Oh wow! Karen Sheperd does a Mondo movie! Yeah, I found California Girls (1983) at a very cheap price. Most sellers want close to $40 biggins for this one. For $40, I could buy the Zombie Blu-ray DVD combo. The plot, such as it is, an LA disc jockey with low ratings decided to boost his ratings by finding The Most Exciting California Girl. The viewer is then treated to various women looking to be the California girl. Women are skydiving, tennis, foxy boxing, bodybuilding and of course, Karen doing Karate to a cover version of Knock on Wood. Who wins is irrelevant, but if you must know: three struggling actresses win. When I asked the karate Diva about this film, she replied "It was the first time she saw herself on the big screen". Don't expect to see this on Blu-Ray/DVD, the rights to the soundtrack alone would be murder. How did the producers afford to get Kool and the Gang, Blondie, The Go-Gos and many more 80s icons for the soundtrack?
4 Reviews
Why is this film so obscure?
Madison-814 April 2009
Okay, granted, the plot of the movie is nothing we didn't see in a kajillion other sex comedies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but with a massive soundtrack of nothing but the biggest songs of the time (Foreigner, Blondie, Queen, the Police, etc.) and even a portion of the film shot at a live NFL Rams game, you would figure it would be more well-known than it is. Given the skimpy listing it has here on IMDb, it's surprising. I can understand it not being on DVD - the music rights alone would cost a fortune - but it's a shame it's not even "cult classic" enough to have more than one comment on here before mine.
Not Your Average T&A film
zep-34 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Weird but enjoyable obscure early 80's T&A comedy. Not so much a movie as an advertisement for sunny southern California.
The "plot" (which is just an excuse to show things women do in Southern California) is that a local DJ sees his ratings dropping so he comes up with a $10k contest to find the most exciting girl in California. 3 cute girls are listening and try to figure out a way to win. They decide being naked is the answer and first try nude horse riding,then nude roller skating and finally nude skydiving.
There is barely any of the "plot",instead about 2/3 of the movie consists of various stock footage of Southern California activities. This film is filled with stock footage of events and places around the Los Angeles area with an awesome (mostly new wave) song behind each "scene". We see Venice beach,the LA Rams cheerleaders,the LA T-birds,mud wrestling,aerobics classes,kung fu classes,skydiving,hang gliding,wind surfing in Malibu,Knotts Berry Farm,Madame Wongs West club,Foxy Boxing,lots of roller-blading and more.
Great soundtrack,not sure how they were able use all these big name groups in such a low budget film
Not as much nudity as you'd expect in this kind of film,but he 3 girls all go full frontal.
Grab a VHS if can find it,this will never make it to DVD.
The "plot" (which is just an excuse to show things women do in Southern California) is that a local DJ sees his ratings dropping so he comes up with a $10k contest to find the most exciting girl in California. 3 cute girls are listening and try to figure out a way to win. They decide being naked is the answer and first try nude horse riding,then nude roller skating and finally nude skydiving.
There is barely any of the "plot",instead about 2/3 of the movie consists of various stock footage of Southern California activities. This film is filled with stock footage of events and places around the Los Angeles area with an awesome (mostly new wave) song behind each "scene". We see Venice beach,the LA Rams cheerleaders,the LA T-birds,mud wrestling,aerobics classes,kung fu classes,skydiving,hang gliding,wind surfing in Malibu,Knotts Berry Farm,Madame Wongs West club,Foxy Boxing,lots of roller-blading and more.
Great soundtrack,not sure how they were able use all these big name groups in such a low budget film
Not as much nudity as you'd expect in this kind of film,but he 3 girls all go full frontal.
Grab a VHS if can find it,this will never make it to DVD.
Beyond poor
lor_12 February 2023
My review was written in September 1984 after watching the movie on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.
"California Girls" is an oddball feature, lensed in 1981 and released only on video cassettes. Filmmaker William Webb has packed in as many full-length pop songs (hits by top acts such as The Police, Blondie, Queen, and Kool & the Gang) as possible, but this docu-style travelog is of only minor interest.
The problem is an absence of workable storyline and narrative footage. Structured around deejay Mad Man Jack (Al Music doing a variable and tiresome imitation of Wolfman Jack) running a contest to find the most exciting California girl, pic over 80% shots of pretty girls in action, silent docu-style while songs play on the soundtrack.
Innumerable types of local leisure activities are depicted, including windsurfing, cheerleading, motorcycling, aerobic dancing, weightlifting, hang gliding, foxy boxing and mud wrestling, but the level of viewer involvement is too low to qualify even for drive-in slotting. As a cassette offering, it's tolerable background material.
Interjected is lame subplot of three aspiring actresses trying to win the contest and a $10,000 prize for doing odd stunts in thenude outside Mad Mn Jack's window. Occest elemente here is that despite its plethora of hit music, film does not feature the Beach Boys' title song.
"California Girls" is an oddball feature, lensed in 1981 and released only on video cassettes. Filmmaker William Webb has packed in as many full-length pop songs (hits by top acts such as The Police, Blondie, Queen, and Kool & the Gang) as possible, but this docu-style travelog is of only minor interest.
The problem is an absence of workable storyline and narrative footage. Structured around deejay Mad Man Jack (Al Music doing a variable and tiresome imitation of Wolfman Jack) running a contest to find the most exciting California girl, pic over 80% shots of pretty girls in action, silent docu-style while songs play on the soundtrack.
Innumerable types of local leisure activities are depicted, including windsurfing, cheerleading, motorcycling, aerobic dancing, weightlifting, hang gliding, foxy boxing and mud wrestling, but the level of viewer involvement is too low to qualify even for drive-in slotting. As a cassette offering, it's tolerable background material.
Interjected is lame subplot of three aspiring actresses trying to win the contest and a $10,000 prize for doing odd stunts in thenude outside Mad Mn Jack's window. Occest elemente here is that despite its plethora of hit music, film does not feature the Beach Boys' title song.
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