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The First Turn-On!! (1983) movie poster

Plot Summary

The First Turn-On!! (1983) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
1983 · 88 mins · English
JustWatch #13,406 6
Directed by
Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz
Starring
Vincent D'Onofrio, Carole Davis, Sheila Kennedy, Mark Torgl, Mitchell Whitfield, Googy Gress

When an avalanche blocks the exit of a mountain cave, a group of teenage summer campers and their counselor are forced to spend hours together. To pass the time, they each recount the details of their first sexual experiences, revealing awkward humor, anxiety and coming‑of‑age revelations.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like The First Turn-On!!
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch The First Turn-On!! (1983)

Where can you watch The First Turn-On!!? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Troma NOW, Fawesome and Tubi TV: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in The First Turn-On!!: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of The First Turn-On!! (1983) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

On the last day of summer at Camp Big-Tee-Pee, hormone-charged teens are eager to head home. While wandering the woods with their ditzy camp counselor Miss Farmer Georgia Harrell, four students — self-proclaimed stud Mitch Michael Sanville, his girlfriend Annie Heidi Miller, Henry Googy Gress, and Danny — sneak off to smoke a bit of cannabis. They slip into a nearby cave to hide from the staff, but a misstep from Henry’s flatulent punchline triggers a landslide that traps them all inside. With time running out and oxygen thinning, they decide to pass the hours by trading stories about how each of them first lost their virginity.

Mitch, a swaggering yet jittery kid, is the first to spin his tale. Michael Sanville plays Mitch, and the story begins with Lucy, an elegant prostitute, picking him up while he’s hitchhiking and inviting him to her luxurious hotel room. Nervous and inexperienced, he enlists the help of his ultrasmarty but less capable friend Jeff, who offers dubious pointers (including the memorable line “when in doubt, whip it out”). Lucy, however, greets Mitch with warmth after Jeff’s bungled attempts, and she repays him with mind-blowing sex that leaves him both awed and overwhelmed.

Henry’s turn follows, and the memory is messy, eerie, and oddly sweet. In a Halloween setup, he dresses as a ghost, only to realize his costume looks suspiciously like a Klan robe because he can’t see through the eye holes. Blinded, he stumbles into the path of flamboyantly gay African-American men who are about to attack a young white woman. They beat Henry, but the woman survives the encounter and, believing Henry’s blunder saved her, falls for him. That night they share a passionate moment beside a heap of donuts, turning danger into an unlikely romance.

Danny’s tale reveals a different kind of fantasy. A porn-obsessed teen, he remembers the day at the beach when he glimpsed a Penthouse Pet, Sheila Kennedy John Flood winking at him in a dream-like moment. Later that night, he finds Sheila waiting for him back in his room, and what follows is a long, charged round of foreplay that becomes an orgy when his brother’s girlfriend joins in. Danny mispronounces the situation, turning it into a chaotic, hazy memory that sticks with him.

Miss Farmer then recounts hers, a high-school romance overshadowed by pain. In her youth she loved her psychotic nerd boyfriend Dwayne Mark Torgl, but he dumped her for another girl at the junior prom. Rather than be sidelined, she moves on with two new boyfriends, and the three of them end up having sex on a bowling alley lane.

As the stories unfold, the oxygen in the cave grows thinner and their fear of suffocation deepens. In a startling truth, they all admit that their tales were fabrications and that none of them has ever lost their virginity. Refusing to die as virgins, they all join in a final, desperate orgy. The relentless rhythm of their bodies triggers another landslide, this one powerful enough to crack open the cave and set them free.

Back at camp, a narrator reveals each of their futures:

- Danny becomes a pornographic actor under the name “Dicky Long.”

- Mitch grows into a priest who also becomes a vocal advocate for gay rights.

- Henry ends up working for the National Cheese Commissioners Board.

- Annie endures a troubled life with eight marriages and a mental breakdown that leaves her a vegetable.

- Miss Farmer goes on to run the government’s Wildlife Preservation program.

The film closes on a striking image: Miss Farmer, now in charge of wildlife, attempts to launch a large trout into flight by tossing it into the air, a final visual that lingers after the echoes of the night in the cave fade away.

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:49

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Plot questions answered

The First Turn-On!! Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about The First Turn-On!! (1983): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

How did Henry's flatulence trigger the cave landslide?

Henry's flatulence occurred at precisely the wrong moment while he was standing near the cave entrance. The comedic premise suggests the force of his gas, combined with the unstable rocky structure of the cave entrance after their earlier movement into the cave, was enough to dislodge a section of the entrance and seal them inside. The film plays this for absurdist humor, treating the flatulence as the literal trigger for the disaster.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the teens are described as having consumed cannabis, which may have contributed to Henry's gastric incident.

  • cave
  • landslide
  • Henry
  • flatulence
  • trapped
Q2

Were the characters' virginity stories actually true?

No. As oxygen runs low and fear sets in, the group admits that every single one of their elaborate tales was a fabrication. None of them has ever had sexual intercourse. Their stories were either exaggerated fantasies, lies they told to appear more experienced, or completely fictional accounts designed to impress each other.

Foreshadowing: The stories become increasingly elaborate and ridiculous as they progress, hinting at their fabricated nature.

  • virginity
  • stories
  • fabricated
  • lying
  • confession
Q3

Why did the group decide to have an orgy in the cave?

Facing suffocation with thinning oxygen and believing they would die trapped inside, the group made a collective decision not to die as virgins. This darkly comedic motivation drives them to all participate in the orgy as their final act before they believe death is imminent.

Foreshadowing: The earlier admission that all their stories were lies establishes that none of them have any actual experience, making the decision to finally 'do it' more desperate and meaningful.

  • orgy
  • cave
  • dying
  • virginity
  • decision
Q4

How did the orgy break the cave entrance open?

The intense physical activity and rhythmic movements of the orgy created powerful vibrations and vibrations through the cave structure. This commotion literally shook loose enough rock from the previously blocked entrance to crack open the cave and allow fresh air to flow in, freeing them. The film presents this as a farcical moment where sexual energy literally becomes a force of liberation.

Foreshadowing: The first landslide was triggered by movement (Henry's gas), establishing that physical disturbance can affect the cave's unstable structure.

  • orgy
  • cave
  • landslide
  • escape
  • vibrations
Q5

What happens to Annie after the cave?

According to the narrator's epilogue, Annie goes on to have eight marriages and ultimately suffers a mental breakdown that leaves her as a vegetable. This surprisingly dark fate for one of the main characters contrasts sharply with the comedic tone of the film and some of the other characters' more absurd but seemingly positive futures.

  • Annie
  • future
  • marriages
  • mental breakdown
Q6

Why does Mitch become a priest and gay rights advocate?

The film reveals that Mitch, the swaggering teen who told the most elaborate virginity story, eventually becomes a priest who also becomes a vocal advocate for gay rights. This ironic transformation from a supposedly sexually experienced young man to a religious figure is played for absurdist comedy, suggesting his experience with the prostitute Lucy somehow led him to this path.

  • Mitch
  • priest
  • gay rights
  • future
  • irony
Q7

What happened to Henry in his ghost costume story?

Henry dressed as a ghost for Halloween but couldn't see through the eye holes of his costume. His costume accidentally resembled a Klan robe, and he stumbled into the middle of a confrontation between flamboyantly gay African-American men and a young white woman they were about to attack. They beat Henry, but the woman believed his accidental interruption saved her and subsequently fell in love with him, leading to a romantic encounter. The scene is deliberately controversial and plays on multiple stereotypes.

  • Henry
  • ghost costume
  • Halloween
  • Klan robe
  • stereotypes
Q8

What is the meaning of Miss Farmer launching the trout at the end?

The final image shows Miss Farmer, now head of a wildlife preservation program, attempting to launch a large trout into flight by throwing it into the air. This absurd, surreal image serves as a comedic bookend to the film's irreverent tone. It suggests she hasn't learned that fish cannot fly, or perhaps she's attempting to give the trout freedom in her own misguided way. The image lingers as a deliberately nonsensical final moment.

  • trout
  • flying
  • ending
  • Miss Farmer
  • absurd
Q9

Why did Lucy the prostitute help Mitch in his story?

In Mitch's fabricated tale, Lucy is initially a prostitute who picks him up while hitchhiking. After Mitch's friend Jeff's awkward seduction attempt accidentally injures her, Mitch helps Jeff leave and cares for Lucy. Her gratitude for Mitch's kindness and loyalty leads her to reward him with the sexual encounter, suggesting that genuine human connection, not transaction, drives her generosity in this story.

  • Lucy
  • prostitute
  • Mitch
  • gratitude
  • reward
Q10

How long were the group trapped in the cave?

The timeline spans from late afternoon on the last day of summer through the night until dawn. The group is trapped for several hours as oxygen slowly depletes, which creates the mounting pressure that leads them first to share stories to pass the time, then to confront their lies about virginity, and finally to attempt the orgy as a desperate final act before they suffocate.

Foreshadowing: The cave's darkness intensifies as night falls, and the group's breathing becomes more labored as time progresses.

  • cave
  • trapped
  • oxygen
  • time
  • hours

Movie threads

More Movies Like The First Turn-On!!, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The First Turn-On!! tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Coming-of-age group confession movies like The First Turn-On!!

Characters bond by sharing their most awkward and humorous formative experiences. If you liked The First Turn-On!!, you'll enjoy these other comedies and dramas where characters connect by telling stories about their first times and awkward teenage years. These films capture a similar vibe of youthful nostalgia and comedic vulnerability.

  • youthful
  • awkward
  • confessional
  • comedic
  • nostalgic
  • farcical
  • Tone: light, humorous, nostalgic
  • Pacing: steady, anecdotal
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These stories use a framing device—being trapped, on a trip, or simply gathered—to prompt a series of flashbacks or anecdotes. The narrative structure is episodic, revealing character depth through humorous and often exaggerated recollections of puberty, first love, and sexual awakening.

Why they belong together: They are grouped by their shared structure of storytelling-as-plot, a light and often farcical tone when revisiting teenage angst, and a focus on the universal, awkward journey from adolescence to adulthood.

Raunchy teen sex comedies with an ensemble cast like The First Turn-On!!

Horny teenagers in exaggerated situations fuel the humor and plot. Looking for more movies like The First Turn-On!!? This list features raunchy teen comedies with ensemble casts, focusing on horny and awkward humor in exaggerated situations, perfect for fans of lighthearted, farcical stories about adolescence.

  • horny
  • youthful
  • farcical
  • awkward
  • comedic
  • slapstick
  • Tone: light, farcical, horny
  • Pacing: steady, joke-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The plot typically involves a simple, high-concept premise that forces the teen characters together, leading to a series of comedic set pieces, misunderstandings, and quests related to sex, popularity, or rebellion. Character arcs are minimal, serving the joke-first pacing.

Why they belong together: They share a specific comedic subgenre defined by youthful energy, a focus on sexual themes played for laughs, ensemble casts, and a farcical tone where awkwardness is the primary source of humor.

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Movies Like The First Turn-On!!

Similar movies to The First Turn-On!!: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Every angle

The First Turn-On!! (1983) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The First Turn-On!! in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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