REVIEW – Slaughter High

Published on: 4th January, 2010

REVIEW – Slaughter High  | read this item

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Whilst the slasher genre has often been ridiculed and criticized for its lack of sophistication, subtlety or worth, most filmmakers had made some kind of attempt to prove them wrong. But whilst some had tried to emulate the more stylish directors like John Carpenter or Tobe Hooper, others had taken the Troma approach of simply pointing and shooting. First-timers George Dugdale, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten tried the latter technique when they shot Slaughter High (originally under the title April Fool’s Day), a camp and extremely low budget high school horror in which the students, who despite British kids leaving school at sixteen, all look suspiciously in their late twenties. Still, over the years the movie has gained a cult following despite all its flaws.

The nerd and butt of all jokes at Doddsville High is Marty Rantzen (Simon Scuddamore), a painfully shy science geek who, on his birthday (which happens to fall on the 1st of April), is lured into the girls’ changing room by the feisty Carole (Caroline Munro) and convinced to strip, when suddenly all his classmates appear in front of him. After taunting with chants of ‘Where’s the beef?’, Marty is further bullied before having his head plunged down the toilet. Later that day, he is given a joke joint, which results in him accidentally being set on fire. Ten years later and those responsible have been brought back to the derelict school for their class reunion, only to fall foul of Marty and his brutal vengeance.

The first thing that becomes apparent from the very beginning of Slaughter High is the casting of the movie, with Munro portraying a teenager at the age of thirty-six! None of the actors look anywhere near young enough to be at high school and it makes the entire film laughable but for all the wrong reasons. And whilst Munro displays her usual sex appeal (which she had previously shown in everything from Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Spy Who Loved Me to the notorious grindhouse flicks Maniac and The Last Horror Film). Unfortunately, the majority of the cast seem to sleepwalk through the movie and lack any kind of dimension or individuality to provoke sympathy from the viewer.

The most tragic aspect of Slaughter High, however, was the fate of its star, Scuddamore, who sadly took his own life soon after the release of the movie. Making his one and only film appearance, Scuddamore was only twenty-eight when he died, cutting short a promising career as he had proved with his sole starring role that he was daring and had excellent comic timing. The genius with the character though was how the filmmakers and Scuddamore succeeded in transforming Marty from the class nerd to a genuinely creepy villain, who would wear a jester’s mask as he offed his villains in all manner of grizzly ways.

The make or break with many slashers is the manner in which the antagonist dispatches of the characters, with some otherwise mediocre efforts being saved by inventive kills (such as Buddy Cooper’s obscure gem The Mutilator), whilst more promising affairs lacked any kind of inspiration (as with Prom Night). Amongst the standout moments were an electrocution and a rather gruesome bath sequence, although the characters are so repugnant and bland that there is little emotional impact when each one of them is dispatched. But perhaps the most irritating element is the music, with the theme tune constantly repeated throughout the film, almost making it unbearable.

The ‘geniuses’ behind Slaughter High were not the directors but Dick Randall and Steve Minasian. The former had worked on a variety of softcore exploitation flicks throughout the 1970s before turning his attention to horror with the likes of Mil gritos tiene la noche (Pieces) and Don’t Open ‘Til Christmas, whilst the latter had co-financed such classics as The Last House on the Left and Friday the 13th with his Boston-based business partners. Slaughter High is too ridiculous and amateur to work as a convincing horror but it will appeal to fans of bad b-movies like Class of Nuke ‘em High, whilst Scuddamore’s performance, Munro’s body and the inventive kills should satisfy those who are easily pleased. A far from perfect example on how to make a slasher but a guilty pleasure nonetheless.

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