“Look, nothing’s going to ruin our weekend.”

Drake’s rating: They’ll be telling this story to their kids for the next 30 years

Drake’s review: You all remember prom night, right? Big hair, chiffon dresses, maybe a mirror ball over the dance floor. And then you and your friends all gathered together and took a seaplane out to a private island owned by one of your friend’s fathers. Just normal high school stuff, right?

OK, I’m guessing that wasn’t normal for you, and I know it wasn’t for me, but for the eight kids in Out of Control, that’s how their prom ends and their troubles begin. On their way to this private island, which is somewhere off the coast of the Pacific Northwest since the kids are all from Seattle, the plane runs into bad weather and crashes into the ocean. The eight kids get free of the wreckage but the pilot isn’t so lucky. Come morning they’re a sad looking crew, all tousled tuxedos and torn taffeta, sitting on the rocky shore of a small island and hoping to get rescued.

But this is the ‘80s and it’s not going to be quite so simple. The kids are going to have to deal with some serious problems first, like the drug runners who use the island as a meeting point. But before then they’ll basically do…very little.

Out of Control isn’t a bad flick, but it does have some serious pacing issues early on. The kids explore the island and find a small lake and the remains of an old building, where they unearth a cache of Spam and vodka.* That keeps the kids from starving, but unfortunately the movie doesn’t really know what to do with them until the drug runners show up. So they basically argue a bit, have a fairly tame fist fight, then drink too much vodka and turn a game of spin the bottle into an impromptu striptease act.

Well, this IS the ‘80s after all.

And unfortunately, that’s about half of the movie. Now the cast here is actually pretty good, which keeps Out of Control from just falling apart at this point. We’ve got Betsy Russell of Tomboy fame, Sherilyn Fenn just a year before her co-starring role in The Wraith, and Jim Youngs, who was last seen losing in a game of tractor chicken to Kevin Bacon in Footloose. And it’s the latter actor, as Cowboy, who takes the lead spot as the film goes on, saving the others from the drug smugglers who come sailing up to the island one day and finally getting the plot rolling along.

From there the movie is a not-bad teen action flick, as the kids have to keep themselves alive and try to escape the island. Surprisingly, the latter half of Out of Control works pretty well, and steers clear of the “teen antics” style of action. There are no Iron Eagle moments here, just the kids hiding, working together to survive, and occasionally just resorting to a tactic as simple as pushing one of the bad guys off an incline and onto the rocks below to resolve their conflict.

The later half of the movie does its best to make up for the first half, and makes you wish the early act had been cut down to allow more room for a game of cat-and-mouse around the island rather than the teen drama and non-character building exercises we did get. Out of Control seems to be uncertain of who the lead really is for this part of the film as well, resulting in a lack of focus before Cowboy takes the reins going into the second half. Even then, the producers know Betsy Russell is the name everyone’s going to the theater for** at this point, and wisely keep her in the spotlight throughout.

Out of Control isn’t a great ‘80s teensploitation pic, but if you can get through the first half there’s a decently fun action pic waiting on the other side. It’s not worth skipping your prom for, but then again you don’t have to rent a tux for it either.

You may want to hang a mirror ball from your ceiling, though. If nothing else, it’s a good conversation piece.

*Also known around the Mutant Offices as “breakfast.”

**Or more likely, renting the VHS tape for.

Intermission!

• It’s rainy? Near Seattle? Well, that’s certainly a surprise!
• I’m still not sure why the seaplane crashed. It’s a seaplane. Couldn’t it just have landed on the water?
• Much screaming and swimming. To be fair, those chiffon dresses aren’t meant to be worn in the ocean.
• Spin the bottle might not be the best use of your time, but I’m not gonna tell you kids what to do.
• Dancing to music that’s not there. BAD music. So much synth.
• And now a love ballad. Yick.
• Yeah, wearing a prom dress in the brush would no doubt be frustrating.
• Elliot is a beast here. Going from the chubby kid to Cowboy’s right hand against the drug smugglers was a welcome plot development.
• The smuggler getting stomped by the four girls is either having his best day ever, or his worst.
• Oof. Big rock to the groin. It’s officially his worst.
• The smuggler’s all PO’d because they drank his vodka. Can relate.