Toga parties, drunken romance, food raids and sadistic army cadets make this the film that broke the mould for teen comedy.

It's the American Pie or the Road Trip of its day, only better; a glorious, anarchic college comedy in which the worst house on campus fights back against the system.

The Delta house is the most rowdy on campus; they throw the wildest parties, drink the most beer and take on only the most deranged, least academic students in Faber College.

They're always in trouble and the villainous Dean Wormer (Sky Movies favourite John Vernon) has had enough. "The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me."

But the Deltas aren't going to go without a fight. Flounder, bullied by sadistic cadet leader Niedermeyer, drunkard Bluto (John Belushi in his finest hour) and the philandering Otter (Matheson) all have one final chance to even the score.

Caught with alcohol in the house, something that's banned from fraternities on probation, the guys learn that they have, in fact, been on double secret probation ("whatever that is").

Everything starts to go sour when the entire house is kicked off campus and the frat president tells the guys: "They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!" but Bluto's not ready to give in just yet:

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?" he asks. "What happened to the Delta I used to know?... I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man!"

"Bluto's right," declares Otter, much to his surprise. "Psychotic, but absolutely right.

"We gotta take these b*****ds. Now we could do it with conventional weapons - that could take years and cost millions of lives.

"No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part."

And so begin the preparations for the complete disruption of the homecoming parade - their stupidest prank to date and biggest challenge of their lives.

A masterpiece in anarchy.

Dominic Bloch