"Giving nature a bad name"
Three best girlfriends Marsha (Isabelle Mejias), Eve (Kim Myers) and Linnie (Jennifer Inch), set off in their convertible to Weewankah State Park in search of fun, adventure and romance before college starts up in the fall. On a rest-stop during their journey to L.A. are musicians Johnny (Peter Virgile) and Louis (Louis Tucci), two heavy-metallers who sport more studs than all the dog collars in a pet store and more make-up than the three girls put together. The sight of the boys does little to impress Marsha who is of the opinion that any and all "disgusting, lowlife" heavy metallers should be banned from the park.
Meanwhile, crooked developer Mr Rancewell is securing his plans to demolish the park and turn the site into a pesticide factory - something easier said than done thanks to the notorious Weewankah Willy, a mysterious unknown in a bear suit who does all that he can to ransack Rancewell's project.
As the girls settle in (with difficulty), Eve, whose parents have recently been declared bankrupt, signs up for the camp Wilderness Challenge in the hope of walking away with the five thousand dollar prize money to put towards a scholarship. She is disheartened to learn that the orienteering class is full - a class she needed to take if she has any chance of winning the grand prize. Consequently, she and the girls ask for help from Trailor, a kid who works in the park's tuck shop and lives on the land adjacent to Weewankah. He suggests Eve asks his brother Truckie (James Wilder), something of an orienteering expert, but Truckie refuses on the grounds that he has more important things to deal with - like Mr Rancewell. However, Eve is able to swiftly change his mind when she threatens to reveal the secret that is keeping Rancewell from his precious pesticide plant: Truckie is Weewankah Willy. With no parents around, Trailor and Truckie rely on their jobs at the park to get by and allowing Rancewell to develop the land would mean the brothers losing their only means of livelihood.
Over at the beach, Marsha is determined to prove to Linnie, who is engaged to her childhood sweetheart, not to "buy the first dress you try on" and that marriage is no fun at their age. Linnie, although reluctant, soon warms to her best friend's advice when numerous sun kissed beach bods catch her eye. The girl's hunt for guys begins badly when they happen upon the park's local numskulls, Corky and Mando, who reject the girl's blatant advances only because they're too dumb to notice them. In Marsha's pursuit she turns her attention to the hunky Johnny - the sight of the man of her dreams swimming in the lake has her mouth open in awe! While Linnie - having ignored Trailors efforts at winning her affection - is off feeding her supposed hair cutting fetish (one of the more distinctly absurd plot lines), Marsha and Johnny grow closer, as do Eve and Truckie after Eve's flirtatious blackmail sends romantic sparks flying.
Trailor's promotional party for the Wilderness Challenge has Marsha insisting to her friends that they're "just gonna die" when they meet this incredible guy she had spent the day with. To her horror, it is Marsha who almost dies at the sight of her potential summer romance, dressed from head to toe in chains and black leather - the same, unrecognisable, heavy metal Johnny that the girls had seen on their first day at Weewankah. Marsha's dismissive reaction leaves Johnny completely out in the cold and, furiously, he leaves the party. There are troubles elsewhere when Truckie receives a court order in the mail, forcing him and his brother to quit and allow the takeover. The pesticide factory isn't the only thing that Truckie objects to, confiding in Eve the extent of Rancewell's disregard for nature, wildlife, but most importantly, the law. As Truckie tells of Rancewell's shady past - having narrowly escaped prosecution for dumping toxic chemicals in a dried up creek - the pair set out to do all they can in halting the development, uncovering the corrupt plans, and saving the park. They succeed in flooding out the construction site during the night, leaving Rancewell fuming and vowing to have the culprit - the still mysterious Weewankah Willy - caught and turned into "one very dead bear rug".
Marsha, already regretting her actions, looks for a way to win Johnny over again. Playfully, she teases him about his style, to which he comes back with an attack on her "walking billboard" fashion sense. Eve and Linnie set out to mend Marsha's broken heart by giving her a heavy metal makeover, which leads to all sorts of wildly humorous surprises, including an unexpected appearance by Ted Nugent!
Will Eve and Truckie foil Rancewell's devious plans? Will Linnie get married? Will Marsha keep her extreme new image? And who will win the Wilderness Challenge?
VERDICT: ★★★ ½
Directed by exploitation king Rafal Zielinski, State Park - or, under the more memorable (for all the wrong reasons) Canadian title of Heavy Metal Summer - is a little known, rarely mentioned, but tidily crafted comedy that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Crawling with more subplots than bugs at a campsite, State Park somehow packs each one in convincingly and cleverly without having to tie loose ends with rampant fleeting nudity or over-emphasised adolescent humour. First glances unavoidably give the impression that this is yet another summer camp romp in a long line of watered-down Meatballs clones, and, mixed with the dwindling popularity of the low budget college comedy in the latter part of the eighties, the film brought in an astonishingly low domestic gross of just $421. They probably blew that on hairspray alone.
State Park, among its many pleasantly surprising attributes, takes the uncommon path of aiming towards not hormonally raging males, but the female audience. As opposed to our heroines throwing both caution and their knickers to the wind in a sexual frenzy, they are presented as level-headed women on a quest for romance, with interests that stretch beyond the contents of the nearest available swimming trunks (with the exception of Linnie's peculiar desires).
The underdogs battling evil authority is indeed a familiar tune, but State Park plays it well. And you gotta admit, who doesn't love the instant gratification of the good guys coming out on top? For more Rafal Zielinski hijinks, check out similar Canadian farce Breaking All The Rules.
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SOUNDTRACK:
01. Love Is Like A Chainsaw - Ted Nugent & Rachel Sweet
02. I Say Yeah - Scream Cycle
03. Easy to Love - Rachel Sweet
04. A Night Like Any Other - Darryl Phinnesse & Anita Sherman
05. Dancin' The Night Away - Reno Wilde
06. Rockin Robin - Bobby Day
07. Out Of My Mind - Colin Gerrard
08. Queen of the Scene - TT Quick
09. Come Beat The Band - TT Quick
10. Asleep at the Wheel - TT Quick
11. Little Miss Dangerous - Ted Nugent
12. I'll Do Anything (For Your Love) - Nancy Hall
13. She's in Love - Colin Gerrard
14. Savin' My Love - Trapper
15. Her Heartbeat - Steve McClintock
"Have you got yours yet?"
