Hot Moves (1984) User Reviews

Middle-tier lowbrow

[Fluke_Skywalker · 5/10 · 30 July 2014]

'Hot Moves' is one of the *many* "teen sex comedies" from the 80s. A few you may remember--'Porky's', 'Spring Break'--a couple you might know if you had Cinemax growing up. Most are on the level of 'Hot Moves'. This was a thrift store, VHS(!), find. I love this genre, and had never seen or heard of it before, so I faced the accusing glare of the cashier and gladly plunked down my .99 for what appeared to be an original video store rental copy.

It gets off to a bit of a clunky start, but once it gets rolling it's pretty fun. The plot is actually very similar to 'American Pie', and the four leads--who all look like actual high schoolers instead of the customary 80s teen who is played by a 35 year old--are all pretty charming and have good chemistry together. Save for the copious nudity, and there's a bunch (at one point there's a scene on a nude beach where a large group of women recreate the iconic scene from 'Chariots of Fire') it's all harmless fun. Not a movie for a Women's Studies major or anyone with an allergy to the 80s, but a decent time if you like the genre.

The best '80s sex-comedy you've NEVER heard of!

[Jex_Russell · 6/10 · 14 December 2016]

The year was 2006. I had some spare time one night, so I decided to go to a local video store to pick up a movie, and this particular store just so happened to still carry titles on VHS. Being a fan of 80s comedies (specifically "sex comedies"), I was immediately drawn to a tape called "Hot Moves". The cover art and synopsis on the back cover had me very curious, so I went for it (along with the classics "Revenge of the Nerds II - Nerds in Paradise" and "National Lampoon's Class Reunion").

I didn't have my hopes too high, but when I got home and popped the tape into the VCR, it definitely exceeded my hopes! First of all, how can anyone not like a movie where the theme song is by British heavy metal band Raven?? Now, it's not the best sex comedy out there in terms of production quality, but it certainly has memorable moments and enjoyable characters. The plot is simple: four high school friends from Venice Beach make a pact to "get laid" before the end of the summer. That's it, plain and simple. But the measures they go through to achieve this goal definitely has some hilarious outcomes. The four leading men are:

Michael (Adam Silbar), the "main" character. Michael is the somewhat smooth-talking leader of the group, and is actually a bit of a jerk to his girlfriend Julie Ann (Jill Schoelen, "Babes in Toyland", "The Stepfather"), because she isn't ready to go "all the way". Enter a sexy acquaintance (Debi Richter), and there is trouble in paradise!

Barry (Michael Zorek, "Private School", "Teen Wolf Too") is the, um, "heaviest" of the bunch, and steals every scene he's in! The funniest scenes definitely revolve around him. He even chugs a bottle of ketchup like it's nobody's business!

Joey (Jeff Fishman) is the short, skinny, shy, most awkward (and probably most desperate) member of the gang. His most memorable scene involves the boys taking him downtown to get a prostitute. Hilarity ensues.

Scotty (Johnny Timko) is the blond member of the group, and is (in my opinion) the dullest and least memorable character here. He has a funny scene involving a paper route, but he's pretty forgettable in every other scene he's in.

What I disliked the most about this movie is all that filler. So many pointless scenes of people on Venice Beach skateboarding, body-building, break-dancing, there's even a mime at one point! These scenes were obviously thrown in as an attempt to stretch out its short running time. Even with all these scenes, the movie runs under 90 minutes.

Another complaint I have is the music. Other than the theme song by Raven, the music in here is absolutely awful! I understand that this is a low-budget comedy, and that most of the music was made especially for the film, but I still think they could have made better music for the movie.

That being said, those things aren't enough to ruin the movie, at least not for me. A big saving grace here is the great chemistry between the four main actors. It actually feels like they're old friends, and those scenes of them sitting at their table at the bowling alley are among some of the best scenes in the movie. Long story short, this is an enjoyable sex-comedy from the 80s, and is better than any sequel that "Porky's" ever squeezed out.

A review by Jex Russell

They broke the mold after they made this one!

[rlcsljo · 6/10 · 8 April 2001]

Despite the obviously hackneyed (but still universal) plot about a bunch of loser teen age boys trying to get laid, this movie really works! (mostly because of the quality and quantity of the gorgeous and cute girls/ women in this film)

The producer rarely went for obvious beauty and managed to find some real gems that are still a turn on today -- I am starting to appreciate the results of high-impact aerobics on the female form in the eighties more and more.

Where else, outside of a nudie cutie film will you find a flock of completely naked girls doing a beach run ala "Chariots of Fire".

After seeing this film, any red blooded teenage boy will certainly want to re double his efforts to get laid--if he can ever find girls this cute!

They don't make these anymore.

[cobrasoldier · 6 March 2001]

A feel-good 1980s teen lust comedy, with the right music, cute girls and the usual gang of idiots trying to get laid. It is very tasteless but enjoyable; I can't understand why they don't make these anymore. I've watched it a dozen times, yet it still gives me the same feeling of innocent fun. For friends of politically incorrect sex comedies, Hot Moves is highly recommended.

A dude drinks a bottle of ketchup

[jellopuke · 5/10 · 14 February 2018]

4 totally unlikeable characters out to get laid. The so-called nice guy is a huge dick to his girlfriend, pressuring her into sex then dumping her when she says no. But wait! He has a change of heart and decides that she's the one he's willing to wait for, so he must be a prince! The rest of the movie is standard hijinks, some of which fall super flat, but there's decent nudity. The one annoying this is how much filler this movie needed to get to 80 minutes. There's probably 10-15 minutes of beach shots showing dancing, skating, weight lifting, etc on venice beach. Seriously, it gets ridiculous there's so much padding. But it's a low budget sex comedy from the 80's so it's not shakespeare.

Tedious and trite sex comedy

[Groverdox · 5/10 · 6 February 2016]

Hot Moves features four teenage boys - only two of whom have anything like an established personality by the time the movie ends - looking for sex on the beach during summer holidays. The movie's only real source of life are the street performers the movie spends such a long time showing us: break dancers, tap dancers, body builders and a crappy mime.

Indeed it cuts to these so frequently you almost forget the so-called main characters and their boring shenanigans. When the movie remembers it's supposed to show us their trying to get laid we get dull and episodic encounters like one of the boys being preyed on by a woman who turns out to be a man (a fact that will be immediately obvious to the viewer), and another unlikely scene in which Michael Zorek, the fat kid from Private School, accidentally knocks over a candle in a waitress's house. Luckily the fat kid's friends are on hand, having been watching through the window, and put the blaze out with a garden hose. Uh huh.

To up the movie's nudity content, there is a scene where the boys spy on a nudist beach, and see a bunch of naked women who look suspiciously like nude models in between classier jobs running in unison. If so many beautiful women are available, naked, running around at this beach, why don't the boys try their luck there instead of with the predictably prudish lot they find on their home turf? Could it be that the producers didn't have the money to pay these naked women to be naked for more than a minute or so of screen time?

Overall, Hot Moves is pretty forgettable.

its pretty bad in spite of the girls

[sandcrab277 · 1/10 · 15 April 2020]

That fat jerk michael zorek has been in a few of these teenage lust movies with the same result ... he is neither funny nor sexy just inexcusable outlandish behavior with the manners of a real pig and we still aren't laughing you stupid whiny bum

Looks like the original American Pie

[JoshB-2 · 7/10 · 11 July 2000]

This film seems to be the 80s version of American Pie: Four loser virgins who want to get laid make a pact to help each other and go about finding girls to screw. If you look at it closely, the characters are even similar and there's the one guy with the girlfriend who thinks that sex is the only thing important to him.

Anyway, the girls look great and there are heaps of funny scenes worth catching, especially at the end. So if you haven't seen it, check it out.

Surprisingly entertaining

[severe_td · 10/10 · 7 November 2003]

Forged within the sea of endless '80s teen sex comedies, Hot Moves somehow manages to be much greater than the sum of it parts.

This movie saw almost no time in the theaters, showing up only in a few New York locations in December '85, hoping to lure in cold easterners yearning to do some California dreaming.

Hot Moves certainly has its share of faults. The acting ranges from mediocre to horrible, a lot of the dialog is poorly written, and the movie is peppered with long, "second-unit" scenes on Venice Beach which don't feature any of the cast, and have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie. These parts were obviously "filler", as the running time for the entire movie is 85 minutes. Without these boring sequences, the movie would be well under 80, which wouldn't qualify it as "feature length".

However, despite its aforementioned problems. "Hot Moves" manages to be charming, entertaining, and at times, very funny. Despite the movie's obvious low budget, it still features a completely original 12-song-deep soundtrack, and a lot of the music also has its own campy charm.

Hot Moves is perhaps best known for its "nude beach" scene, where the viewer is treated to the full frontal nudity of dozens of beautiful women, inexplicably running across the sand. Such a display would surely earn an NC-17 rating nowadays, but somehow this movie kept its "R" rating back in 1985.

While I can't complain about the nude women, "Hot Moves" actually stands out in my mind for its frivolous fun and surprisingly creative plot. I have a strong feeling that the writers of "American Pie" must have seen Hot Moves, since the plots are incredibly similar. While American Pie was more "advanced" than Hot Moves, it could be argued that the raw material for Hot Moves was actually better. Oddly enough, when the E! channel toured Seann "Stifler" William Scott's house, he proudly displayed Hot Moves as one of his favorite movie of all times.

Look for Virgil Frye (Soleil Moon Frye's dad) playing a sex shop owner, in an odd cameo.

Rent Hot Moves. It's 85 minutes of fun.

Hot Moves - Hilarious - if you are 14

[xskumbagx · 6/10 · 16 April 2002]

The move was obviously made with the Porky's genre in mind. Unfortunately it was retardedly funny, and the naked women every 15 minutes sucked you in. Total guilty pleasure. I would not rent it, but if it was real late night pay-cable (on a commercial channel this movie would be horrendous), I might watch it again - as long as no one else knew.

Pretty bad teenage sex comedy

[Wizard-8 · 27 May 2012]

"Hot Moves" wasn't exactly a big grosser when it was released to theaters, a big reason probably being that the teenage sex comedy genre was all but dead at that time. But I think a bigger reason why the movie never took off was because it's an AWFUL movie. For starters, there's no real plot on display here - it's pretty much just a collection of vignettes with the loosest of threads holding them together. And while the movie attempts to be comic with just about every vignette, the results are absolutely without any laughs. When it comes to sex and nudity, there is less of that here than you might think - I think there are only three scenes where nudity is on display (though the second scene is jam-packed with naked women.) The cast shows some talent, but the way they are directed makes them come across as alike, without any individualism. There's nothing in this movie that may make it worth a rental to anyone.

The best teen-lust comedy EVER!

[Maitas · 8/10 · 17 November 1998]

Hot moves is by far the best teen-lust comedy I´ve seen. It combines beautiful bikini-chicks with hilarious situations. Barry and his friends want to get laid, but they can´t get any girls. They make a "pact" that each one of them will get laid til´ school starts. Well, after many funny situations including prostitutes and nude beaches, they finally get lucky... Including Deborah "Debbie" Richter, who is also starring in "Cyborg with Jean-Clude van Damme.

On of the best films of the eighties.

[SwedishOyster · 10/10 · 14 May 2003]

Now this one is a classic of the eighties. If you like films like Porky's and Fraternity Vacation, you sure will love this one. Only thing, it's very hard to find. I've been looking all over the place to get it on DVD.

Most enjoyable teen sex comedy of the 1980s

[GeneralPeters004 · 10/10 · 23 August 2015]

This is better than Porky's or Meatballs. Not pretentious at all. There's something magical about the way these guys congregate in that bowling alley. I love the little table in there where they hang out and eat and talk about chicks, and the mini-bowling game in there. I like how when they went on that quadruple date at the end, the four of them still hung out at their little table. Despite all the good-natured jabbing of each other, they really have great friendships. I have to say that I relate to Joey's character the most of the three, and that the other three each remind me of particular guys I knew in high school. A good amount of pizza in this film too....I like how they get a pizza to go at the bowling alley to take back before they go home with the chicks. And the next day, they are sitting around near the beach eating more pepperoni pizza. "Michael" is hilarious. He acts like a selfish pig to Julie Ann which is pretty funny. "Sex won't mean anything to us, Michael." "Speak for yourself- it will mean a HELL of a lot to me"...then at her house ..."I'd like to go with you, but I don't want another date where I go home frustrated. Bye" Then turns around and says "Oh...I miss being with you." But it was great when he tells that meat head lifeguard "why don't you go take a flying fukk!!" This movie is a must-watch for me every summer and then "men of the Year" song captures it too. Plus it's VESTRON VIDEO BABY!

Great movie

[jackson_km13 · 24 January 2004]

I dont care what anyone says the movies in the 80s r by far the best. Lets see ware do u think the people who wrote AMERICAN PIE got there idea mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? This movie yes could of been a lil better put together but u cant even compare movies now days with older ones cause the technology diference is unfair.

gorgeous women in bad movie

[villevee · 8/10 · 28 August 2003]

A pretty bad movie, seems like the director did not know if he was making a movie or a music video for some 80's hair-band. I don't know where they got those vegetable-look-a-like male leads, thats total mystery. Thankfully the female leads save this movie, and there are loads of T&A. Jill Schoelen is ok and Deborah Richter is pretty hot - but it's Monique Gabrielle who makes this movie memorable with her perfect body. She really is the only reason why this movie is not totally forgotten.

It is what it is... and it is great!

[dmgrm · 10/10 · 26 February 2023]

You just don't watch a movie like "Hot Moves" (1984) or "Screwballs" expecting to see a state of art story that will change the way you see the world from now on... You expect to laugh a lot at stupid jokes, see some hot girls on screen and remember how it was like to be a horny teenager with a group of horny friends that will come up with stupid plans to get laid. And THAT you will find here in this movie!

Four friends make a pact to loose their virginty before summer ends, but of course they will have to deal with the most embarrassing situations possible to achieve their goal. That's it. And honestly? It DELIVERS!

And if you need more reasons than that to watch this:Deborah Richter and Monique Gabrielle.

"The" Best Teenage Romp of the 80s

[grichman · 10/10 · 19 April 2020]

This movie has it all. Hot babes without boob implants, Break dancers, BMX riders, skaters, plus Venice Boardwalk in the 80s!! Lotsa good shots of Hollywood Blvd star walk.

There's even a Luigi's Italian Ice sign.... gosh I loved that place. Sadly, it closed 20 years later.

The 15 minuted of awesome filler footage is an 80s time capsule of Venice Beach that is worth it alone. But, the hot naked chicks are WAY HOT!!

Reviewed by a 50yo man.

100 stars out of 10

PS. Raven (the band) wrote the title song and a couple others. Those songs are effing awesome!!!

this is adult movies

[hollybri · 10/10 · 19 December 2022]

Adult movies are usually romantic movies, made for an adult audience. Some of the most famous and notable adult movies today include "Pretty Woman", "Ghostbusters" and the movie that started the movie industry, "The Birth of a Nation". Adult movies are not restricted by ratings such as RG or PG-13, so they may contain intense violence or sexual content; however, it is not uncommon for these films to be rated as R (restricted viewing).

Adult movies are films that feature sexual activity and nudity. They have been produced since the 1970s, but their popularity exploded in the 1990s. Here, we explore what adult movies are, what people like about them (or not), and why they're such a huge industry.

Childhood is difficult enough - it's full of new social pressures, responsibilities and things to learn every day.