Pump Up the Volume
PUMP UP THE VOLUME (15)
D: Allan Moyle
New Line/SC Entertainment (Rupert Harvey & Sandy
Stern)
US 1990
105 mins
Drama
W: Allan Moyle
DP: Walt Lloyd
Ed: Wendy Bricmont, Ric Keeley & Kurt
Hathaway
Mus: Cliff Martinez
Christian Slater (Mark Hunter), Ellen Greene (Jan
Emerson), Annie Ross (Loretta Creswood), Samantha Mathis (Nora Diniro), Scott Paulin (Brian Hunter)
Pump Up The Volume is very much a product of its own time
and wouldn't be appreciated nowadays unless it's watched through nostalgic eyes.
Christian Slater gives one of his best screen performance
as a coy teenage student whose alter-ego turns the airwaves blue as a pirate radio DJ, influencing his peers to rebel against their corrupt high school.
Aside from the main character and Samantha Mathis as the
love interest, the rest of the supporting cast are sloppily underwritten, leading to some ropey performances and unconvincing dialogue.
The film's best moments come during Slater's on-air
tirades, but it's still very much stuck in the 1990's. Worth a watch now for a little dose of nostalgia, unfortunately some things just don't age well.
6/10
