Reviews

This movie looked like a classic in the cheesy 80s slasher genre, which is my favorite genre of them all, so when I saw it was Free on Demand, I had to watch it! It stars Caroline Munro, from both Dr. Phibes films (she was his wife that died!), Dracula A.D. 1972, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, The Spy Who Loved Me, Maniac, and Faceless.

Brought to you by the people behind Don't Open Til Christmas and Pieces, Heres my thoughts on this...

It opens on April Fools Day, where a bunch of kids play an elaborate prank on the school nerd- promising him sex in the shower, and giving him public humiliation and a face in the toilet (all while hes naked!). The coach puts a stop to it, but both parties swear revenge. But, the cool kids end up burning the nerd alive.

Cut to the future, and its th High School reunion, or so they think (bwahahha?). The only ones with invitations were the gang who burned the kid, and its April Fools Day (or really, the day before April Fools, but the fun starts at midnight), yet they fail to see the coincidence and hang out in front of the school until nightfall. Then they finally break into the school and it starts storming.

Inside they find food/drink and a little shrine for each of them, each of their lockers and belongings, along with Marty's (the nerds) locker and yearbook. They also find the old black janitor/caretaker who spends his time saying "Oooh yesser! Yesser! I don't want no trouble, sir!" and then is killed instantly. Pretty pointless character, but hes still my favorite.

The movie takes a page out of Alien's book, in a deliciously gory way that you just have to see! Thats when everyone realizes that they're there to die, and they start freaking out, except for Shirley, who decides it would be best to take a bath in the old school showers at a time like this. Of course, it pours out blood and acid and her face melts off (very cool, mind you) The rest of the night goes as usual, sex, drugs, and Marty killing everyone whilst wearing a jester mask.. Whats their plan? "All we have to do is stay awake and wait till noon. Marty wont kill us during mid-day!". Seriously, thats what he said. Apparently you can only kill at nighttime. But will they survive through the night? Who will live and who will die? And why are all the bodies disappearing? Rent, buy, or steal this great movie to find out! The movie is actually very good, filled with clichés (car wont start, DAMMIT!) and just plain slasher fun. Not to mention they all have names like Carol and Nany and Frank and Joe and Susan. I recommend it to all of you! And, not to mention, it has a Spin Off! 1989's Cutting Class is a spin-off from this slasher gem, and that movie starts the career of Brad Pitt and Roddy McDowell.

Favorite scene: 2 people having sex, the guy wants to finish but the girl doesn't. "Talk dirty to me, Frank!!" she screams "Uh... tits!" "DIRTIER!" "Uh... tits. F*ck. tits. Boobs. F*ck.". It seems to work for her and at her climax, the killer electrocutes them both!

A director (John Vernon from Killer Klowns, Animal House and Dirty Harry), trying to find the perfect actress for his next movie (play?), invites 6 young up-and-comings to his giant, spooky mansion in the snow covered mountains for a weekend of challenges to find who's perfect for the role. But, someone wants the role bad enough to kill the other girls. Could it be the woman who originally had the part, but was sent away to the mental institution? It starts with one of the 6 young actresses being killed before the weekend even starts, which fits perfectly to Brooke Parsons' plans, the older actress who originally had the role until she got stuck in an insane asylum while studying for the part.

We meet the girls, who are all great actresses (in the movie and in real life) and have a colorful horror movie history: Samantha Eggar from The Brood, Lynne Griffin, the girl who died first in the original Black Christmas, Sandee Currie from Terror Train, Lesleh Donaldson, first girl to die in Happy Birthday to Me, and Micheal Wincott (playing a boyfriend) from Alien: Resurrection and The Crow.

We get some creepy doll suspense-building scenes, than we get down to the steak and potatoes. One of the best chase scenes ever, which we've all heard of, the infamous ice skating chase decapitation scene which ends with a head in the toilet! Than, we get a lot of surprisingly entertaining character-building. We get the slut, who sleeps with the director to get the role, the party animal who lives in the jacuzzi with her boyfriend, the prissy dancer (who luckily dies next in a dull, but surprising, death scene) and the funny lovable comic who wants to be a serious actress.

So anywho, the girls are getting worried. The ice skater, the dancer, and the boyfriend are all missing, not to mention that girl who never showed up. So, suspicions rise to the point where someone, not in the usual killer getup, goes to the director's room and shoots him and the slut to death, and have them fly through the window to the ground, next to the jacuzzi in which the boyfriend's dead body is floating in.

All of this terror (climax of the movie, people) is found by the party animal girl (While the comic and old actress are no where to be found), who then embarks on the second great chase scene into the bottom areas of the mansion, full of costumes and creepy dolls. The girl hides in a vent until the killer goes away. Phew. She opens the vent to escape. Okay, we all know what's going to happen now. Or do we? In a surprise twist, the killer grabs her FROM the vent and pulls her back in, screaming and kicking to her off-screen fate.

So now the lovable comic is in the kitchen, drunk as a skunk apparently. The old actress comes in. She's the killer, obviously. She explains how she shot the slut and the director to death! But the others... she didn't touch. DUM DUM DUM DUM- in a twist that's been called "Scooby Doo"-ish, the Lovable comic is the REAL killer! She killed all the girls (except the slut, who the old actress got rid of for her) so she could get the part, and than she kills the final survivor and the camera fuzzes over to show her in an insane asylum, telling the same stand up she was telling when we first met her.