Before watching this movie, I had no idea that Roger Vadim had worked with Gene Roddenberry, or that the both of them just may have invented the teen sex comedy.  Granted, you could make a stronger case for Russ Meyer as the progenitor of the genre.  But this forgotten gem from 1971 does have all the archetypes that would become cliché in just about every movie they pumped out in the 80’s and beyond.  

You’ve got your shy, inexperienced virgin looking to score.  Then there’s a horn-dog football coach, a sexy substitute teacher, a ditzy school administrator, a befuddled principal, a bumbling local sheriff, and of course randy cheerleaders abound.  But with this particular film, you also get a cold blooded serial killer.  Because the plot of this movie is centered around a young guy in his awkward coming of age phase set during a killing spree in his high school.  It is an odd mix of tones to try and juggle and Gene Roddenberry’s script with Roger Vadim’s direction just about keep all the balls in the air.  But just barely.  

And partly what keeps this train from derailing is the truly interesting cast they assembled for this picture.  The biggest star would be Rock Hudson as “Tiger,” the school’s free love espousing guidance councilor/football coach.  Angie Dickinson plays the hot to trot substitute teacher who may have some extra “homework” for our virgin main character of Ponce (John David Carter).  Other stand out performers include Telly Savalas as the detective trying to track down the killer (in a pre Kojak role) with James “Scotty” Doohan (in a post Star Trek role) as his partner.  There is also Roddy McDowell as the principal and the great character actor Keenan Wynn as the local cop, who just keeps messing things up.  For a movie like this, it’s hard to image they got so many well known actors.  Granted, we’re not talking A list, but there’s some strong A-/B+’ers in there.  

For those looking back at this film, it does seem somewhat quaint somehow.  Even with a growing body count, there’s nothing neither frightening nor gory about the corpses.  Yet there is plenty of nudity, which you kind of expect from the man who made …And God Created Woman and Barbarella.  And of course with our modern sensibilities, it can be difficult to brush off teachers having sex with students so easily.  Or even accept Rock Hudson as a Casanova with the ladies, knowing what we do about him now.  And I was always waiting for Telly Savalas to have a lollipop in his mouth, even though it would be two more years before his breakout role.  

Yet when you watch this movie, you can pretty much see the DNA that went into such later films as Porky’s and Heathers.  And not surprisingly, if anyone even attempted to combine those two films today it just couldn’t happen.  And yet in 1971, a controversial French director and the man who created Star Trek somehow put all the pieces together and lined up Pretty Maids All in a Row.