Hell High (1989)
Directed by Douglas Grossman
I’ve seen hundreds of slasher movies. Most follow the formula perfected in Halloween. Sometimes a movie comes around that changes it a little, and I always can appreciate that, whether it is good or not. Hell High is one that changes it up a little!
Hell High is about a group of asshole teenagers that give a teacher a hard time. Little do they know she is traumatized by accidentally killing two teens when she was young, idk like 6? They take pestering her to a whole new level and she finally snaps. Now they have to fight for their lives while the teacher takes her revenge.
A little bit slasher, a little bit revenge story, and all entertaining! The acting is pretty solid, Christopher Stryker did such a good job being the hateable Dickens. Sadly he would pass away before this was released. The pacing of the movie is perfect and the runtime is only around 80mins. You get in, you get out, you enjoy all of it….giggidy. The gore isn’t over the top, it is more grounded in reality. The initial death of the two teens by the teacher as a child was disturbing, the writhing of the girl was off setting. This movie really deserves more recognition and I’m happy to see it got an Arrow Bluray Release.
If you haven’t even heard of this movie, or haven’t decided to watch it yet, definitely check it out. This movie is worth your time. It isn’t an instant classic, but it tries something new with the role reversal, which is admirable. I had a good time watching this, the characters were interesting and the teacher went batshit. I give this a B+, I really enjoyed it but I admit it isn’t groundbreaking.
