| | | | The Allnighter
(1987) |
or some of us, college is a grand experience. For others, it's a place that falls somewhere between Dante's Inferno, the Roman Circus and a Weathermen meeting. I fell into the latter category of fearful people.
My one month of college was a brutal experience in rejection, sleepless nights, Communist professors and weight gain. I was so shattered by my time there that I attempted suicide. I had to get out, and get out I did...
After a month of college and a half-year of unemployment, I took a job at Wal-Mart. I eventually started writing reviews for this website as well. I was able to move on. "The Allnighter" deals with the same themes of college and the real world as well, but in a far more jovial and light-hearted vein.
Our tale is one of 3 beautiful young women, all of whom are graduating college. Molly (Hoffs) is a sweet girl who, despite her knock-'em-dead looks, has yet to have a meaningful relationship (although she's in an on-again-off-again one with surfer boy C.J [Terlesky]). Val (Pfeiffer) is a blonde with a nouveau riche big future as the fiancee of a young corporate go-getter. Gina (Cusack) is the film-student whiz kid, camera perpetually in hand, ready to roll at a moment's notice. Together with C.J's buddy Killer (Shanta), the quintet form a group of people who knew how to enjoy youth. Unfortunately, the adult world is coming up close. How to face it? BINGO! Pull an allnighter!
First, the night is prepared for by a last day of youthful fun. Surfing for the guys, girl talk and lasagna with an "extra-special ingredient" (if you catch my drift) for the ladies, and a small party for both. While Gina goofs around with the camera, and Val prepares for a night at a hotel with her beau, Gina and C.J are talking, goofing around... doing the things that these types of friends do when they're in the off-again stage.
The plan is about to be changed, though. Paying a visit to the girls' house is the former tenant, a dashing rocker named Mickey (Ontkean). In the 70s, he was guitarist for a group called The Rhinos, who had a big hit with a song called "Shangri-La". That's one of Molly's favorite songs, and when she puts on the record to do her dance to it, C.J senses he's being eased out of the picture. After all, how can a lowly surfer dude compete with a rock star, albeit a former one?
No time to worry about that now, because we've got a BIG party coming up. It's a fiesta for all the graduates. A true example of wine, women and song, the booze flows free while those crazy kids dance to the sounds of a party band. Depressed over his state, C.J takes a big, tropical drink and one of his comely classmates to soothe his weary soul. When Molly shows up, the two have a heart-to-broken-heart about their situation. Splitting up, Molly decides to take her search for a great romance to a man who could treat her right...Yep, that's Mickey I'm talking about.
After a sexy dance in front of a mirror to the sounds of the great Aretha Franklin's hit "Respect", Molly goes to the hotel where Mickey's staying at. The same hotel also is housing Val and her intended. He wants her to be sexy and do anything she wants, but his constant business yakking and suffocating, bordering-on-abusive manner sort of inhibit such a thing.
Anyway, once Molly makes it to the hotel, she meets Mickey and hopes for a sure thing. She doesn't get it, though, since the Mick has to attend to his ex-wife, who, coincidentally, works at the college our 3 young women are graduating from. In the midst of all this, a hotel detective named Philip (Taylor) has a hunch that the fancy hotel is being used as a no-tell motel for hookers and their johns.
After a brief and confusing series of scenes that finds Val going back to the house to meet Gina and the 2 of them getting a message from a stranded and lonely Molly, a rescue is on. This ends up getting Gina and Val mixed up with real working girls, and Molly trying to get bail money for them. The police officer in charge of the evening's ladies, a Ms. Sgt. McLeish (Grier), won't believe Val and Gina's protestations of innocence.
Thanks to college IDs, cash from Val's hocked engagement ring, and some assistance from C.J, with whom Molly has reunited, the girls are together again. Speaking of C.J, while the ladies were having their time, he and his pal Killer were searching for waves. After a near-death experience, Killer decides to skip town without getting his diploma. Encouraging C.J to continue, the duo split. As one team ends, another begins again, and Molly and C.J consummate their relationship.
Okay, so the allnighter went into the day. At least a final kick of youth occurred before the pomp and circumstance, and no matter what happens, Gina has it all on videotape.
 Don't forget that The Allnighter is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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Ironically enough, I purchased this movie in my final days as a collegiate. It was a Super Buy DVD at $4.99, and I'm glad I picked it up. I don't have good memories of college, so by watching movies like this, I can vicariously live out good times I never was fortunate enough to experience.
Anyway, the movie is fluffy, but a good kind of fluffy. If anything, it proves that college can be as wacky for women in film as it is for guys. Also, Susanna Hoffs... Babe with a capital "B". She definitely has what it takes to be a good actress, and it's a shame we haven't seen her in more acting roles. Joan Cusack plays the wisecracking gal-pal in her great-as-always manner, and Dedee Pfeiffer is as beautiful and talented as her sister Michelle.
If college was bad for you, whip out this movie and just imagine yourself in there. I imagine myself as a C.J type. I wouldn't be a good surfer, but I'd get the chance to smooch the lovely Ms. Hoffs.
Solid 9...
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The senior Ms. Hoffs, coincidentally, was the first woman to write and direct a major studio picture. 
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If you stay through the closing credits there are out-takes and a voice-over dedication from Joan Cusack.
Although billed as Susanna Hoffs' film debut, she actually appeared in several movies before this, including "Stony Point" and a short film called "The Haircut", which co-starred this movie's Meshach Taylor and Hoffs' bandmates from an early incarnation of The Bangles simply known as The Bangs. All these projects, including "The Allnighter", were directed by Susanna's mother, Tamar Simon Hoffs.
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Allnighter DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
The Allnighter or 80's Romantic Comedy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Can't Buy Me Love ..... Say Anything ..... Some Kind Of Wonderful ..... Sixteen Candles ..... Valley Girl ..... Switching Channels ..... Grandview, U.S.A. ..... Dance 'til Dawn ..... Don't Tell Her It's Me ..... Mannequin ..... Teen Wolf ..... Secret of My Success ..... Secret Admirer ..... Pretty In Pink ..... She's Having a Baby ..... Dream A little Dream .....[More]
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|  |  |  | | The Allnighter
Locations |
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The Allnighter was filmed in Malibu and Whittier, California.
Can you help? Do you know any of the S. California filming locations used for The Allnighter? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[Letterbox -NOT 16:9 Enhanced]](lbx.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, Notes |
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Comments: Nice features... Good price! |
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This great and eclectic soundtrack was quite interesting. From pop to punk, this soundtrack had a lot of interesting artists.
The songs and artists were:
"In The Darkness" by Boomerang
"Dangerous" by Exploding White Mice
"Take The Reins" by Mike + The Mechanics
"Boo Hoo" by Angie Jaree
"Love Is You" by Redd Kross
"Who's Gonna Dance With Me" by The Burns Sisters
"No TV No Phone" by Price-Sulton
"Shangri-La" by Peter Mix
"Salsa Verde" by Louis & Clark
"Take A Mile" by Louis & Clark
"This Could Be A Slow Song" by Louis & Clark
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin
"The Girl In A Sweater" by The Hard-Ons
"True Love" by Linda Harmon
"Dangerous" by Ronnie Spector
"The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3
"All In My Mind" by Love & Rockets
"I've Been The One" by The Golden Palominos
"Never Thought" by Dan Hill
"Pomp & Circumstance" by Peter Mix
We don't know if this was ever available on any format. Can anyone help?
The Allnighter Soundtrack was released on Vinyl in 1987, as a full colour 12" picture disc featuring the promo image from the film poster. Expensive copies occasionally turn up on Ebay. -Thanks to Michael And David
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Soundtrack Available:
Used Vinyl LP / Tape
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| | "Who says you can't do it all in one night?
| | Year:
| 1987 | Studio:
| Universal Pictures | Director:
| Tamar Simon Hoffs | Starring:
| Susanna Hoffs,
Dedee Pfeiffer, Joan Cusack, John Terlesky, James Shanta,
Michael Ontkean, Pam Grier, Meshach Taylor | | - | - | Genre:
| Romantic Comedy | | | | + | The atmosphere, the ladies and the relatively innocent portrayal of college, which has gotten progressively more nihilistic in both the modern day's movies and its' real life. | - | None...Now, let's go to Shangri-La! |
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The best links we've found for The Allnighter.
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Good site about Hoffs...The pop-ups are annoying, though.
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