Kelly the Coed 17: Back to the Frat Review

Distributor: Heatwave Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Barely Legal Also known as: Kelly the Coed — Part 17, Kelly the Coed — Part 17: Back to the Frat, Kelly the Co-Ed 17, Kelly the Coed 17: Back to the Frat Run Time: 105 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2003 Director: Jim Powers Written by: uncredited Cast: Allysin Chaynes (as Allyson Chaynes), Gia Paloma, Alexis Taylor, Julie Knight, Allison Whyte, Gavin Marx (as Gavin), John West, Kris Slater, Marc Cummings, Rick Masters, Robbie James, Scott Lyons, Flick Shagwell Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

The original Kelly the Coed, Allysin Chaynes, who hasn't been seen since volume 11 returns as Kelly in the 17th installment of this series from Powers. Jim Powers could have done something with this — especially since this series has been circling the drain for ages now — why not have fun with the return of Chaynes. But no, why do that? In this entry we get the same old crap Powers keeps churning out. Kelly has been gone for a semester due to academic probation and she is now concentrating on her studies and cutting down on partying and fucking. Or so the beginning of the film tells us.

The first scene, of course, finds Kelly fucking a professor along with another Pi Pi sorority girl and any chance of a plot goes out the window. The movie follows the set-up of the entries that it follows, inane set-ups followed by sex with a little narration to try and make the viewer think they are watching something connected. Powers works really hard to prove that the Pi Pi girls are so stupid that they never would have been able to make it to college anyway. For instance, in the first set-up Alexis (Alexis Taylor) is unable to spell the word macro.

Powers could have gone — or should have gone — with a Christmas theme for this entry. Just think Christmas at State University. He should have gone with a Christmas theme because he shot the movie shortly before Christmas so the fraternities are decorated with Christmas decorations, lights, and a Christmas tree. However in true Powers fashion, this is completely ignored.

Powers uses a combination of cheap sets, a frat house, and a little footage shot outside on a college campus. The outdoor footage is mostly used with narration added later but a little bit actually has some dialog. This time around Powers seems to be using a PIKE house for the stand in for his Delta house. Why he doesn't just go with the Greek letters that are in the house I have no idea, he must be really fond of those Delta sweatshirts he had made several volumes ago.

The sex scenes look nice but fall to the problem that is showing up more and more in this series annoying frat boys screaming throughout sex scenes. Powers hasn't obliterated the natural sound of the sex with music but that would be preferable to frat boys incessantly screaming at the top of their lungs as happens way too often in this volume. Oddly, in one of the scenes Julie shows up briefly to be later forgotten and Flick Shagwell can be seen in the crowd but is never used. As is his normal still photography goes off while the sex scenes are going on so the flashes can be seen.

Heatwave has done a decent job with this release with some errors bringing it down Kelly the Coed 17 is presented in the full screen aspect ratio. The transfer for the most part is crisp and clear with nice color representation. The picture has jerky movement when the camera is panning and there is action going on. There are occasional digital artifacts present as well.

Kelly the Coed 17 is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. The music is way louder than the narration and the dialog. The narration is louder than the dialog. This doesn't make the movie the best listening experience. The audio suffers when there are frat boys screaming at the top of their lungs over loading the microphones Powers used casing these portions to sound absolutely horrific.

Heatwave has included a few extras on this release. There is what is labeled as behind the scenes but offers interviews with the cast then masturbation, no actual behind the scenes footage. This piece runs for 31 minutes. There is also a photo gallery included on the disc. Heatwave has also included the original 1998 movie Kelly the Coed, just to show you how far down this series has fallen over 17 volumes.

Kelly the Coed 17 brings back Allysin Chaynes as Kelly but has nothing to really offer the viewer. Unless you are a major fan of the series and must own them all, I would avoid this entry. Heatwave has done a decent job with the release but it still contains errors.

Kelly (Allysin Chaynes) is a freshman at college and since it is Rush Week, she is looking to go to all the frat parties. Amidst all the collegiate activities going on, she and her friend Holly (Gwen Summers) go to a party at the Omega house where they get busy with some frat boys.

This is the first film in the seemingly never ending Kelly the Coed series (numbering 20 movies) which has also created a spin off series, Chrissy the Campus Slut. So the question is, is the movie really good enough to have made this many sequels? The answer is no. Cheap production values, constantly reused sets each time only slightly changed, poor acting ability and a laughably bad script harm what could have been a much better film. This is not to say that Kelly the Coed isn't entertaining, but it could have been much more so. Some good scenes are rushed, like early in the film when Kelly and her study buddy are playing strip quarters, some eroticism is lost from this scene as we are hurriedly rushed into the blow job portion instead of letting the scene build up.

The script is just simply awful, no attempt was made to make the dialog sound even remotely realistic, however, the basic story line isn't bad, it is enough to carry the film. Most of the cast proves they have no potential in starring in any film where acting ability is required. Proof of this requires the viewer to go no further than the opening scene where Mark Vega and J.J. Michaels are talking to Allysin Chaynes that comes off with Vega and Michaels looking like remedial acting students.

The cast for the most part is good looking with one exception which is Annabel Chong whose looks blow any chance of her scene being any good. Allysin Chaynes really appears to be having fun in this film which raises it above the level it would have normally fallen to. The rest of the cast is your average adult film fare.

The technical aspect of the film is low. In outdoor lighting scenes the sun location was never taken into account so when the camera pans back and forth people's faces darken. In some of the indoor scenes, not enough lighting was used. As mentioned earlier, the sets are reused with just a few prop changes, which pulls from the film. Often in college dormitories areas within one dorm look similar, but not that similar.

All in all, not a bad film, but a far cry from those that came out during the golden age of adult films. Worth a watch and/or picking up if the price is cheap enough. Enough variants in sexual acts should please all viewers as everyone should find something to their liking in the film.

Kelly the Coed is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The original movie was shot on video instead of film and the picture reflects it. There are some video problems with the shooting however. The movie sports good color levels and as good a clarity as possible considering the limitations of the source material. Sometimes when the camera pans the image looks choppy, which could be due to the encoding on the disc or the limitations of the original equipment.

Kelly the Coed is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. For the most part, spoken dialog is clear and above the music level. Occasionally the music level does rise above the dialog.

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