Dead Man on Campus (1998)

Two college roommates go out and party, resulting in bad grades. They learn of the clause that says, "If your roommate dies, you get an A," and decide to find someone who is on the verge, so to speak, to move in with them.

Director:

Alan Cohn

Writers:

Anthony Abrams (story), Adam Larson Broder (story),

Stars:

Tom Everett Scott, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Poppy Montgomery

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Everett Scott	...	Josh
Mark-Paul Gosselaar	...	Cooper
Poppy Montgomery	...	Rachel
Lochlyn Munro	...	Cliff
Randy Pearlstein	...	Buckley
Corey Page	...	Matt
Alyson Hannigan	...	Lucy
Mari Morrow	...	Kristin
Dave Ruby	...	Zeke
Mark Carapezza	...	Hank
Jeff Tarpley	...	Jerry (as Jeff T)
Jason Segel	...	Kyle
Linda Cardellini	...	Kelly
Aeryk Egan	...	Pickle
Judyann Elder	...	Guidance Counselor

Storyline

Two college roommates go out and party, resulting in bad grades. They learn of the "if your roommate dies, you get an A" clause, and decide to find someone who is "on the verge" so to speak to move in with them.

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Plot Keywords:

roommate | college | student | college roommate | party | 

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Taglines:

Roommate Wanted...For a Limited Time Only

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use, language and crude sexual humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un cadavre sur le campus

Filming Locations:

7th Street Bridge, Modesto, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,704,688 (USA) (21 August 1998)

Gross:

$15,062,898 (USA) (20 November 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, MTV Productions, Pacific Western

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Professor Durkheim is presumably named after the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, who was the first academic to study suicide extensively.

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Goofs

When Cooper and Josh are breaking into the library at night, Cooper wraps the rope around a support beam. When Josh takes up the slack to lower Cooper into the library, the rope he is holding dangles loosely down, revealing it to not be taking any weight and also showing it's not wrapped around the beam. He also doesn't move at all when Cooper drops in and supposedly puts about 180 pounds of weight on the other end of the rope that Josh is holding.

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Quotes

Cliff: I live in a Frat House, right? And these fuckers wanna kick me out for not observing quiet hour!
[shouting]
Cliff: Well, they can SUCK my QUIET COCK!

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, names of cast and crew appear as answer choices on a Scantron test form and booklet.

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Connections

Spoofs Carrie (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Super Bon Bon (Propellerheads Mix)"
Written by Sebastian Steinberg, Mark De Gli Antoni (as Mark Degliantoni), Mike Doughty (as Michael Doughty) & Yuval Gabay
Performed by Soul Coughing
Courtesy of Slash Records / Warner Bros. Records Inc. by arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

A film for idiots. 8/10

I'm an idiot. I loved this movie. Not only did I watch it MORE than once, I bought the DVD so now I have the benefit of watching this highly underrated piece of trash anytime I want. Let me do a brief description of Dead Man on Campus for those out there who don't know: An uptight med-student Scott (Werewolf in Paris) moves in with constantly partying Gossellar (you guessed it, Saved by the Bell) and starts to loosen up a bit. In the midst of all the all-night beer blasts and sex, the two start flunking out. They hear from a drunk, that if a roomate kills himself, then the other will be awarded a 4.0 grade-average. So starts the search for a suicidal roommate.

Now the premise is nowhere near as funny as it thinks, but what really gives this one staying power is its assortment of characters. Everyone loves Cliff O'Malley and his "I got some beers....Let's drink em'!!!" and who can ever forget the pseudo, British goth-boy Matt Noonan. His hairbrush scene is a riot and worth a rental in itself.

This is a no-brainer movie people and it's exactly what you would expect from an MTV production. The only thing missing is the gratutitus nudity that was so prevalent in the slew of college party-comedies of the 80s. What the hell, you can't have everything right? This one has almost enough laughs to make up for it. Call the boys over, crack open some Coors and laugh your ass off.