Director – Jonathan R. Betuel (Theodore Rex, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Starring – John Stockwell (Top Gun), Danielle von Zerneck (Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare), and Fisher Stevens (Super Mario Bros., Short Circuit)
Release Date – 1985
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline(s) – “The funniest sci-fi movie of the summer.” and “We must not destroy the world.”
By now most of you have probably noticed that my love for horror knows no bounds. I would watch the shittiest horror film over any award winning romantic comedy. With that being said, I am an 80s pop culture junkie. I am very passionate about movies from the 80s and if you throw an 80s horror flick at me then prepare to see a boner. My collection may consist mostly of horror but I have a fair amount of other genres from the 80s that I still buy when I can which leads me into my next review.
During the summer I was out at the Wal-Mart near where I work and decided to take a look around on my lunch break to see what I could find. When I got to the electronics department I saw a sign for $3 DVDs. I looked through them all and surprisingly found a few flicks to add to my collection. I was able to find a Spaced Invaders/Kazaam double feature along with a Just Visiting/My Science Project double feature. I grabbed them both and brought them home to forget about on my shelf while I reviewed films that were mostly sent to me. Now that I am (almost) caught up I decided it was time to do another Trashploitation and watch My Science Project for the first time!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows motor-head Michael (Stockwell) as he stuggles with his grades in school because he would rather devote his attention and time to cars and women (hell, who doesn’t?). Now, as the school year winds down, he has one last chance to pass science class. He teams up with his dimwitted friend, Vince (Stevens), and the sexy but nerdy Ellie (Zerneck) to find the perfect science project.
Michael and Ellie break into a military compound and discover technology that was found on a crashed U.F.O. in 1957. Michael steals it to use as his science project and quickly realizes what it does when he accidentally sets it off. He then turns to his science teacher who discovers that it sends matter from one plain of existence into another and he teleports himself somewhere in time. Things go from strange to bat shit crazy quickly when aliens sporting laser rifles, dinosaurs, and military personal arrive at the school.**Spoiler Alert**
After watching this film I was a little shocked that I had never heard of it before I found it on DVD that day. This movie was actually pretty damn entertaining. It had all the things I love about 80s horror flicks. It had the cheesy visual effects, the styles of the times, and the synthesized soundtracks that make films from the 80s so enjoyable and impressionable. However, it still baffled me that I have never heard mention of this film anywhere before.
So I did a little digging and once I found out I felt like a fucking idiot. The film was released in 1985 and had to compete with with films that are held in a lot higher regards and many of which are now deemed classics. Films like Back to the Future, The Goonies, Rocky IV, and Rambo: First Blood II. So as you can see this film, regardless of how good it is, had a snowball’s chance in hell of being recognized.
The acting in this one is great. In fact, the entire cast made their characters feel oddly similar to some of those in the 1982 classic Porky’s. I love the character development in Porky’s and this one is just as good. The story is your average teens fucking off and then trying to save their ass 80s flick. However, that may have added to this film becoming severely overlooked. The 80s were known for their teen sex romp comedies and unless your Teen Wolf if you did not follow that formula you got skipped. With that being said, this film would not have worked if it tried to be Weird Science or Porky’s. Those films rely on sex jokes while this film relies on the story which is actually a good thing.
Finally, the jokes are not that funny. Instead, the film uses a crazy ass story and cheesy effects to pull the viewer in. Overall, My Science Project is a solid 80s flick that got swept under the rug because it was released at the wrong time. If you ever get the chance to see this one please do so.
