This flick is hilarious to watch today. The bad outfits, the bad hair, the gratuitous nudity! It's everything a teen wanted. Sure the plot is not in Oscar contention, but this is entertaining bad TV and eye candy. There is also one (at least!) editing screw up of note: when you get your one and only overhead shot of the entire deserted island, the picture is taken from a mountain on a nearby island (or more likely the mainland). You can see branches at the bottom of the screen! Oops.
10 Reviews
Lord of the Breakfast Club Flies
udar5513 April 2022
Eight graduating seniors prepare for the party of a lifetime as they head to an island owned by the family of rich boy prom king Keith (Martin Hewitt). Trouble arises when their plane goes down in a storm and they end up stranded on a remote island. It is soon lots of bickering until some nasty drug dealers show up. This was the sophomore feature for Allan Holzman after the fun Forbidden World (1982) and that premise sounds like it should be can't miss. But it misses by miles. You know you are in trouble when it opens with the annoying fat guy character (played by Andrew J. Lederer) talking to the camera and setting up the scenario for the audience. And this guy is reaaaaaally annoying, maybe top five all-time for me (he also sporadically offers voice over narration where he pines he can't get laid). Once they land on the island things flip from boring (let's wander to get wood) to bizarre (an extended drunken spin the bottle episode) to nasty (the drug dealers trying to rape the women). The whole thing just seems sloppy and off.
🎵 I wanna be....anything you want me to be....just let me be....outta control 🎵
gridoon202410 September 2019
Fairly entertaining low-budget teen action pic, set on a deserted (almost....) island. Rather amateurishly made, but it has some surprisingly tender moments. The characters are stereotypical, but also believable. Best thing about it: the catchy title theme that is SO wonderfully mid-1980s. ** out of 4.
Group of Teenagers are stranded on island, play around, then fight smugglers to survive
Dr Indy18 May 1999
This movie stars Martin Hewitt (Endless Love) and Betsy Russell(Private School)as boyfriend and girlfriend who with a group of friends are traveling to Hewitt's father's island in the Pacific Northwest for a party after their high school graduation.The movie is slow and has a rather weak plot. Their plane crashes and leaves the kids stranded on an island. They swim, play "Games" and do what every teenager would do if they were stranded on an island with beautiful women. Then they discover that a group of smugglers are trying to kill them so they must fight them off and try to get off the island. A corny movie but if you like beautiful women and great scenery, then this movie is for you.
Thought I was streaming the wrong movie...
Cr25252 October 2022
My husband and I put on this movie after he read the plot summary about kids stranded on an island and they are confronted by drug smugglers. Interesting, we thought, so we played the movie ... And soon afterwards, I had to double check to make sure he didn't stumble across some soft-core p#rn film. For about 10 minutes straight, we watch these teens get drunk, make out (and more) and the girls undress. We got the feeling the director just wanted to see young, naked girls bouncing around for the men. Made me feel really uncomfortable. Even if these characters were suppose to be adults, that scene just made no sense. I'm not a prude, but it definitely gave the wrong vibe. I wouldn't suggest this movie to anyone, especially if you're expecting a survival story. I know they're suppose to be young, stupid teens but that scene was really uncalled for. Since it felt really out of nowhere, and again, underage characters, it made us feel uncomfortable. It could have been trimmed down to 2 minutes. Because after that, it felt really unnecessary and uncalled for. The rest of the movie is pretty bad, to be honest, but that scene made me feel really unsettled, especially as a woman.
It's okay, watchable.
bombersflyup4 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Out of Control is a simple film, reasonably suffice for what it is though. You can do certainly do a lot worse.
Has an alluring Betsy Russell and plenty of perks, didn't even recognize Sherilyn Fenn. The dialogue's not great, for what limited there is, much of that and the actions inappropriate at times. The drug smugglers are rather generic and given little wiggle room with which to standout. The five of them all dying, while all the teens safely returning home is a quite a stretch.
I wanna be, anything you want me to be. Just let me be, outta control. It's not a great song, but it is catchy. I like another song of "The Brothers Johnson," "Strawberry Letter 23."
Has an alluring Betsy Russell and plenty of perks, didn't even recognize Sherilyn Fenn. The dialogue's not great, for what limited there is, much of that and the actions inappropriate at times. The drug smugglers are rather generic and given little wiggle room with which to standout. The five of them all dying, while all the teens safely returning home is a quite a stretch.
I wanna be, anything you want me to be. Just let me be, outta control. It's not a great song, but it is catchy. I like another song of "The Brothers Johnson," "Strawberry Letter 23."
Youths stuck on an island in the Puget Sound region
Wuchakk9 December 2021
Eight high school seniors in Seattle leave the Prom and take a seaplane to a private island in order to celebrate, but they end up at a deserted isle where they may or may not bond, not to mention face serious challenges. Will they survive?
Released in 1984-1985, "Out of Control" is an obscure youth adventure that starts off like the future "The Edge" (1997), but has more in common with "April Fool's Day" (1986) since both flicks involve a group of youths on an island in (or near) Puget Sound. While there's no slasher angle to this one, there's still a serious threat to the students, which I'm not gonna give away.
A well-done spin-the-bottle sequence is reminiscent of the opening playing-in-the-mud sequence in "Village of the Giants" (1965), as well as the ensuing 'dancing giants' piece. But "Out of Control" is a serious adventure compared to that somewhat goofy flick.
What happens to the teens on the island is a microcosm of what is to come for them as adults: Fun times, unforeseen challenges, sudden death, enthusiastic partying, romances, unfaithfulness, fights, making up, unexpected evils, teamwork and survival. Sure, something happens in the last act that's thoroughly unbelievable, but "Where Eagles Dare" (1968) did the same thing and no one blinked an eye.
As far as the cast goes, Martin Hewitt (Keith) and Jim Youngs (Cowboy) are entertaining as the warring male protagonists. Meanwhile the flick is exceptional on the female front with Betsy Russell (Chrissie), Claudia Udy (Tina), Sherilyn Fenn (Katie) and Cindi Dietrich (Robin), all beautiful in their unique ways, and all tastefully caught on film in the physical prime of their lives. Both Sherilyn Fenn and Betsy Russell went on to have decent second-tier acting careers. Be sure to look for Sherilyn in "Zombie High" (1987), "Two Moon Junction" (1988) and "Of Mice and Men" (1992).
At the end of the day this is a low-budget coming-of-age drama/adventure/thriller that's thoroughly comic booky, but works for what it is because it wisely checks all the staples and doesn't overstay its welcome.
The full-length version runs about 1 hour, 28 minutes, but there's also a cut version that's around 10 minutes shorter (which I suggest avoiding). As far as the locations go, it was shot in the USA with second unit work done in Yugoslavia. I can't find any more detailed data, unfortunately.
GRADE: B-/B.
Released in 1984-1985, "Out of Control" is an obscure youth adventure that starts off like the future "The Edge" (1997), but has more in common with "April Fool's Day" (1986) since both flicks involve a group of youths on an island in (or near) Puget Sound. While there's no slasher angle to this one, there's still a serious threat to the students, which I'm not gonna give away.
A well-done spin-the-bottle sequence is reminiscent of the opening playing-in-the-mud sequence in "Village of the Giants" (1965), as well as the ensuing 'dancing giants' piece. But "Out of Control" is a serious adventure compared to that somewhat goofy flick.
What happens to the teens on the island is a microcosm of what is to come for them as adults: Fun times, unforeseen challenges, sudden death, enthusiastic partying, romances, unfaithfulness, fights, making up, unexpected evils, teamwork and survival. Sure, something happens in the last act that's thoroughly unbelievable, but "Where Eagles Dare" (1968) did the same thing and no one blinked an eye.
As far as the cast goes, Martin Hewitt (Keith) and Jim Youngs (Cowboy) are entertaining as the warring male protagonists. Meanwhile the flick is exceptional on the female front with Betsy Russell (Chrissie), Claudia Udy (Tina), Sherilyn Fenn (Katie) and Cindi Dietrich (Robin), all beautiful in their unique ways, and all tastefully caught on film in the physical prime of their lives. Both Sherilyn Fenn and Betsy Russell went on to have decent second-tier acting careers. Be sure to look for Sherilyn in "Zombie High" (1987), "Two Moon Junction" (1988) and "Of Mice and Men" (1992).
At the end of the day this is a low-budget coming-of-age drama/adventure/thriller that's thoroughly comic booky, but works for what it is because it wisely checks all the staples and doesn't overstay its welcome.
The full-length version runs about 1 hour, 28 minutes, but there's also a cut version that's around 10 minutes shorter (which I suggest avoiding). As far as the locations go, it was shot in the USA with second unit work done in Yugoslavia. I can't find any more detailed data, unfortunately.
GRADE: B-/B.
hey is it out on tape or DVD still
wiskerskitty889 January 2007
hello , to whom it may concern , i would like to get this movie to own , but i am not sure if it is available to own on DVD or VHS ... i love this movie and i would love to know how to get it at a price that is not to out there . if you know what i mean .. well anyway i love the hair styles and the clothes and all the actor's and actresses they are all great i love Jim Youngs he is my favorite well any way hope someone can answer my question .. wiskerskitty88@yahoo.com if you can answer me i would love it thanks. and i love this movie i am a big fan of Jim Youngs and i use to watch this movie everyday all day the minute i woke up till i went to sleep , sometimes i would stay up all night watching it because i loved it so much thanks again
Pretty bad
Wizard-821 March 2002
There's a germ of a good exploitive drive-in movie here - teenagers stranded on an island getting into sex games, then fighting drug smugglers who arrive and threaten to kill them. It might have worked had it not all been presented in such a dull and unimaginative way - as well as if the teenagers were a likeable bunch that we cared about. It doesn't help that the movie was severely cut up before its release (look at the running time), with a narrative device added to explain things that not only doesn't explain much, but is pretty annoying.
A dose of "nausea-stalgia" from the Reagan era
lazarillo1 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
If you ever have trouble locating any of these Reagan-era teen comedies, it's probably because they're on permanent reserve for regular showings in the Ninth Circle of Hell! Nevertheless, this one is somewhat unusual in that, while it certainly is an exploitation flick rather than any kind of serious film, it doesn't really fall into the typical categories like teen slasher movies, teen sex comedies, etc. It actually starts out in an interesting way with private plane full of wealthy prep school kids crashing onto a deserted island on their way to an after prom party. It looks for awhile like it's going to be an adolescent version of "Lord of the Flies" with sex and girls (an excellent idea that oddly enough has never been done--although the Japanese film "Battle Royale" came close). Primitive savagery rears its head briefly and things threaten to spin wildly out of control during a primitive, ritualistic game of "strip spin-the-bottle". But then a bunch of idiot drug smugglers show up(played by be-stubbled, pony-tailed actors who look like they got ejected from a casting call for "Miami Vice" for being too unconvincing). At which point the movie turns into a really stupid sub-sub "Rambo" 80's action movie (Oh, the humanity!)
In keeping with its general schizoid nature, the female cast of this movie is excellent, including Betsy Russell (pant!), Claudia Udy (drool!), and a young Sherilyn Fenn (slobber!). Russell and Udy have memorable nude scenes, and Fenn easily wins her own private wet t-shirt contest during an early swimming-in-the-lagoon scene. The male cast, however, is insufferable. The narrator (who talks right to camera)is a fat, bespectacled, and above all, incredibly annoying loser. He's kind of like "Piggy" in "Lord of the Flies" except that unfortunately no one bashes his head in with a rock. He even gets laid by a very decent-looking girl before it's all over (if you've ever seen any of the movies like this, you know that's NOT a spoiler). Then there's a pretty-boy "rebel" who's named "Cowboy" even though he doesn't look like he'd know one end of a horse from the other (he does get to know one end of both Betsy Russell and Claudia Udy from the other though). Perhaps, worst of all though, is the prom king character, played by none other than Martin "Endless Love" Hewitt (Aiiiiggggggggggggh!!!!)
I don't if all this adds up to a recommendation or not, but as far as these "nausea-stalgic" Reagan-era teen movies go, you could a lot worse I guess.
In keeping with its general schizoid nature, the female cast of this movie is excellent, including Betsy Russell (pant!), Claudia Udy (drool!), and a young Sherilyn Fenn (slobber!). Russell and Udy have memorable nude scenes, and Fenn easily wins her own private wet t-shirt contest during an early swimming-in-the-lagoon scene. The male cast, however, is insufferable. The narrator (who talks right to camera)is a fat, bespectacled, and above all, incredibly annoying loser. He's kind of like "Piggy" in "Lord of the Flies" except that unfortunately no one bashes his head in with a rock. He even gets laid by a very decent-looking girl before it's all over (if you've ever seen any of the movies like this, you know that's NOT a spoiler). Then there's a pretty-boy "rebel" who's named "Cowboy" even though he doesn't look like he'd know one end of a horse from the other (he does get to know one end of both Betsy Russell and Claudia Udy from the other though). Perhaps, worst of all though, is the prom king character, played by none other than Martin "Endless Love" Hewitt (Aiiiiggggggggggggh!!!!)
I don't if all this adds up to a recommendation or not, but as far as these "nausea-stalgic" Reagan-era teen movies go, you could a lot worse I guess.
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