USA UP ALL NIGHT: Fraternity Vacation (1985)

We start not just in cold, snowy Iowa, but in black and white. Two fraternity brothers, Larry “Mother” Tucker (Tim Robbins, I shit you not) and Joe Gillespie (Cameron Dye, Body Rock), are looking to escape all this snow. They find their golden ticket in the form of their pledge, Wendell Tvedt (Stephen Geoffreys, always Evil Ed).

Wendell’s parents—played by Max Wright (famously the patriarch of ALF) and Julie Payne—are happy to foot the bill for a Palm Springs getaway, provided their son is brought along and given a crash course in social lubrication. Once the trio hits the desert, the plot locks into gear: the Theta Pigs find themselves in a heated rivalry with a group of arrogant, well-heeled frat boys led by Chas (Leigh McCloskey, who can somehow be in this sex comedy and Inferno, showing the world is filled with infinite choices; whenever your world gets small and sad, just remember that the same dude who faced off with Mater Tenebrarum was also in Just One of the Guys, playing a thirty year old teenager) and J.C. (Matt McCoy). The goal? To win the affections of the sophisticated Ashley Taylor (Sheree J. Wilson, April Stevens from Dallas), while Wendell tries to navigate his own path, eventually crossing orbits with the peculiar and intense Nicole Ferret, played by Amanda Bearse (she and Geoffrey made both this and Fright Night in the same year).

Will he survive her father, Chief Ferret (John Vernon)? Will you be offended when Vernon drops the f-word with two hard g’s? Of course you will be. But don’t get too cross. This definitely has something for daddy, as not only does Britt Ekland show up, but so do Barbara Crampton and Kathleen Kinmont. Plus, you get Nita Talbot, who wasn’t just in The Day of the Locust, Island Claws and Chained Heat. She was also in Puppet Master II and Amityville: It’s About Time. And yes, she was also Russian spy Marya Parmanov on Hogan’s Heroes and wore crazy makeup in the “Minkees Watch Their Feet” episode of The Monkess.

Honestly, this is a movie made for people like me who jump off the couch and yell, “Charles Rocket! Franklyn Ajaye!” 

The film went through a gauntlet of working titles before landing on Fraternity Vacation, including Party Animals, Beginner’s Luck and American Slang. It was directed by James Frawley, who also made The Muppet Movie and 28 episodes of The Monkees, so there’s that.

You can watch this on Tubi.