Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Slaughter High (1985)

Oh high school... where the popular kids torment anyone who is different and fail to realize that in the real world no one cares if you were popular in high school.  Dorky Marty falls for popular Carol who brings him to the girls locker room so they can fool around. Well  that's what she tells him, but Carol is just setting him up for a prank. Yes, and what a great prank it is. No need to worry about causing  psychological harm or care about others feelings.

During the prank (why is tormenting someone referred to as a prank?) Marty ends up naked while one of the kids video tapes his humiliation and the rest of the group laugh and manhandle him.  The bullying only stops when the Coach makes them leave Marty alone and has the group report to the gym. In typical blame the victim mentality, the group decides their punishment is all Marty's fault.

I forgot to mention it's April Fools day so there are more pranks in store for poor Mary.  Unfortunately they involve Nitric Acid and a subsequent explosion in the chemistry lab where Marty is working on an experiment.  Oh those popular kids, what cards!

Years later everyone receives an invitation to a school reunion.  When they arrive at the school, it appears abandoned and no one else is around.  The group sits around drinking until after dark waiting for someone else to show up.  When no one does, they decide to break into the building, which should be a sign that there is no reunion but this group isn't too bright.

Theystumble through multiple dark hallways filled with cobwebs and find a room with refreshments, their old lockers, 8x 10 head shots, Marty's yearbooks, and a welcome banner.  No one shall ask why they aren't totally creeped out by this or why they don't immediately try to leave. As with most horror movies, this lack of cranial functioning proves to be their undoing.

Why is it whenever people are in an abandoned building, some girl has to take a shower?  Even if she gets dirty, why would she shower in an abandoned building? And where does she get soap?  Also since when does April Fools day end at noon?  And who designed Carol's hideous white outfit which has a mass of extra fabric lying in folds and hanging off her hips. Geez, that is not a good idea for anyone to wear.  Also of note, there is full frontal male nudity, which always catches me off guard since I don't ever expect it.




5 comments:

Unknown said...

One of my guilty movie pleasures is when the "popular" cliques get their bloody come-uppance. I like to think of them as modern morality tales for people who think life stops after senior year.

Chris Jart said...

Deadly payback for mean spirited pranks is always a good theme in a horror movie.

Unknown said...

Mean-spirited ironic punishment is the best in those films. I saw a low-low-budget Nightmare-on-Elm-Street knock-off (I think it was called something like "No Sleep on Route 18" or something clunky like that) with the best ironic payback of the slasher genre. The slutty cheerleader stole the virgin's boyfriend by virtue of putting out--so after they sneak of for obligatory 'dumbass teen sex in a bad place' moment, she starts heading south and winds up getting routed right through with an auger. Horribly gory and

Chris Jart said...

Nice! I didn't even know there was a Nightmare on Elm Street knock off. I like searching out knock offs, even though they're hardly ever good.

Unknown said...

I THINK it was a knock off. Like there was a guy with Third-Degree schmeared all over his face and the kids were all afraid to go to sleep. And the backstory for the psycho made no sense...it was wonderfully awful--I got it on late-night Sci-Fi back when it didn't suck and wasn't trying to be hep by using Ys instead of Is.