Orgazmo is a 1997 American comedy film written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated series South Park.
Fresh-faced Joe Young (Trey Parker) is a devout Mormon visiting Hollywood to convert the unenlightened. While spreading the word, Joe is offered $20,000 to star as Captain Orgazmo in an adult film. Taking into consideration his financial insecurity and concerned he will not have enough funds for his upcoming wedding, Joe signs up for the risky and risque job – totally unprepared for the fame heading his way.
Written, directed and starring SOUTH PARK co-creator Trey Parker and featuring creative partner Matt Stone, Orgazmo is a rude and crude farce of hilarious porno proportions, featuring the music of Wu-Tang Clan, The Dust Brothers, Smashmouth, Head Set, DJ Swamp, The Crystal Method, Cogasm (featuring Robert Smith), Ween and Primus.
Orgazmo Review
By ReelViews, James Berardinelli
“If not for the success of South Park, one doubts that Orgazmo would have achieved any kind of distribution outside of the film festival circuit (and, with its NC-17 rating, it's not going to receive much anyway). But South Park is a hit, and suddenly Trey Parker is a hot property. Orgazmo is actually Parker's second feature film (his first, called Cannibal: The Musical, imparts the realization that he's not exactly mainstream). In between his debut movie and this one, he made the animated short "The Spirit of Christmas” (about a kickboxing match between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus), which spun off South Park. Then, following Orgazmo, there was BASEketball, which starred Parker and cohort Matt Stone, although neither was involved in the writing or directing of that project.
Orgazmo is intended to explore new realms of campiness. Uninformed viewers are likely to find their jaws dropping in response to the movie's unapologetic bad taste and the subversive way it embraces poor film making techniques as a means of satirization. It's crude, rude, profane, and funny. (That's the same sort of description applied to both Clerks and There's Something about Mary.) Like many parodies, Orgazmo runs a little too long. Its best moments are during the first half-hour, when almost everything Parker attempts is fresh. The longer the film is on-screen, the more recycled the jokes seem. Still, Orgazmo has great fun mixing, matching, and lampooning three popular motion picture types: the superhero movie, the porn movie, and the “bad movie.”
The story, which is about as preposterous as anything anyone could come up with, features writer/director/actor Parker as a nice, God-fearing Mormon, mighty Joe Young. Joe is trying to convert heathens in Los Angeles when he stumbles upon the house of adult film producer and all-around bad guy Maxxx Orbison (Michael Dean Jacobs). Orbison wants to cast Joe in his new superhero porn movie, Orgazmo, but the young man is reluctant because pornography is against his beliefs. After Orbison promises that there won't be any actual penetration (he'll use a stunt penis), Joe agrees – he needs the $20,000 pay check so he can marry his sweetheart. So, dressed as the defender of all that is good and right, Joe makes his debut as Orgazmo, accompanied by his faithful sidekick, Choda Boy (Dian Bachar).
In order to more effectively spoof the genre, Orgazmo takes the form of a porn movie, with lowbrow, occasionally-inventive comedy replacing sex. Bad writing, amateurish acting, and shoddy production design are all carefully inserted for maximum effect. The arsenal of humor encompasses gay stereotyping, flatulence jokes, fight sequence parodies, attacks on the state of Utah, and visual gags featuring male buttocks and dildos of all shapes, colors, and sizes. In many ways, Orgazmo's style is reminiscent of that of the Keenan Ivory Wayans parody, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka – unpolished but enjoyable.
The cast is comprised of two distinct groups: those who are Parker regulars (Parker, Matt Stone, and Dian Bachar) and adult porn stars who are “crossing over” (including such luminaries as Ron Jeremy, Chasey Lain, and Juli Ashton). Orgazmo levels the field in terms of acting technique – there's no obvious difference between the limp quality of Ron Jeremy's performance and that of the “legitimate” Trey Parker. The director has crafted the movie is such a way that those who want to learn how to act can use Orgazmo as an example of what not to do.
The “cult classics” section of every video store is populated by numerous films as outrageous as Orgazmo, but few are intentionally this bad (most cult classics belong in the “so awful they're good” category). Like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, this movie demands audience participation. When it's available on video, it should make for a great event at parties – it's that kind of movie. Best of all, it proves that there are still directors cut from the John Waters mold who aren't content just to push the envelope – they rip right through it."