To say that Todd Phillips has had an ongoing cinematic interest in recklessness and debauchery would be an understatement. As the director of “The Hangover,” “Old School,” “Road Trip” and the producer behind this weekend’s R-rated found footage teenage bacchanalia “Project X,” there is no one who is perhaps more tuned in to hedonistic male desires. But even before he made it big, Phillips was exploring what drives young men to the extreme ends of drunkeness and sex.
The director got his start with the notorious G.G. Allin documentary “Hated,” before moving over to HBO to helm “Frat House.” Originally intended for the network’s “American Undercover” series, the one-hour doc premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998 and following accusations that events in the movie were staged, it was permanently shelved. It has popped up online now and again over the years, and seems to have surfaced once more, and no matter if it’s real or fake, it’s a compelling watch. Co-directed with Andrew Gurland (last year’s “The Virginity Hit“), “Frat House” purports to go deep into the unseen world of rush week and the hazing that involves new recruits. The sizzle part of the doc is when Phillips decides to pledge himself in order to accurately experience and document what rushes undergo in order to join a fraternity.
Either way, this is riveting stuff and even from this early on, Phillips and Gurland know a good story when they have one, though how based in reality it is can be put up for debate. Either way, put aside an hour for this and watch below (before it gets yanked).
