BOOZE, BLOW, BOOBS, AND BROS: THE TOP 5 PARTY SCENES (FROM MOVIES) OF THE 80'S (PART 2 OF 2)

Yesterday's post about the greatest Party Movies of the 80's covered quite a bit of ground, so in today's post we will focus only on the greatest party SCENES of the 80's. While the films below represent excellent examples of 1980's party behavior, it must be noted that not all the films themselves qualify as Party MOVIES, per se. In addition, the 5 films I wrote about yesterday are disqualified from the party SCENES list, to prevent repetition and double-coverage.
So let's get started. These are what I believe to be the best examples of 80's party hijinks, outside of films with a central "Party" motif.


5) SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984)





Right: The character known only as The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall), hella partied out.


"Sixteen Candles" was the directorial debut of 80's teen comedy master John Hughes. The film, which followed the trials and tribulations of a forlorn misfit (Molly Ringwald) in the pursuit of her dream guy, climaxed in an epic Party Scene at the home of aforementioned dream guy Jake Ryan. Yeah, "Sixteen Candles" is a chick movie, but you can't deny the sheer Party Power of the shindig at Jake's place, where Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe) tears the joint up, the "popular chick" gets her hair stuck in a door (revenge on the "cool kids" = a popular theme in 80's teen comedy), and the house is utterly annihilated by morning. The Geek and his buddies even get in on the action, finally shedding their loser image in a night of pure drunkenness and debauchery. Well done, lads.



Long Duk Dong enjoys the after-effects of a sweet 80's party:



4) TEEN WOLF (1985)



"Teen Wolf"'s main Party Element was protagonist Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox)'s best buddy, Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski (Jerry Levine, left). Although Levine went on to be a television director (working on "Everyone Hates Chris", "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", "Monk", and others), his defining role was in "Teen Wolf", portraying the hard-partying bad influence Stiles with perfect 80's pizazz and campiness. In the central Party Scene of the film, Stiles acts as ringmaster in a circus of bawdy party games, from whipped-cream wrestling to "1 minute in the closet" (what exactly can you accomplish, sexually speaking, in 1 minute anyways? I know I need several hours). Anyhow, the Party Scene is classic, with high school-aged revelers ingesting epic amounts of beer, weed, and intoxicating liquors. Fuckin' SWEET!



Michael J. Fox pulls off a now-classic Party Move:



3) WEIRD SCIENCE (1985)





Above: Kelly LeBrock chills out with the Weird Science Diahrrea Monster.

Another John Hughes/Michael Anthony Hall classic is the old Nerds vs. Jocks standby "Weird Science". The basic plot is this: Two science nerds create the "perfect woman" (LeBrock), named Lisa, using super-high tech 80's computers, to help them overcome their sexual inexperience and social awkwardness. Instead, she teaches them both to find their "Inner Cool Guy" without boning it to either of them. WEAK!
Although the film contains another classic Party Scene (Lisa organizes a party at the dorks' home so they can mingle with the popular kids), my personal favorite Party Scene occurs when the two losers take her out to a blues club, for a "test run" of sorts. Of course, they end up getting totally hammered, 80's style, and kicking it with grizzled old blues cats all night. You can watch the best part of the scene below.

"Every damn night?! On the TELEPHONE?!":


A classic example of 80's Party Headgear (below).




2) CADDYSHACK (1980)





The "pool party" from "Caddyshack": site of a Party Move that has become a permanent fixture in the sacred Party Lexicon forever.
What am I referring to? Why, "Doodie" of course! By now, anyone with a decent Party Ethic knows that tossing a candy bar into a crowded swimming pool is just about the classiest, most sophisticated Party Move ever. Akin to baseball's "grand slam" or hockey's "hat trick", the candy-bar-in-the-pool manuever commands both awe and respect for anyone cunning enough to pull it off.
Do the math: Chicks in bikinis + sweet Kenny Loggins jams + candy bar in pool = #2 position for "Caddyshack" on the Best Party Scenes of the 80's List. Duh.

Below: Bill Murray removes the offending object.



The DEFINING scene itself:



1) GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990)



"Gremlins 2", although released in 1990, was still TECHNICALLY made in the 80's, hence allowing it the coveted #1 spot on this list. The Party Scene that garners it this high honor occurs as a mob of mischeivious Gremlins takes over an office building, proceeding to booze, smoke and PARTY the place to its proverbial knees.
The major accomplishment of the film, though, is the destruction of the so-called "Fourth Wall" that almost all films and plays won't touch. You see, stage actors pretend there is a "fourth wall" in front of the stage on which they perform, separating them from their audience in any way. They do not talk to their audience or engage them, for in doing so they would destroy the "suspension of disbelief" so vital to an audience's enjoyment of a staged act. Film, for the most part, obeys the same rule (although Wayne Campbell talks straight into the camera several times in "Wayne's World"...), but "Gremlins 2" rips apart the "Fourth Wall" altogether.
At the height of their debaucherous escapades, the Gremlins actually TAKE OVER the projector showing their film, engaging (even attacking!) their audience in an unprecedented plot twist that sends the mind reeling.
THE GREMLINS DON'T GIVE A FUCK. NOBODY PARTIES HARDER THAN THE FUCKING GREMLINS!!!

Plus, Slayer's "Angel of Death" is featured on the soundtrack of this film. BONUS bonus.



Gremlins + Slayer = AWESOME:


Original trailer for "Gremlins 2". Note the quick clip of the Gremlins partying down at about 1:04: