Spring break is upon us, that magical time of year filled with vacations, world-ending parties, and college-aged debauchery. Or, if you’re like me, filled with watching movies, sleeping, watching more movies, and occasionally eating. If you find yourself to be more on my end of the spring break-spectrum, here are five movies you can watch to give you all that spring break fun with none of those spring break hangovers.
- Nightmare Beach (1989)
Also known as “Welcome to Spring Break”, this 1980’s slasher film has it all: scantily clad young people, overlong beach parties, and the ghost of a serial-killing motorcyclist who dispatches his victims with electricity. Released at the end of the slasher craze, this schlock-tastic classic features crazy kills, crazier parties, and one of cinema’s weirdest motorcycles. If you take your movies with a gallon of blood and a side of ‘80’s cheese, look no further.
- Spring Breakdown (2009)
Much like 2016’s “Bad Mom’s”, “Spring Breakdown” features some of Hollywood’s funniest woman in a raunchy adult comedy. The film follows three woman (Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch) who must accompany the daughter of a senator to spring break in San Padre in order to keep her out of trouble. With rapid-fire jokes, absurd set pieces, and an unhinged performance by Jane Lynch as the gun-toting senator, “Spring Breakdown” is a hidden gem of a comedy.
- Where the Boys Are (1960)
The original spring break movie, “Where the Boys Are” follows four college girls who travel to Fort Lauderdale to meet men and have a good time. Considered progressive in 1960, the film created the template not just for spring break movies, but also for the entire teen-beach-party subgenre. Featuring nonstop gags and a killer theme song, “Where the BoysAre” is a true classic that’s just as filled with laughs today as it was back in the day.
- Spring Breakers (2013)
Harmony Korine’s controversial ode to spring break plays like a demented, sexed-up version of “Where the Boys Are”. The film also follows four college girls determined to enjoy spring break, but in “Spring Breakers”, the girls fund the trip by robbing a restaurant, and their trip eventually descends into a haze of drugs, drinking, and crime. Former child stars like Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens play the leads. They are joined by James Franco as Alien, a giggling amateur rapper/bank robber. “Spring Breakers” is a one of a kind movie: no matter what I can guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it.
- Piranha 3D (2010)
“Piranha 3D” is some of the most fun you can have watching a movie. The set-up is simple: a huge wave of college-aged partiers descend upon a small-town lake for spring break, except this year the lake is full of man-eating piranhas. With blood, gore, and nudity to spare, the film doesn’t slow down for a second, throwing colorful, blood-soaked laughs at the screen with every scene. If you still aren’t sold, the movie contains a scene of Ving Rhames fighting back against the killer fish with an outboard motor. For that alone, “Piranha 3D” is truly the best spring break movie ever made.
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