Sizzlin’ Summer of Side-Splitters 2025: Where the Boys Are ’84 (1984)

July 7-13 Teen Movie Hell Week: From the book description on the Bazillion Points website: All-seeing author Mike “McBeardo” McPadden (Heavy Metal Movies) passes righteous judgment over the entire (teen movie) genre, one boobs-and-boner opus at a time. In more than 350 reviews and sidebars, Teen Movie Hell lays the crucible of coming-of-age comedies bare, from party-hearty farces such as The Pom-Pom Girls, Up the Creek, and Fraternity Vacation to the extreme insanity exploding all over King Frat, Screwballs, The Party Animal, and Surf II: The End of the Trilogy.

Twenty-four years before, Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin learned about Where the Boys Are. There were no topless scenes in that movie. There are in this one.

The last movie directed by Hy Averback — who kept directed TV for a few years after this; he also made I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!Chamber of Horrors and The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite — and the first Tri-Stars Pictures release, this reimagines the virginal beach film for a post-sexual revolution world, as four girls — Carole (Lorna Luft), taking a vacation for her preppie boyfriend Chip (Howard McGillin); Jennie (Lisa Hartman), who has liasons with a classical pianist (Daniel McDonald) and a rock star (Russell Todd); Sandra (Wendy Schaal), looking for Mr. Right and Laurie (Lynn-Holly Johnson), who wants to make love to a real man — go to Fort Lauderdale and stay with Aunt Barbara (Louise Sorel) and her friend Maggie (Alana Stewart).

Yes, Judy Garland’s daughter, grown-up Tabitha Stephens/Cathy Geary Rush from Knots Landing, Bonnie Rumsfield from The ‘Burbs and Bibi Dahl/Lexie Winston from Ice Castles are trying to get laid, just like the boys in the other teen sex comedies.

One of the boys in this is the future Shooter McGavin, Christopher McDonald, and another is Howard McGillin, the longest-running Phantom of the Opera. This was produced by Allen Carr, who managed to continue making movies after Grease 2 and Can’t Stop the Music. There was a party every day and the weed smoked in the beach scenes? Real.

You can watch this on Tubi.