Splitz is one of the thousands of teen-sexploitation comedies that came pooting out of Hollywood's backside in the wake of Animal House. Some, like Porky's, were pretty good. Splitz, however, seems like four unrelated scripts loosely tied together with a bit of kite string.

But if you're looking for a terrific performance by Robin Johnson, Splitz is well worth seeing. Gina is a two-dimensional character in a one-dimensional cast. She's almost fully fleshed-out... she's a talented, dedicated lead guitarist with a smartass sense of humor, who is compelled to intervene when she sees injustice being done, which is good because it's the only thing that gets what little plot this movie has going. There's only one or two places where she has to do something out-of-character. And she manages to get some genuine laughs out of the less-than-stellar dialog.

So what's the film about? Well... the Splitz are a struggling all-girl rock band, who are also apparently college students, who ally themselves with the "misfit" sorority in their battle to survive against the two "cool" sororities and the evil dean. That's two stories right there... there are two or three more, like Gina's ex-mobster father, that I'm not gonna bother with here.

Unfortunately, the songs are all prerecorded, and the singing voice obviously ain't her, so she's demoted from lead lip-syncher (that task going to co-star Patti Lee), but she does a very good job miming the lead guitar fingering. She's listed first in the cast, so it seems that the producers thought she was the film's main selling point (and she is, especially now), but the "story" kinda forgets about her most of the way through, and it's written from the point of view of Chuck the Manager (Chuck McQuary) anyway. There isn't even a picture of her anywhere on the box of my video copy.

One interesting point... the crappy club Splitz plays at the beginning, to an indifferent audience of rednecks and pirates (???)... that scene was shot in CBGBs.

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Believe it or not... Splitz has been released on DVD! With an alternate soundtrack in Spanish, so I hear, for whatever that's worth. No, I haven't seen it yet, but my copy is on it's way, and if you want one and wanna help support the site at the same time, get it here -->

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