| Return to Horror High (1987) Dir: Bill Froehlich Cast: Brendan Hughes, Vince Edwards, Scott Jacoby, Lori Lethin, Philip McKeon, Alex Rocco, Maureen McCormick, George Clooney, Darcy DeMoss Rated R, Approx: 94 minutes Anchor Bay Entetainment DVD |
| This clever little effort isn't necessairly a spoof of slasher films contrary to popular belief, but rather, it's a lampooning of the low budget filmmaking process in general. To sum it up rather crudley, imagine a sort of horror variation of The Stunt Man and you have an idea somewhat of how this one plays out. I've always been of the impression that this little movie never got the attention it deserved and I'm confident that if ithad belonged to another genre, more praise would've surrounded it. Alas, it's a horror movie and as we all know, horror films can't really be clever, enjoyable or entirely successful for that matter. It's a result of this popular (albeit STUPID) opinion that you've probably never heard anything good about Return to Horror High (for the love of God, please don't even read the IMDb reviews for this one!) and that's unfortunate for this twisty little skewering of the world of quickie filmmaking is really very good. |
| In 1982, a series of gruesome murders devestated Crippen High School, the killer was never caught and as a result, the school was closed down. Flash forward a few years later to the cast and crew of a low budget horror movie led by sleazy producer Henry Sleerik (the uproarious Alex Rocco), who seeks to make an exploitation film based on the 1982 murders in the very place which they happened. As the genre would have it, the uncaught killer still stalks the halls of crippen high and before long, various members of the cast and crew are being killed much to the chargrin of not only Sleerik, but the director as well, Josh Forbes (Scott Jacoby), both who believe the vanishings are nothing more than the typical fleeting of a low budget crew. |
| This is really a very funny film. Of course its structure is guaranteed to annoy or at least confuse some viewers, the jumbling of both fantasy and reality may be a hackneyed, but I think the frame of the picutre helps in making it at least stand out from the slew of slashers which were being released at the time. The film opens in the present, where we discover the film crew has been slaughtered by a mysterious (and again) uncaught killer, the sole survivor helps to recount the events which led to the slayings (consequently this is the production of the film), and finally during the making of the film, we're treated to flashbacks (which are scenes recreated for the movie) to events where the killer first begun to rampage. Throughout the course of the movie, things tend to get a little akward and confusing, but it's best not to concentrate on getting the plot entirely straight, this was all done in fun and there are mometns which fail to add up to the overall scheme. That's not to suggest that there isn't a certain degree of intelligence to go along with the film, I would theorize that many negative reviews were a result of confusion on the part of viewers not expecting something so meaty. |
| Most genre fans should get a kick out of this one as should those even remotely familiar with low budget filmmaking. Where Return to Horror High shines the brightest is in its many jokes pertaining to the industry. We have a lead actor (George Clooney in an early and very small role) who quits on the spot because he landed the role on a new Miami Vice-esque television series ("I hope they cancel your series Oliver!" says Rocco to Clooney at one point), a writer who concieved the film as more of a 'psychological thriller' and watches his script suffer constant rewrites at the hands of the producer and director in favor of more exploitation. There's a director who constatnly rambles about the artistic integrity of the piece and whines about the tactless suggestions of his producer, an actress (Lori Lethin) who believes that her scenes would work best without nudity and a policeman (the underused Brendan Hughes of Howling VI) who's hired to replace an actor after he's killed, just to save a few bucks. Rounding out the colorful crew is the aforementioned sleazy producer, who at the request of his actress, commissions the writer to concoct a tender moment between her and a friend, one to showcase her acting chops, "but set it in the shower so we can see their tits", is his only request. |
| Short on scares, there are some wonderfully horrific moments throughout to keep the target audience watching. The discoverey of the murdered film crew is farily gruesome if played entirely for laughs. The Brady Bunch's own Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady) shows up as a cop who gets increasingly bloodier as the film goes on (she looks really attractive splattered in grue, but maybe that's just me!), but she's really fun to watch and makes a welcome escape from her past stigma, although she'll probably always be known as Marcia in the mainstream, I'll take her in this one any day! Easily the coolest moment is the dissection of the sadistic biology teacher, where he's pinned to a desk before being sliced open, there's enough throughout the film to keep slasher fans wholly satisfied, although it's not outrageously gory, it's still rather bloody. |
| Return to Horror High has been a favorite of mine for several years and it's great to see Anchor Bay release this one, while short on extras (I would've really loved a director's commentary with this one), you can see one of the coolest trailers ever not to mention the film's widescreen presentation featuring a pristine transfer which makes it look as though it were made yesterday. I'd reccomend this one rather highly, marred only by an annoyingly boisterous killer in the brief climax, it's still a ton of fun. Featuring a cast of colorful charcters all of which are entertaining and likable throughout, a few fun twists and turns and plenty of inspred moments, this is a gem worthy of rediscovery now that it's debuted on DVD. |
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| Matt's Review: **** (out of 5) |
| Reviewed by Matt Serafini 06/07/02 |
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