Justin's Rating: I would like to revise my statement.
Justin's Review: Here I am eating crow. A victim of the "Rule of Two", I first reviewed Dead Man on Campus after only one viewing. But after a while, I found myself popping DMOC into my VCR more and more often, and what had first annoyed me now charmed the cute little darned socks right off my feet. Or something like that.

DMOC chronicles the rise and fall and re-rise of a pair of college freshmen. Josh (Tom Everett Scott) is so eager-beaver to study his butt off that he lacks any capacity to have fun. His pre-med program quickly plows him under, and he has severe issues with adjusting to dorm life. Parties thrown by his roommate Cooper (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) don't make the tension any easier. Scott is one of those invincible-types who considers actual classes a side-note to college itself. After a while, Cooper shows Josh the light (women and beer being the illumination), and Josh chills out.

And yes, that's the same Mark-Paul Gosselaar who brought unnatural freakishness to Saturday morning TV on Saved By The Bell. To this day, I don't know what possessed me to actually watch that show, since I hated each and every single minute of it. This school had, what, one actual teacher and six students. And Zack was this really lame Ferris-wannabe. Anyway, to answer my own question, I watched probably for the same reason every other teen boy did: Tiffany Amber-Theissen. But it's good to see Zack dyed his hair and did something with his life.

The problem is, both Josh and Cooper's grades are slipping so far as to nearly get them kicked out of college altogether. Naturally, Josh freaks and Cooper comes up with a totally insane plan: get a suicidal roomate to move in with them, off himself, and get Josh and Cooper a 4.0 for the semester (this being some sort of college urban legend). The movie takes its sweet-poppy time getting to this twist, but I liken it to a rollercoaster. The ride up is fairly interesting, but once it peaks, then it gets fun. The two go on a hunt for the most deranged and lunatic characters on campus, and they end up with a paranoid computer freak (who thinks Bill Gates is out to get him personally), a Prince-type rock singer, and Cliff (Lochlyn Munro). Cliff is beyond insane, he's absolutely out of control - even compared to Scott. His idea of fun is to pretend to leap from the top of buildings and outrun cops in his car. Still, he's absolutely hysterical, and the rental price of the movie is worth it just to see him.

As for the joke factor, the movie has its lulls, but manages to slip quite a few under the radar. Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer gets her hair torched by Cliff, in one of the film's funniest moments. I also loved Cooper and Josh breaking into the psyche department while dressing up like ninjas and running around to the theme of Mission: Impossible. Cooper and Josh represent the polar ends of a typical college student, so there's a lot to identify with, between wanting to have a fun time and actually having to get good grades. It's cool to see the two start out so different and yet become one in purpose by the film's end.

So, okay, I was wrong. It's by no means a masterpiece, but it's a heckuva lot of fun. DMOC unabashedly states that college is weird, and that it's fun to freak people out.

The Scoop 1998 Rated R College Comedy Director Alan Cohn Starring Tom Everett Scott Mark-Paul Gosselaar Poppy Montgomery Lochlyn Munro

Didja Notice?
If you liked this movie enough to make it till the end credits, fast-forward for a quick little post-movie scene where Cliff catches a roommate's arm on fire with blowtorch.
"Professor Durkheim" is presumably named after the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, who was the first academic to study suicide extensively.
Flushles, the toilet-cleaning clown!
Dead Man on Campus was the first live-action MTV film
Bongs can serve a decorative purpose
The file cabinets in the psyche department are set up like a rat maze

The Movie Store!
Dead Man On Campus: Movie [DVD]
Dead Man On Campus: Movie [VHS]
Dead Man On Campus: Soundtrack [CD]
Dead Man On Campus: A Novelization: Book

Intermission!
Probably the most original part of this movie is the great opening sequence, using SAT sheets, depressing music, and various schematics on how to commit suicide. Among the various ways shown are:

• Hanging
• Shooting
• Suffocation (with bag)
• Slash wrists
• Head in oven
• Jumping
• Poison (arsenic)
• OD on aspirin
• Electrocution
• Hit by train
• Car exhaust
• Inject drain-o

Official and Not-So-Official Websites
Dead Man on Campus: The Unofficial Website

Groovy Quotes

Cliff: They hate it when you do this! [shoots gun at cops]

Cooper: You can't sing show tunes and be depressed!

Cliff: Come on man! Just kick me in the junk!

Cliff: Do you guys ever get really horny?
Cooper: Depends where you're going with this.

Cooper: Young man! Where have you been? I was up all night worried sick. Do you know what time it is?
Josh: I LOVE college. I love everything about it. The people, the freedom. This room. This chair. Look at this chair!
Cooper: You had sex last night didn't you?
Josh: That's a nice shirt.

Zeke: This is my brother's Ritalin. Ritalin's good for studying math or science, just don't try to write English papers on it or it won't make any sense. Enjoy that.

Cliff: [looking at a reprint poster of Van Gogh] Whoa. Which one of you painted this?
Rachel: Uhh... I did.
Cliff: It's soooo smooth.

Cooper: [looking at Kyle's Playboy posters] Oh, look at that. You like girls! You must be the product of an all-boys school.
Kyle: CATHOLIC all-boys school.
Cooper: Catholic? Holy Mary mother of God... you're so horny you've turned MEAN!

Cooper: So you like, like studied in high school? Oh, that's cool. I had a couple friends who did that.

Josh: I didn't have to do anything, to make it happen. It was just like... time for sex. We're gonna have sex now. Prepare for sex. And then we spent the whole night talking.

Josh: She said I have soulful eyes.
Cooper: Oh yeah, you really do!

Crazy Guy: My intestines are over two miles long!

Cooper: I'm risking my life for you - remember that.
Josh: I'm lowering you twelve feet into an office. I'm not sure if we even need rope.

Cliff: I don't get it. When I'm on fire, I always remember to stop, drop, and roll. You don't just stand around, screaming like SOME CHICK!

Cliff: Have you ever been in a high-speed chase before? It's intense!

Buckley: Who are you?
Cooper: Cooper.
Josh: Josh.
Cooper: Going.
Josh: To lunch.

Buckley: [calling the suicide hotline] It's hard to explain, but I'm very frightened.
Cooper: You should be!
Buckley: Who is this?
Cooper: It's me, Bill... Bill Gates!

Josh: We're like the Hardy Boys from hell!

If you liked this movie, try these:
PCU
Animal House
The Sure Thing