Night School (1981)
Directed by Ken Hughes
I’m not sure how there are two slasher movies (that I’m aware of) that have a killer dressed in a motorcycle outfit. I’ve already talked about Nightmare Beach…I think. I don’t know I’ve been doing this blog so long I forget what I’ve reviewed haha. Well this is another one, so yeah lets go.
The plot for this one is a killer dressed as a motorcycle rider is decapitating young women at a local night school, and the police are trying to figure it out. Nothing new here, your standard slasher fare. The tension is fairly good in this for a little talked about slasher. I appreciate that it takes its time to build suspense and atmosphere, when most slashers go straight to killing. The early 80s bunch leaned harder into story than the mid to late ones.
Acting wise, this movie is also pretty solid. Rachel Ward is beautiful and charming and Leonard Mann puts in a good performance. I can’t think of a full on weak link in this movie, which is impressive for the subgenre. While the story is handled well and the acting is good, it kind of dragged a little for me. Maybe I just wanted more kills or gore? I don’t know, perhaps I wasn’t fully ready to watch this? The kills are decent, I will say that. We do get some decapitations and the merry go round scene is fun and creative.
This is a slighly above average slasher, it lacks the rewatchability of a film like the Prowler or The Burning. The acting is solid and the suspense is good. The end falls apart a little and left me wanting more. I enjoyed it as a one time watch, but I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to it. WIth all this being said I think a C+ is a good grade for this one.
