Zapped!

Director - Robert J. Rosenthal (Malibu Beach)
Starring - Scott Baio (Arrested Development), Willie Aames (Dungeons and Dragons), and Robert Mandan (Married with Children)
Release Date - 1982
Genre - Sci-Fi/Comedy
Tagline - "They're getting a little behind in their classwork"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in middle school a friend of mine went with me to K-Mart in Virginia.  It took us almost an hour and a half to get there but we went to find some new VHS to watch.  I grabbed Halkbaked, Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke, Bones (the Snoop Dogg flick), and Porky's.  This started a kick on 70s and 80s raunchy teenager comedies.  After we watched these a dozen or so times we ventured out to the video store where we rented several more films like Porky's.  After we did this for several weeks the owner of the video store told me I needed to check out the Scott Baio flick Zapped.  He talked about it for several minutes and had us hooked on it before he was through.  He then broke our hearts by telling us that his copy in the store was never returned and he was unable to replace it.  I went years trying to see this film and was unable to do so.  That changed when Olive Films released the movie on blu.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to hook me up with a copy.  Thanks guys.
     The film follows Barney Springboro (Baio) who is an aspiring scientist with big dreams for his future.  He has been working on a growth serum and secretly injecting it into marijuana.  He extracts the THC from the plants and give it to some lab mice and one of them starts to gain the power of telekinesis.  There is a small accident in his lab and he develops the same powers.  Now his world have been turned upside down and he starts to use his powers on those that have wronged him during his time in high school.  His friend, Peyton (Aames), uses his power for personal gain but soon Barney wises up to it and uses the power to get the girl that he did not know he wanted.
     I had heard a lot of things about Zapped!.  Some said it was sleazy, others said it was funny, while others said it was better than Porky's.  I'll be completely honest, I wouldn't call it sleazy and is not better than Porky's.  However, it is funny.  The acting in this one is fun but far from amazing.  I was never really a fan of Scott Baio but the character is so well written and cliched that anyone could have made it work.  In fact, I would have loved to see Michael J. Fox in the role instead.  The remainder of the cast is just as solid but I was expecting some knock out performances from such a highly recommended film.  The story for this one is fun and slightly cliched.  There has been several raunchy teen comedies in the past following a teen who has inherited an ability or gained one by accident and went on a wild and crazy ride.  This is most notably famous in the 1985 flick Teen Wolf but this film did pre-date that release by 3 years.  The story pulls the viewer in and holds their attention very well.  It has some laughs and some very well written characters that people love.  With that being said, the ending is rubbish.  The film just ends.  We get no character resolution or closure.  It feels like the writers behind the flick got lazy or just left the project and the director just took what he had.  Finally, the film has some great laughs and several raunchy moments.  The laughs are plentiful and the boobs are few.  Sleazy, not really but far from rated PG.  Overall, Zapped! is a fun trip back to 80s comedies but not as amazing as I was told.  Fun it is but far from the other greats of that time.  Check it out just don't expect a masterpiece.