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Released by: MGM Limited Edition Collection
Released on: May 23, 2012.
Director: Joel Bender
Cast: Kristen Baker, Dennis Bowen, Huntz Hall, Sandy Johnson, Leslie King
Year: 1979
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The Movie:
Directed by Joel Bender in 1979, Gas Pump Girls plays like a cross between Grease and Six Swedes At A Pump, but with fewer musical numbers than the first movie and less sex than the second one. When the film begins we meet the graduating class of Hometown High, just as a trio of nogoodniks, a biker gang who call themselves The Vultures - Butch (Steve Bond), Peewee (Ken Lerner) and Hank (Demetre Phillips) - rig the girls' gowns to their chairs so that when they stand up they'll be torn off. A few boobs later and we're off and running and after the graduation dance, the actual plot of the movie begins.
June (Kirsten Baker) finds out that her Uncle Joe (Huntz Hall) has had a heart attack and so she and her hot friends - Betty (Linda Lawrence), April (Sandy Johnson), January (Rikki Marin) and Jane (Leslie King) - decide to run his filling station for him. Before you know it they've got the place all painted up and have even put up a new heart shaped sign touting the joint's new name, Joe's Super Duper. Their business plan? To prance around in skimpy outfits to lure gas customers to their station from the big, corporate Pyramid Fuels station across the street, the one run by Mr. Friendly (Dave Shelley). Once their plan becomes a success they bring their boyfriends on to work as mechanics and hire the Vultures to run their towing business and before you know it, Mr. Friendly is in trouble. When he hires two aging mobsters, Moiv (Mike Marzuki) and Bruno (Joe E. Ross), to rough the kids up, the Vultures prove to be good for security too but eventually Friendly calls the bigwigs at Pyramid and cuts off the supply of gas they'll need to continue.
Gas Pump Girls isn't very good, but it is fun. The movie seemingly moves at its own random pace, not afraid to throw in a musical number just for the sake of having a musical number and throwing in enough topless nudity to keep the drive-in audience it was no doubt aiming for plenty happy. Performances are hamfisted and goofy across the board but it's keen to see a few recognizable faces pop up here. Kirsten Baker will be familiar to slasher fans for her role in Friday The 13th Part II and Sandy Johnson as well for her role in the original Halloween. Rikki Marin was married to Cheech and pops up in a few Cheech and Chong movies while Huntz Hall was one of the Bowery Boys and appeared in loads of other films. The interesting cast help make this one enjoyable (the nudity doesn't hurt either) and the unabashed stupidity of it all actually starts to get rather infectious about a half an hour in. A classic? No, not by a long shot, but an enjoyable B-movie footnote worth seeing for fans of seventies sex comedies who don't mind substituting sight gags for plot development or realism.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Gas Pump Girls looks okay in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen on DVD. Not great, but okay. There's some dirt and debris noticeable throughout the movie but it's never really too distracting. Colors generally fare well but black levels could have been more stable - sometimes they're strong, other times they look more like dark grey. Otherwise though, the image is perfectly watchable. Don't expect the movie to look like reference quality material, but it's fine.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is on par with the video in terms of quality. It doesn't sound amazing but it sounds alright. The repetitive music used on the soundtrack comes through the strongest, sometimes the dialogue is a little bit thin, but generally the levels are balanced well and everything is easy enough to understand. No alternate language options or subtitles of any kind are provided.
Extras include the standard MGM Limited Edition static menu and chapter stops, and the film's original theatrical trailer.
The Final Word:
Gas Pump Girls isn't very good nor is it very original but it is amusing enough in its own dumb, derivative way. It's a fun drive-in movie that offers up enough cornball humor and enough T&A to keep most exploitation fans happy. MGM's MOD/DVD-R release won't blow you away but it does offer up the movie in reasonably good shape.
