Pump up the Volume **** (1990, Christian Slater, Scott Paulin, Ellen Greene, Samantha Mathis) – Classic Movie Review 835

Allan Moyle’s 1990 comedy drama film Pump up the Volume stars Christian Slater as an Arizona suburban high school lad who moonlights as a pirate radio disc jockey.

Writer-director Allan Moyle’s 1990 comedy drama film Pump up the Volume stars Christian Slater as a Phoenix, Arizona, suburban high school lad called Mark Hunter who moonlights as a pirate radio disc jockey (called Hard Harry or Happy Harry Hard-on) in his spare time.

Mark broadcasts an FM pirate radio station from his parents’ basement and is infamous for giving late-night groovy advice to his teenage listeners and upsetting their parents and the authorities. The station’s theme song is the sombre 1988 number ‘Everybody Knows’ by Leonard Cohen: ‘Everybody knows that the dice are loaded’ and ‘Everybody knows that the good guys lost’.

Pump up the Volume is aimed solidly and engagingly at the teen market, but it is quite a bit more thoughtful and intelligent than usual. And it is given some considerable unexpected quality by Slater’s intense and supremely engaging performance, as well as the clever ideas in Moyle’s well-honed script, which is packed with decent and crafted dialogue.

Not all of it works, but the best of it is very good indeed. The fresh performances help it a lot. The young Slater is a delight and so is and Samantha Mathis as his girlfriend Nora De Niro.

Scott Paulin as Slater’s dad Brian, Mimi Kennedy as his mom Marla, plus Ellen Greene, Annie Ross as the Principal, and Cheryl Pollak, all give loyal support.

It was released by New Line Cinema on August 24, 1990.

Siskel and Ebert gave it Two Thumbs Up. It says so on the DVD cover.

Pump Up the Volume cinema release poster.

The cast

The cast are Christian Slater as Mark Hunter, Samantha Mathis as Nora De Niro, Annie Ross as Principal Loretta Creswood, Andy Romano as Mr Murdock, Scott Paulin as Brian Hunter, Ellen Greene as Jan Emerson, Mimi Kennedy as Marla Hunter, Anthony Lucero as Malcolm Kaiser, Billy Morrissette as Mazz Mazzilli, Robert Schenkkan as guidance counsellor David Deaver, Cheryl Pollak as Paige Woodward, James Hampton as Arthur Watts of the Federal Communications Commission, Lala Sloatman as Janie, Ahmet Zappa as Jaime, Seth Green as Joey, and Justin Hessling as Holden Chu.

Director Moyle’s very bright and jolly 1995 teen comedy drama Empire Records is very much in the same happy, anarchic vein. It’s set around Anthony LaPaglia’s independent record store of the title, where the employees learn about each other as they try all they can to stop the store being absorbed by a large chain.

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