Purely Joyful Movie!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Kate (Jo Johnston) is a reporter who goes undercover in a cheer-leading squad so that she can write an article about how the sport exploits young women. Soon she's mixing it up with the star quarterback and her article takes on a whole new story when she discovers a betting scheme.THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS certainly isn't a classic or even a good film but Jack Hill does what he can with a somewhat lame script, which was obviously sold to people due to the sexuality. If you're looking for a flat-out nasty and dirty little picture then this is actually not it. Instead of being overly sexual or graphic, the film does take a more serious approach to its subject and for the most part it remains slightly entertaining throughout.The best thing about the picture is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Yes, the subject matter is a tab bit more serious that what you typically get out of an exploitation movie but don't think for a second that there's some sort of message being given off here. Instead we're basically given a low-budget movie that has a silly and somewhat weak story where we see the various cheerleaders involved with a number of men. There's one who has an affair with her teacher. Another is just a flat out bitch who does what she wants. Another is a girl wanting to lose her virginity.As you can tell, there's nothing ground-breaking here but sexploitation and cheerleaders were something that were made for the 70s. The cast are mostly good, although there's certainly no Oscar-worthy performances here. Johnston, appearing in her only film, is decent in the lead but I think someone stronger would have helped the film. There's plenty of nudity throughout to keep the male viewer entertained and I'd also argue that Hill's direction is good throughout.

"The Swinging Cheerleaders" may not be one of cult filmmaker Jack Hills' best, but it's still a solidly engaging film of its type. It probably won't be nearly trashy enough for some people, but for others it should prove to be an agreeable way to spend just over an hour and a half.Hill and David Kidd wrote the story (using female pseudonyms), about the cheerleading squad for a college football team. Their newest recruit is an uptight gal named Kate (Jo Johnston), who initially is only becoming a cheerleader so she can get inside information for an expose that she wants to write. Among other story threads, the coach (Jack Denton), an alumnus (George Wallace), and a stats professor (Jason Sommers) are lured by the prospect of big winnings and begin to bet on the outcomes of the games.Once again, Hill does understand that there are requirements for this sort of entertainment, and some of the lovely young ladies do take off their tops. The yarn that he and Kidd spin here is actually pretty straightforward and enjoyable, and things never, ever get overly serious. Not that characters come out unscathed, however, as the virginal Andrea (ever adorable Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith) is taken advantage of by lowlife guys, to use one example.The performances are uniformly solid from the whole cast. Of the main cheerleader performers, sexy blonde Colleen Camp (playing the catty Mary Ann) went on to what is easily the most notable mainstream career of any of them. Future Playboy Playmate Rosanne Katon rounds out this foursome. Ron Hajak and Ric Carrott are fine as personable jocks Buck and Ross, Ian Sander is perfectly odious as creepy and arrogant campus radical Ron, John Quade and stunt coordinator Bob Minor are good as nasty security guards Belski and Ryan, and Mae Mercer is memorable as Professor Thorpes' scary wife.An amiable if somewhat mild example of 70s sleaze.Seven out of 10.

In order to write an expose on how cheer-leading demeans women, a reporter for a college newspaper (Jo Johnston in her only role) infiltrates the cheer-leading squad.By 1974, Jack Hill was looking to escape being typecast as a "blaxploitation director" after making "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" for AIP. They were pleased by the success and gave him a script called "Rape Squad", which he turned down. This film was given to him with financing attached, although he was only given a title and had to develop the script from scratch (with help from David Kidd, who ironically also re-wrote "Rape Squad").According to co-writer / director Hill, the film had a 12-day shoot, which meant every inch of film shot ended up in the final product. They started work on the script at the end of January 1974 and the movie was in theaters by May (at other times he says February and June, but the idea remains the same). The original title of the script was "Stand Up and Holler" so actresses would not think the film was about cheerleaders.I do love Jack Hill, and the fact he is called an "exploitation auteur" really sums him up. But this has to be one of his few misfires. The primary plot of the undercover cheerleader is not very interesting, though the booking subplot makes up for it to a point. You might expect this to be nothing more than an excuse for cheerleaders to get naked, but even in that department it is arguably tame compared to many 80s comedies. This more or less amounts to a cheesy made-for-TV movie that probably was never shown on TV.Arrow Video offers up a deluxe 2k restored blu-ray of the film. While the movie itself is not great (sorry), the Arrow Video version is worth picking up simply for all the extras, because it's always good when we have Jack Hill doing new interviews and providing new commentary. If he hasn't already, he really ought to write a memoir, because he is full of stories about Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola and many others. (The disc also has a 2006 archive interview with DP Alfred Taylor, archive interview with Johnny Legend, and a Q&A with Hill, Colleen Camp and Rosanne Katon recorded at the New Beverly Cinema in 2012.)

Remember when they used to show films like these late at night on cable in the eighties and it seemed so daring. High camp film that has now been put on the Tarentino pedestal of high art and I'm not arguing. Lots of sex, polyester, and actors you know are matrons who cringe when they look back at their youth.