Dead Man on Campus

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Dead Man on Campus
DVD cover for Dead Man on Campus
Directed by	Alan Cohn
Produced by	Gale Anne Hurd
Written by	Anthony Abrams Adam Larson Broder
Starring	Mark-Paul Gosselaar Tom Everett Scott
Music by	Matt Mahaffey Mark Mothersbaugh
Cinematography	John Thomas
Editing by	Debra Chiate
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	21 August 1998
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14,000,000 (estimated)
Official website
IMDb profile

Dead Man on Campus is a 1998 comedy starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tom Everett Scott. It centers on the urban legend that you get straight A's if your roommate commits suicide (see: Pass by catastrophe). Two friends attempt to find a depressed roommate in order to push him over the edge and receive A's. It is not to be confused with the film The Curve — originally titled Dead Man's Curve — which came out in the same year and revolves around the same central idea; The Curve was a more suspenseful type thriller.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Trivia
4 External link

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the movie Josh and Cooper find an obscure rule that if their roommate commits suicide then they get perfect GPA's, so they set out to find the most suicidal people. Their first suspect is Cliff, a clingy psycho, who is more likely to get himself (and any one with him) killed than commit suicide. After Josh and Cooper get him to move in, they just want him out. Next they try Buckley Schrank, a computer geek who thinks Bill Gates wants his brain. After they move Buckley in to "keep him safe" they try to help push him over the edge. First, Cooper poses as a suicide hotline volunteer, and when Buckley calls, he tells him that he's Bill Gates and wants his brain. Then, Josh and Cooper stock their dorm room with rope, daggers, and prescription drugs, but seeing this, Buckley thinks that they're trying to kill him and give his brain to Bill Gates, so he runs away from them in terror. Finally, Josh and Cooper move in Matt, a rocker who talks about committing suicide and seems like an overall depressed and mad guy as a solid last resort. The apparent sure-thing makes a 180, though, when Cooper catches him singing show tunes and dancing around in a bathroom. The fact that he was voted Mr.Happy in high school only hardens Cooper and Josh's suspisions that Matt won't ever commit suicide and is a total poser. After all the time wasted on trying to find a suicidal person instead of actually studying, Josh and Cooper are at each other's throats. Josh goes off and acts like he's going to jump off a bridge, and everybody thinks he's going to commit suicide, including Cooper. Cooper gives him this big speech about how he's not a failure, Josh comes down, and they hug just like good friends should. Then Josh tells Cooper that they wouldn't kick out an apparent suicidal person, showing Cooper that it was really a brilliant scheme.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Tom Everett Scott - Josh Miller
Mark-Paul Gosselaar - Cooper Frederickson
Poppy Montgomery - Rachel Gillmore
Lochlyn Munro - Clifford 'Cliff' O'Malley
Randy Pearlstein - Buckley Schrank
Corey Page - Matthew 'Matt' Noonan
Alyson Hannigan - Lucy
Shelley Malil - Biology Professor
Mari Morro - Kristin
Dave Ruby - Zeke
Mark Carapezza .... Hank
Jeff Tarpley - Jerry (as Jeff T.)
Jason Segel - Kyle
Linda Cardellini - Kelly
Aeryk Egan - Pickle

[edit] Trivia

This film was shot on the University of the Pacific campus. Shots of the fraternity house and hallways were taken from Grace Covell Hall, Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon.