everyone seems obsessed with sex. There is a good reason why -- excluding the perpetually grumpy Mrs. Balbricker, the women in Angel Beach are unbelievably attractive.

The friends are on a mission to help the last virgin amongst them get laid. His name is Pee Wee (Dan Monahan, Porky's II: The Next Day, Porky's Revenge) and he is so eager to become a real man that he can’t stop making a fool of himself. Almost daily the friends come up with brilliant ideas that should help Pee Wee experience sexual bliss, but somehow he always makes a crucial mistake and the ‘target’ runs away.

The friends eventually decide to visit Porky’s, a popular night club located in a neighboring county. The place is run by a big fat redneck (Chuck Mitchell, Frightmare, Better Off Dead) that lets his dancers entertain certain visitors in a big dark room in the back of the club. When the friends attempt to book a few of his girls, he humiliates them and things get real messy.

Bob Clark’s teen comedy is essentially a large collection of uneven episodes in which horny boys see beautiful girls as sexual objects and act as if they have swallowed an exotic drug that makes it very difficult for them not to look like buffoons. A few could be funny, especially the more explicit ones, but most are rather painful to watch.

In addition to offering all sorts of average sex jokes, the film attempts to produce a few serious observations about prejudice and racism that make everyone look even more suspicious. The anti-Semitic overtones, in particular, are very badly mismanaged and the character transformations they are linked to look utterly unbelievable.

The film’s most famous scene features a group of naked girls in a shower room who accidentally discover that they are watched by the horny Pee Wee and a couple of his friends. Back in the early ‘80s, the footage was ‘groundbreaking’ because the naked girls spent more time in front of the camera than most people would have expected.

Arguably the most arousing scene -- at least according to a number of my friends who love this film -- is with a very young and very enthusiastic Kim Cattrall who makes love to a horny coach in a tiny room full of dirty laundry. (Cattrall’s first nude scene was in Clark’s film).

Porky’s was lensed by cinematographer Reginald H. Morris, who worked on a number of films with director Clark, including Porky’s II: The Next Day, Black Christmas, Murder by Decree, and Loose Cannons.

The film’s soundtrack features classic tracks by Joni James (“Why Don’t You Believe Me”), Hank Williams (“Lovesick Blues”, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”), Patti Page (“Mockingbird”), The Platters (“Only You”), Eddie Fisher (“Anytime”), and Chuck Berry (“Maybelline”).

Porky's Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bob Clark's Porky's arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video.

The high-definition transfer is not identical to the one Twentieth Century Fox used for their Blu-ray release of Porky's in the U.S. The most significant discrepancy is in the area of color reproduction. On the U.S. release there is a prominent brownish/teal push which appears to have destabilized reds, blues, and greens; here there is a better range of balanced reds, blues, greens, and browns (compare screencaptures #1 and 2 with screencaptures #18 and 25). However, shadow definition is more convincing on the U.S. release. During daytime and nighttime sequences grain is also better resolved on the U.S. release. Generally speaking, depth and clarity are quite pleasing. Also, there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Overall image stability is good. Finally, there are no large cuts, debris, damage marks, or warps, but there are a few tiny flecks that pop up here and there. All in all, I like the color scheme of Arrow's transfer better, but I prefer the crisper look of Fox's transfer. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Porky's Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Arrow Video have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Depth and clarity are very pleasing. However, dynamic intensity is fairly modest (see the destruction of Porky's). But such is the film's original sound design -- organic sounds are noises are left unmanipulated. The dialog is clean, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no problematic pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Porky's Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Porky's
  2. Porky's II: The Next Day
  3. Porky's Revenge

• Skin Classic - in this video piece, Mr. Skin from MrSkin.com quickly explains what makes Porky's a unique film and how it affected the teen sex comedy genre in the early '80s. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Porky's Through the Peephole - in this video piece, director/writer/producer Bob Clark recalls how Porky's came to exist and discusses its production history and success. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Commentary - this audio commentary with director/writer/producer Bob Clark also appears on Twentieth Century Fox's Blu-ray release of Porky's. The commentary focuses on the film's unusual production history, the shooting process, and the film's success and cult status.

• Booklet - booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe, creator of the Canuxploitation website, and a previously unpublished interview with director Bob Clark conducted by Calum Waddell, illustrated with archive stills.

Porky's Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bob Clark's Porky's is one of a few teen sex comedies from the early '80s that I do not enjoy. I find it too shallow and artificial, lacking the naivety and sincerity that make George Bowers My Tutor and Boaz Davidson's The Last American Virgin so fascinating to behold. If you are planning to add Porky's to your collection, read carefully the two reviews we have for the U.S. and UK releases as they use very different transfers.