Top 5: Frat Films

Staying in tonight? Senior Film Critic HARRY SHUKMAN picks the best of films about university. WARNING: these films may not actually emulate your experiences of uni.

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Disappointed by Freshers’ Week? Is Cambridge’s nightlife too boring for you? Are lectures getting on top of you already? Don’t worry, we’ve put together a list of the best American Frat boy movies to help you forget your pains, because after all, those college kids really know how to party. Hello procrastination, goodbye essay deadline.

5. ROAD TRIP (2000)

Ever filmed yourself shagging another girl on videotape then accidentally sent it to your long-distance girlfriend at a faraway university? Then tried to race ahead of the post trying to intercept the tape before she sees it? And having all kinds of hilarious yet life-changing experiences on the way? Really? Then this isn’t the film for you. For everyone else, it’s classic college humour. It features Sean William-Scott as essentially Stiffler, but he’s not called Stiffler.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zU5eL3HCq0

4. HOW HIGH (2001)

This inspired stoner-flick rivals Harold and Kumar in feats of ridiculousness. Rappers Method Man and Redman are two loveable herbalists who are trying to make their own way in the world. Luckily (maybe) for them, they smoke the ashes of their dead friend who reappears as a ghost. Naturally, their new found spirit guide helps them cheat their way into Harvard, attend botany classes, make truth serum, and find Benjamin Franklin’s bong. It makes total sense.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN9MScUbMng

3. REVENGE OF THE NERDS (1984)

‘The odd get even’ as nerds fight jocks in this little-known cult comedy. The only claim to fame this film has is that one of the main nerds later starred as Lizzie McGuire’s dad. That’s it. But if you want to witness the brutal yet brilliant natural selection of American frat house life, look no further. The nerds in the Lambda Lambda Lambda house fight the Alpha Beta jocks for college supremacy, aided by the Omega Mu house of fat chicks. Also, watch out for the sequels: Nerds in Paradise, The Next Generation, and Nerds in Love.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw6zrInbtQE

2. OLD SCHOOL (2003)

It’s never really made clear in this film why, but three middle-aged men decide to open a frat house of their own. Luke Wilson, playing Owen Wilson, is the unfortunate grey-suited, former party-loving briefcase wanker, who picks up his rusty beer bong after finding his wife moments away from being double-teamed. Understandable. Vince Vaughan and Will Ferrell, as Vince Vaughan and Will Ferrell, also arrive to help out their old buddy, proving along the way that trust can be earned by tying a cinder block to the end of your cock and dropping it over a high ledge.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcy-HoCab60&feature=related

1. ANIMAL HOUSE (1978)

You knew it was coming. It had to be number one. The granddaddy of all frat comedy. The original, first, and best: ANIMAL HOUSE. We wouldn’t have toga parties, motorbiking up stairs, hazing initiations, Jon Belushi’s fat drunken idiot Bluto or cool jazzed-up group ensembles of Twist and Shout without it. Very little happens in this film other than getting lashed, laid, and laying waste to rival fraternities. You can take comfort from the idea that there probably are students, somewhere far away from Cambridge living this lifestyle. Meanwhile, you should probably get back to work.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u48PvBTl3u8