A couple of months ago, Peter established Journey into Obscurity, a column intended to highlight some films that may fall under the radar of even the most devoted Cult Film fans. Since that first article, the column has remained dormant. That is until today, when Vinny will get to throw in his low-budget one cent into the mix.

For about a year, I found myself as a customer of Comcast. Though most cable providers are pretty similar from my experience, Comcast had the distinction of providing many unique on-demand movie channels, one of which was exclusively for Troma films. While some of their heavy hitters were available, much of the page was populated with some of their lesser known titles. One of the films I ended up enjoying the most was 1979’s Squeeze Play!. These days, Troma is mostly known for its wacky Horror and Science Fiction catalogue, a legacy stretching from The Toxic Avenger to BC Butcher. However, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, much of Troma and Lloyd Kaufman’s early work is firmly placed in the Late Seventies – Early Eighties Sex Comedy explosion. Troma was built on the back of these films and Squeeze Play! is at once a prime example of, and a commentary on, the genre. The comedy is raunchy, the nudity is rampant and the plot is simple. By 1979, Kaufman already had a respectable number of films under his belt and his ability to make an effective one from a low budget really shines here. Admittedly, there are some rough moments, but the sketch-like sequences almost all work. There aren’t any Oscar worthy performances, but its a fun comedy and the cast delivers what they’re expected to. The soundtrack is all over the place and it features a fun theme song along with some great Fifties pop hits. The plot revolves around a group of women who have tired of their significant others using softball as a constant excuse to shirk responsibilities. This in itself moves away from many of the Sex Comedies of the time, most of which focused on the escapades of teenage boys. The group decides that the only solution is to beat the men at their own game, literally.  The characters find motivation in proving that they are not only as capable as the men, but that the excuses of their beaus are immaterial. That said, all of this is done with a lot of bouncing breasts and gratuitous shots of women bending over to pick up ground balls.  Then again, the women’s sexual pursuits are highlighted over that of the men, so it may balance it out a bit. Obviously, it all comes to a head in an equally wacky game, but the aforementioned sketch style makes the climactic scenes a bit less effective. The constant gags stifle much of the narrative’s momentum and, by the climax, its hard to remember what the point is. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking for a point though. The sequence works quite well on its own anyway, though it ends somewhat abruptly. Seriously, this is just me over thinking.

Watch Squeeze Play!, cringe at some of it, laugh at most of it and don’t take it as seriously as I already have. Oh, and look out for the greatest marketing ploy in the history of mattress sales, ever.

Squeeze Play! is currently out of print on DVD, but is available for free on Troma’s YouTube page.