Pump Up The Volume

Last week, we lost another one of my favorite musicians, Leonard Cohen. So I thought it would be fitting for me to write about the movie that introduced me to the work of this incredible musician and poet, 1990's Pump Up the Volume.

Mark Hunter, Christian Slater, is the shy new kid at a suburban high school in Arizona. But his shyness fades away at night when he takes to the air on his ham radio under the moniker of Hard Harry. His broadcasts begin to create a following with his teenage peers. But when his rants begin to lead to rebellion at the school, the authorities at the institution take note and do what they can to get Hard Harry off the air.

Slater followed up his role in Heathers with this, cementing him as the rebellious poster boy of the late 80's and early 90's. He's great in these kind of roles and he shows a lot of range in this going from the awkward teen at school to the loud mouth rebel rouser at night. He's a very talented, and I think a bit underrated, actor. Samantha Mathis is also very good in her first role as Slater's love interest. The two would team up again for Broken Arrow.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this was my introduction to Leonard Cohen's music. The film uses two of his songs, Everybody Knows and If It Be Your Will, to great avail. The whole soundtrack pretty much rocks. It includes some great tracks from Peter Murphy, Henry Rollins, Concrete Blonde, and The Pixies to name a few.

It should be no surprise that this film was directed by someone who seems to have a grasp on teen angst and has a great ear for music. It was directed by Allan Moyle, who also helmed Times Square and Empire Records, two terrific movies about rebellious teens with great scores. I loved both of those movies, but Pump Up The Volume is my favorite out of the Moyle cannon.

Pump Up The Volume is one of the better teen entries from the early 90's.

It's available on dvd.