Hey! Ho! Let's Go!

Gimme gimme shock treatment, or The Ramones on the big screen

Comments (0) By Shannon Sutlief Thursday, Dec 4 2003

It's every rocker girl's wet dream: She meets her beloved rock star, gives him the songs she wrote for him, sings one with him and becomes an honorary member of the band. Too bad it only happens in fantasies...and movies. Because Elvis Costello totally needs a girl Attraction, er, female band member. Luckily, we get to live vicariously through Rock 'n' Roll High School as Vince Lombardi High School student Riff Randell meets--and is initiated as a member of--The Ramones.

Details

Rock 'n' Roll High School plays at midnight Friday and Saturday at the Inwood Theatre, 5458 W. Lovers Lane. Tickets are $7.50. Call 214-674-9106.

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But it's not just luck and perky, uh, ponytails that do it for Riff. She has to work hard (skip school three days to stand in line for tickets), be a dedicated fan (win tickets in a trivia contest after her evil principal Miss Togar confiscates her first pair), battle an evil groupie named Angel Dust, evade Togar's henchmen/hall monitors, watch out for exploding white mice (they combust when subjected to rock music, especially by The Ramones) and blow up her school with her bandmates' help. And, no, it didn't win an Oscar.

This 1979 destined-to-be-a-cult-classic film also includes campy sex and drug jokes ("The only thing I'll ever lay is a rug," whines the horny quarterback), a love pentagon (Kate likes Tom who likes Riff who likes Joey who likes pizza) and more goofy lines than The Ramones have black high-top Converses, ripped jeans and black leather jackets combined. But one of the then-cheesiest lines is when the classic music teacher-cum-rock 'n' roller says, "People say that your music is loud and destructive and lethal to mice, but I think you're the Beethovens of our time." Thirty-four years later, the line hits home. You can't swing an explosive albino rodent without hitting a rock band that counts The Ramones among its influences.