Slaughter High (1986)
Directed by Mark Ezra, Peter Litten, George Dugdale
I’m not quite sure how I haven’t reviewed this in the past, but I haven’t. This is one of the middle of the road slashers, where it isn’t in the top tier with Friday the 13th or Halloween, but not quite in the murky depths with something like The Forest. Slaughter High was one of the slashers I saw earlier on in my mission to see all of them, because it was always readily accessible. Hell the movie is easily buyable on DVD, Bluray, and even streams on Vudu and Tubi for free.
Slaughter High’s plot is a group of high schoolers torment a nerdy kid named Marty. Their April Fool’s day prank goes greatly wrong when Marty is burnt and disfigured by acid in a chemistry lab accident. 10 years later (that magic number again!) they return to the school, now abandoned (?) for a class reunion and they start getting picked off one by one. Has Marty returned for vengeance on the misguided prank? Or is it something different altogether? Really there’s no mystery, we kind of know its just Marty, buuuuut there’s a little more to it.
The first thing I noticed with the movie is how murky it is. The quality of the picture is average at best, the colors are a little drab and the contrast needs a little boosting. It may have just been the stream on Vudu, maybe the blu ray is better? Anyway, the group of students, which we are to assume is the whole class, consists of like 8 people. I’m totally guessing because like many slasher movies of this era, the names aren’t really important because they only build a few characters and the rest are there to boost the body count. Memorable characters are Skip the jock douche that looks like Steve Perry from Journey, Carol played by Caroline Munro the hot popular girl, and Stella the horned-up blonde. The rest of the characters names I can’t place with faces, yeah one of those movies. There’s a roided up guy that is a mechanic or something, I’m not sure. There’s also a Mexican girl who might be one of the worst actors I’ve ever seen in a movie, seriously she’s Troll 2 levels of horrid. Marty is played by Simon Scudamore, this is his only movie. Why? Because Simon sadly took his own life in 1984, 2 years before this movie was released, so he never saw the finished product.
Besides the Mexican girl, the rest of the acting varies in quality. None of them are really that good at all, which I guess isn’t surprising. Scudamore does a fairly decent job as Marty especially since it is his only acting credit. Caroline Munro is beautiful, even in dated wardrobe and hair style. She kind of had a career in slasher movies, appearing in The Last Horror Show and Maniac before this. It makes me laugh because at the beginning of the movie I said “she’s suppose to be in high school? She looks 35!” I looked it up and Caroline Munro was 36 during this movie, so I wasn’t far off. I’m a little disappointed there isn’t a character named Sherrie in this, just so Skip can bust out his 1984 solo hit “Oh, Sherrie”. OUR LOVE…HOLDS OOOON, HOLDS OOON! Man that’s a good song. Ok back to Slaughter High. One of my favorite characters is Digby, the janitor. He is one of my favorites because he’s so incredibly stereotypical, that he’s kind of offensive. Digby is the typical black stereotype, I’m not sure if it was the director’s choice or the actor’s choice, but either way it is ridiculous. He does have some funny lines, but in the end, when you look back you have to laugh because it is so offense by today’s standards. The gym coach is another interesting character, he’s a terrible actor and the things he says would never fly in a school. He openly calls students stupid and the girls pretty, its creepy but hilarious.
The special effects were quite decent. There are a wide variety of kills, stabbings, a dude’s stomach erupts because of some poison beer, hacked up by a mower blade (awesome), and the Mexican girl is boiled in acid. The acid is so effective that only a bloody skeleton is left in the tub haha. I laughed so hard at that kill and Digby’s death scene. The killer lifts Digby up by the neck and slowly pushes him, with ease mind you, onto a coat hook. The hook goes into Digby’s head like a hot knife through butter, no struggle at all. There’s lots of blood and gore for the slasher fans. The music is interesting. I was shocked when I found out Harry Manfredini did the score, because it is so bizarre and he’s such a master. Although in one scene you can hear the iconic “ki, ki, ki, ma, ma, ma” from Friday the 13th. Sometimes the music doesn’t quite match the tone. The look of the killer is kind of cool. He’s wearing a varsity jacket and a jester mask. The mask has a ghoulish wrinkled face, which just adds to the creepiness. I wonder why they had to have three directors? Mark Ezra has top billing, followed by Peter Litten (so I guess he wasn’t Better Than Ezra…bah dum tiss) and last George Dugdale. The movie was shot in London England, original titled April Fool’s Day. They changed it to Slaughter High because of the well-known slasher April Fool’s Day by Paramont that was scheduled for release the same year.
One of the most memorable scenes, at least to me is the ending. So if you really want to watch this (can’t imagine there’s many of you) SPOILER ALERT. The end shows Carol being killed by the jester, whom removes his mask and is in fact Marty. Marty stands laughing when he starts to hallucinate and see the “spirits” of all the victims he just killed in the school. This part just confused the shit out of me the first time I saw it. It is super corny and over the top. The spirits take Marty down and it goes to black. Soon after we see a mental hospital where Marty wakes up screaming and his face is wrapped in bandages. A nurse tries to sedate him and a doctor comes in. He mentions that the skin graphs took on Marty’s face. The doctor approaches the nurse and she turns around, revealing Marty, who then kills the doctor and rips the skin graph off his face. Its so bizarre for a slasher ending, and I’m not sure if they tried to leave it open for a sequel or what not, but it is worth mentioning that the ending is one of the few slashers where everyone dies. Slaughter High and Unhinged are the only two slashers I can think of where all the characters are killed.
In conclusion, Slaughter High is corny, its low budget, its dingy and somewhat of an oddity, but it isn’t bad. If you’re not a slasher enthusiast, I’d probably stay away from it. It lags in some spots, which is odd for a movie that is 90 minutes tops. The acting is hammy and the music is odd in parts. If you love slasher movies, watch it, it is worth remembering. I give Slaughter High a C. It isn’t perfect, it isn’t horrible, it is middle of the road, but the ending makes it a little more memorable.
