Slaughter High
1986
Director: George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, Peter Litten
Stars: Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore, Carmine Iannaccone
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons

Yes, you read that correctly, it took three people to direct (and write) this movie. Usually that’s a blaring, neon sign of a warning to stay away from a movie. However against all odds, I have always liked this strange little flick, probably more than it deserves, to be honest. Now it does check off many boxes in my wheelhouse. It’s an 80s film and it really feels like an 80s film, complete with a “where’s the beef?” joke. More specifically it’s a 80s slasher movie with all the tropes present: “teens,” a joke gone too far, a reunion, sex in unlikely places at unlikely times, bloody kills, and a masked killer out for revenge. It has a soundtrack by Mr. Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma himself, Harry Manfredini. And last but in no way least, Caroline Munro, who always has my attention in anything she does.

This 1986 slasher flick started life out as April Fool’s Day. But then Paramount Pictures released a movie by that title in the same year, but beat this movie by a couple of months. So the story goes that Paramount reached out to these guys, asked them to change their title, and paid them some cash to do. One name change later we get a high school (in the UK posing as Massachusetts) with a class full of the oldest “teens” you have ever seen. Really, Caroline Munro was thirty-six when they made this movie. Don’t get me wrong, she was still hot as hell, but far from a high school senior. Anyway, the cool kids club pulls a prank on the class nerd, Marty, which results in the kid getting burned and have acid poured over his face. Year later the cool kids are all invited to a class reunion. But they’re the only ones invited and the school has been closed for a long time. Yep, it’s Marty. He’s back with a jester’s mask and with murder on his mind.

What follows is pretty much Slasher 101, but it works. There’s nudity, some good gore, decent stalk and slash, people making bad life choices, and an ending that should be a surprise to no one if they recognize what the theme to the movie is, or just remember what this film was once called.

On to the extras Lionsgate has given us on the new release from their Vestron Video’s collector’s series. There’s an audio commentary with co-writers and co-directors George Dugdale and Peter Litten. There is an interview with composer Harry Manfredini (best known for all his Friday the 13th work) and an isolated music & SFX selection. There is an 18-minute feature with yet the other co-writer and co-director, Mark Ezra. There is an interview with the always lovely Caroline Munro (who was in her late thirties when she played a high school student in this) that is over 14 minutes long. There is an alternate title sequence, a still gallery, theatrical trailer, and a collection of radio spots.

Slaughter High does nothing new and it’ clear to see why the slasher subgenre was on the decline even back in ’86. But even though this flick does nothing new, it has fun with what it does and it does that well. There is late eighties charm and all the well-known conceits that make fans of these kinds of movies smile. And I am one of those fans. If you are too, then consider this one highly recommended.

About Brian M. Sammons

Brian M. Sammons has penned stories that have appeared in the anthologies: Arkham Tales, Horrors Beyond, Monstrous, Dead but Dreaming 2, Horror for the Holidays, Deepest, Darkest Eden and others. He has edited the books; Cthulhu Unbound 3, Undead & Unbound, Eldritch Chrome, Edge of Sundown, Steampunk Cthulhu, Dark Rites of Cthulhu, Atomic Age Cthulhu, World War Cthulhu and Flesh Like Smoke. He is also the managing editor of Dark Regions Press’ Weird Fiction line. For more about this guy that neighbors describe as “such a nice, quiet man” you can check out his infrequently updated webpage here: http://brian_sammons.webs.com/ and follow him on Twitter @BrianMSammons.

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