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

Josh, (Scott) a college student on a scholarship, gets taught the about crazy nightlife of being in college by his unreliable roommate Cooper (Gosselaar) and fails his midterms due to being unprepared. With Cooper's father no longer willing to pay his son's way through college, and Josh needing to keep up his grades or risk losing his scholarship, the two learn of a hidden clause in the school's rules that basically says "if your roommate commits suicide, you get straight A's." Since neither are willing to do so, they instead decide to invite a suicidal colleague in. - and push him over the edge.

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Plot Keywords:

drug abuse | college dormitory | intoxication | perscription drug | prescription drug abuse | 

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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 USA:

$4,704,688, 23 August 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,062,898, 22 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

The priest at the end of the movie is played by patrick thomas obrien, who played Mr Dewey on Saved By The Bell, one of Zack Morris' regular teachers.

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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

Matt: [after he gets caught singing a show tune by Cooper] Oh fuck me!
Cooper: What were you just doing?
Matt: What? Nothing!
Cooper: Oh no, don't tell me nothing, you were just singing a show tune!
Matt: You're crazy, I'd never do that.
Cooper: You can't be suicidal if you're singing show tunes!
Matt: I am suicidal.
Cooper: You're not even depressed!
Matt: Of course I'm depressed, look at me.
[hunches over]
[...]

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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

Referenced in LA to Vegas: The Yips and the Dead (2018)

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Soundtracks

Hell
Written by Tom Maxwell (as Thomas Maxwell)
Performed by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Courtesy of Mammoth Records

User Reviews

pee-your-pants hilarious

I rented this with my friend one night, some years ago, I still consider it the best comedy I've seen in my entire life. We were literally in pain all through out the film, we laughed so hard that for most of the movie we were on the floor holding our stomachs! Then we watched it again right after and then the next day and laughed as hard as the first time. I remember Mark-Paul Gosselaar from Saved By The Bell, I had no idea he could be this funny. The cast is diverse and completely wild, especially the possibly-suicidal-roommate candidates that the two main characters are trying to lure to stay with them. Corey Page (from Heartbreak High) is completely phenomenal as the over-the-top angsty, brooding goth-rocker Matt and Lochlyn Munro (Charmed) is just too much as the crazy frat guy Cliff, these two guys gave us the best laughs. Also I liked the relationship between the main characters, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tom Everett Scott. It's that kind of "lets go do something stupid together" kind of thing and you can also see they really care about each other. As a hilarious comedy, the movie also has a little depth to it towards the end, which i really liked.

Also for Buffy fans there is Alyson Hannigan who is a great comedic actor as you can see from the American Pie-movies and of course from Buffy.

If you like the Pauly Shore-type of humor, and crazy ideas and general crazyness, you should love this film. There wasn't a moment during, that I wasn't completely thrilled to be watching it. I give it 10+!