SKATETOWN USA (1979)
Skatetown USA (1979. Dir: William Levey)
Here's one that totally bypassed dvd and just went right from VHS to its new blu-ray edition out this month! I often say that Roller Boogie (1979), Xanadu (1980), and Can't Stop The Music (1980) are the perfect 1970s roller disco trilogy because they were all made within a calendar year of each other, and all basically feel like they're made by the same person for the exact same audience -- 15-year-olds who adore roller disco.
Well you can add another title to that short list and make it a quadroligy, because Skatetown USA (1979) is not only a worthy entry to the list, it's perhaps the most colourful, glittering, neon-soaked, disco-fuelled example of this tiny disrespected sub-genre! Is it a great movie? Well, let's not go THAT far! Haha it's a movie, let's just say that. A really easy-to-watch movie. This truly is cinematic junk food.
This is Patrick Swayze's film debut, and he plays the bad guy who dresses in leather and does S+M themed roller skating routines that involve whipping a belt around and acting haughty. Horshack (Ron Palillo) from Welcome Back Kotter plays his leather-clad henchman, and we've also got Playboy legend Dorothy Stratten as a girl who can't seem to get her pizza, teen heart throb Scott Biao in his first starring role, Flip Wilson as the host/owner of the venue, Billy Barty as a rollerskating midget, Vic Dunlop as a fat snack-bar guy that eats hotdogs continuously and accidentally puts drugs in everyone's pizza. Then there are appearances by Murray Langston (the Unknown comic) as a drunk guy, a disco wizard who casts spells and also works as the DJ for the club, Maureen McCormick from the Brady Bunch as a teenage slut, and adorable Young and the Restless star Katherine Kelly Lang in her debut as a reason for my engorged penis to watch.
The whole movie is virtually plotless, and yet that doesn't seem to matter somehow with all the music performances (I didn't even mention all the bands that show up and perform their hits), crazy costumes, and the incredible roller rink location decked out the way it is. Yeah, the gaudy production design is the real star here. This is eye-popping 1970s eye candy! Who needs a plot? Not this Boug!
The Hollywood Palladium (at 6215 Sunset Blvd) was the actual interior filming location, but the disco was based on Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, which is where the film had its cocaine-fueled premiere. Speaking of which, in her book "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady", Maureen McCormick wrote that "Like a disco, there was a lot of cocaine being done on the set. Many people were open about it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiwtTwJkcrM
Here's one that totally bypassed dvd and just went right from VHS to its new blu-ray edition out this month! I often say that Roller Boogie (1979), Xanadu (1980), and Can't Stop The Music (1980) are the perfect 1970s roller disco trilogy because they were all made within a calendar year of each other, and all basically feel like they're made by the same person for the exact same audience -- 15-year-olds who adore roller disco.
Well you can add another title to that short list and make it a quadroligy, because Skatetown USA (1979) is not only a worthy entry to the list, it's perhaps the most colourful, glittering, neon-soaked, disco-fuelled example of this tiny disrespected sub-genre! Is it a great movie? Well, let's not go THAT far! Haha it's a movie, let's just say that. A really easy-to-watch movie. This truly is cinematic junk food.
This is Patrick Swayze's film debut, and he plays the bad guy who dresses in leather and does S+M themed roller skating routines that involve whipping a belt around and acting haughty. Horshack (Ron Palillo) from Welcome Back Kotter plays his leather-clad henchman, and we've also got Playboy legend Dorothy Stratten as a girl who can't seem to get her pizza, teen heart throb Scott Biao in his first starring role, Flip Wilson as the host/owner of the venue, Billy Barty as a rollerskating midget, Vic Dunlop as a fat snack-bar guy that eats hotdogs continuously and accidentally puts drugs in everyone's pizza. Then there are appearances by Murray Langston (the Unknown comic) as a drunk guy, a disco wizard who casts spells and also works as the DJ for the club, Maureen McCormick from the Brady Bunch as a teenage slut, and adorable Young and the Restless star Katherine Kelly Lang in her debut as a reason for my engorged penis to watch.
The whole movie is virtually plotless, and yet that doesn't seem to matter somehow with all the music performances (I didn't even mention all the bands that show up and perform their hits), crazy costumes, and the incredible roller rink location decked out the way it is. Yeah, the gaudy production design is the real star here. This is eye-popping 1970s eye candy! Who needs a plot? Not this Boug!
The Hollywood Palladium (at 6215 Sunset Blvd) was the actual interior filming location, but the disco was based on Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, which is where the film had its cocaine-fueled premiere. Speaking of which, in her book "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady", Maureen McCormick wrote that "Like a disco, there was a lot of cocaine being done on the set. Many people were open about it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiwtTwJkcrM