surf schools 5

DVD Review: Surf School
DVD Reviews

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 24, 2007, 12:54 GMT
This sexy teen comedy set in Costa Rica finds a group of high school outsiders determined to crash a surf contest and pull off the ultimate underdog victory. But first they must learn their lessons at a '60s-style, tropical commune, run by two former hippy radicals, and learn to surf from a delusional ex-surf pro.

This sexy teen comedy set in Costa Rica finds a group of high school outsiders determined to crash a surf contest and pull off the ultimate underdog victory. But first they must learn their lessons at a '60s-style, tropical commune, run by two former hippy radicals, and learn to surf from a delusional ex-surf pro. ...more

Sometimes having a film hidden away in the vault can be a good thing when the movie is a dog. This throwback to ‘80s direct to video cinema should’ve been confined in Al Capone’s vault.

What the back of the box says:
“This sexy teen comedy in Costa Rica finds a group of high school outsiders determined to crash a surf contest and pull off the ultimate underdog victory. But first they must learn their lessons at a ‘60s-style, tropical commune run by two former hippy radicals, and learn to surf from Rip (Harland Williams), a delusional ex-surf pro.”

This flick has been sitting in the vaults since 2006, and probably should’ve still continued to sit. The plot description sounds like something that might’ve worked in 1985 but must’ve seemed really bad to 2007 audiences. Now you can imagine what is made of it now that it’s been released onto an unsuspecting world.

A group of losers are told that they cannot go on the senior trip to Costa Rica because they’re not “cool” enough. So they decide to go down a week in advance and learn some surfing skills and clean the “cool” kids’ clocks in the big surfing contest that those kids have won several years in a row. First we have the buff lacrosse playing jock (Corey Sevier), the virgin Larry (Lee Norris), the equally unpopular rapper Mo (Sisqo), the Goth chick Doris (Laura Bell Bundy), and the eternally horny Taz (Miko Hughes). They head for Costa Rica to the burnt out Rip’s (Harland Williams) surf school to learn the ways of the waves.

They get accommodations in the ‘60s-style commune of Boris (Taylor Negron, who also shamefully serves as an executive producer) and Earth mother Tilly (Diane Delano) who have a hard time keeping their hands off of one another and it’s not too pretty. There are some nice babes, a trio of blondes with hideous Swedish accents, for us to ogle. Since this is the unrated version I imagine that there breast bearing was kept to a minimum in the theatrical version.

Unfortunately, there’s not enough of it to even warrant a rental. It’s cancelled out by the crappy plot and acting. Harland Williams is the main offender since his attempts at comedy in the role of Rip only come off as extremely unfunny. I’ll not even go into the flamboyantly gay host of the surfing contest - the less said the better.

Surf School is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. There are no special features, but since the film isn’t exactly special its about what you’d expect.

Surf School reminds the viewer of something that might’ve shown up on VHS in the rental store around 1985. The unrated moniker and pictures of babes on the cover coaxing kids to rent it. It might’ve been good for a cheap thrill in ’85, but today it’s an unfunny mess. I’d stay away if I were you. Go rent American Pie instead.

Surf School is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.