Animal House

"It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!"

1978 1h 49m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,738

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.

“It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

John Belushi
John 'Bluto' Blutarski
Karen Allen
Katy
Tom Hulce
Larry 'Pinto' Kroger
Stephen Furst
Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman
Mark Metcalf
Doug Neidermeyer
Mary Louise Weller
Mandy Pepperidge
Martha Smith
Barbara Sue 'Babs' Jansen
John Vernon
Dean Vernon Wormer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Landis
Writers: Douglas Kenney, Harold Ramis, Chris Miller
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $141M — a 52.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

48 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Landis, shot by Charles Correll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George Folsey Jr. shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Belushi and Karen Allen and Tom Hulce carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Landis directs. Charles Correll behind the camera. Elmer Bernstein scores. George Folsey Jr. cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $141M — a 52.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
348 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by John Landis, shot by Charles Correll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor George Folsey Jr. shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7John Belushi and Karen Allen and Tom Hulce carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!".
9IMDB entry: tt0077975 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "college", "fraternity", "dean", "fraternity house".

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Correll
Original score: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: George Folsey Jr.
Costume design: Deborah Nadoolman Landis
Makeup / hair: Gerald Soucie
Sound: Bill Varney
Stunt coordinator: Gary McLarty
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,700,000
Box office: $141,000,000
Return: 5222% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Animal House (1978)

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2024-01-22
★ 2/10
Dated and not very appealing to the current public. There are comedies that are well-made, elegant, interesting, and there are comedies that are of no interest and will only have some kind of additional appeal to those who saw them when they were young or at the time when they were successful. I think this film fits into the second group: everything takes place on a university campus where the rector tries, with the help of a group of students, to come up with a plan to extinguish a student republic famous for its large number of problems and the poor academic performance. Of course, the students of this republic fueled by beer and madness will find a way to respond in kind. This is a film especially aimed at rebellious teenagers that came out at a time when being rebellious was fashionable. The world was in the aftermath of the Sexual Revolution and struggling with the first problems arising from drug and alcohol abuse that had spread at the beginning of the decade, but there were still those trying to keep this revolutionary flame burning. Today, almost fifty years later, with almost all of these actors experiencing the pain of old age, it is a film that is forgotten and seems completely distant from our current realities. A dated, aged film of no particular interest. For me, the most positive and interesting point that this film had was the inspired and good-humored participation of Donald Sutherland, an actor who is currently a veteran and has a wealth of work and awards to present. Seeing him here seems strange, considering who he is today, but he seems to simply be having fun and enjoying the pleasure of doing what he loves most. I can't say that the rest of the actors did a bad job. I honestly think that they all did very well, within what was asked of them. They simply cannot perform miracles.
Murderer862024-08-02
Filipe Manuel Neto is a retard who says that this timeless classic is ''Dated and not very appealing to the current public''. It's actually a brilliant film and the only people it wouldn't appeal to is left wing Guardian newspaper reading labour voters, but no one cares about any of them anyway. Oh and the film isn't ''early 50 years old'', it's 45 years old. Big difference you old cunt.
tmdbupdown2025-07-29
I am reviewing the previous review rather than the film itself. When the author says "Filipe Manuel Neto is a retard" I give that a big thumbs up. I know retard is a loaded word, it's more than likely he's a failed artist, who is jealous of real artists success, like most critics.