Just when you thought that the pie was gone, Universal manages to serve up another slice onto DVD. This latest sequel finds the Stifler from the last sequel heading to college where he hooks up with a frat and the partying begins.
Erik Stifler (John White) and his pal Mike “Cooze” Coozeman (Jake Siegel) have graduate high school and are going to college. They think they’ve got an easy in because Erik’s cousin Dwight (Steve Talley) is in the hard-partying Beta House. The house faces some competition when the Geek House, who want the Betas thrown off of campus.
They eventually challenge the Betas to the banned Greek Olympiad competition. The former winner of the games returns to judge the games – Mr. Levenstein (Eugene Levy). Meanwhile, the somewhat virginal (kinda) Erik has fallen for Ashley (Meghan Heffern) but must both compete in the games as well as pass the arduous (well not really) Olympiad.
The original cast of the American Pie films have moved on to other careers and left the sequel factory. A studio isn’t likely to let go of a moneymaking thing so Universal brought in some new faces and kept Eugene Levy on the payroll.
This sequel comes across as a variation on Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds. This time the nerds are the bad guys as they take on the horny Betas and attempt to get the toss off campus. The Betas are a mixture of college frat stereotypes and the sex jokes fly fast and furious.
I’d have to say that this really isn’t the best in the series, it’s the sixth sequel the formula is pretty much wearing out by now. This film is a direct sequel to the last one, Naked Mile, and only continues the mediocrity. This film is the unrated version so you can expect some more nudity and sex jokes, but also some unrated extras.
Beta House is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary from director Andrew Waller, writer/co-producer Erik Lindsay and actors John White, Steve Talley, Jake Siegel, Meghan Heffern, Nic Nac (“Bobby”) and Bradford Anderson (“Jake”).
Next are 15 minutes of deleted storylines with optional commentary form the participants above as well as 4 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary. Next is 3 minutes of outtakes and an exclusive 3-minute interview with Mr. Levenstein (Eugene Levy in character). The 6-minute “Behind the Games” is an interview with the director and the 13-minute “Beta House – Not Just Another Slice of Pie” is a making of program.
The “Boobie Yule Log” is 4 different scenes of tits (about 2 minutes each). The 3-minute “Nuts about Pie” has the cast hitting each in the nuts… sigh. The 2 minute “American Pie Presents: A Public Service Announcement” has the cast saying don’t what we do in the movie. The 2 minute “UGO’s Foxy Fan on the Set” has some chick (from the Fox Network?) visiting the set.
There are also “Won More Time” and “Luv T’Day” music videos by God Made Me Funky (2 minutes each). Oddly, there’s also a 21-minute episode of 30 Rock called “Hand Ball.” I guess that it’s just to promote the show because I didn’t see a connection to the film (not that I looked too hard though).
Beta House is more of the same from those secondary pie makers. It has some funny bits but it really doesn’t rise much beyond bathroom humor. Take a slice if you liked Band Camp or Naked Mile. Others might get indigestion.
