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Malibu High (1979) - Blu-ray Review

5 beersBow down, Brothers and Sisters of the Sinema.  Bow the fuck down.  You've not seen anything as righteous as this skin flick.

It's not be the teen comedy promised by the infamous poster art (that became just as sought out as the movie itself), but Malibu High remains an unforgettable tale of teenage wasteland antics as one 18-year-old high school senior makes the most of her sunny Southern California days by placing her body on the market and learning to shoot a gun.  It might have begun life as Death in Denim, then switched to High School Hit Girl, but, whatever its title was before its opening, this successful skin flick is 100% Malibu High.  Oh, fuck the hell YES, it is!

Poor Kim (Jill Lansing in her one and only role).  She’s failing school.  She refuses to study.  Her boyfriend dumped her.  Her father hung himself and all her mother does is clean, clean, clean the house in a bathrobe.  It’s no wonder then that she would turn to a life of prostitution and hit jobs.  Wait.  What?  Welcome to Malibu High, bitches! 

This notorious sexploitation flick, produced by Lawrence D. Foldes (Don’t Go Near the Park) and featuring memorable performances from Tammy Taylor (Meatballs Part II), Phyllis Benson (The Monster that Challenged the World),  and Alex Mann (I Drink Your Blood), is probably best described as a bait-and-switch teen beach movie that was shot by a cult point-and-shot director and edited by a European art house enthusiast.  It’s so extraordinarily bizarre that cult film enthusiasts can’t help but drool over themselves every damn time the title is mentioned. 

Newly scanned and restored in 2K from 35mm elements, it is with this restoration of Malibu High that Vinegar Syndrome, in my opinion, takes, wears, and polishes the crown of cult cinema.  They deserve the title.  This double cross of a teen flick is all sorts of gonzo and Vinegar Syndrome has gone out of their way to give it the restoration it, being one of Quentin Tarantino’s most-loved flicks, so richly deserves.

Crown International Pictures certainly made a name for itself with tawdry and super BADASS productions during the 1970s.  Malibu High, in which a teenage hellcat claws her way to the head of the class and beyond, is certainly a prime example of their low rent and extremely bizarre flicks.  It’s cheap and easy entertainment, but endlessly hilarious as one bad performance tops another with, as our leading lady puts it, a “GET FUCKED” attitude that marches blindly toward the sea with middle fingers locked and loaded.

Directed by The Monster of Piedras Blancas’ own Irvin Berwick, Malibu High is sexploitation at its wackiest as Kim (Jill Lansing) decides, after a rough night of hitting the booze (and the bong), to change her life and start screwing her teachers for better grades.  Fuck studying.  There’s a much easier path to a 4.0 average.  And so she changes her dress, hitches up the skirts and drops her top.  Do you know where High Point is, she asks her male teachers.  It’s the perfect place for after school tutoring.  That’s Kim’s approach to getting to the top of her class.  And it pays off with one teacher hookup after another.  Bada bing bada boom, Kim’s making all the male teachers hot and bothered.

To complicate her life, she then decides to partner up with the local drug supplier, Tony the pimp (Mann) and hooks her way up the social ladder in no time.  She side-eyes and sneers her way into a better paying prostitution gig with Lance (Garth Howard, Miss Melody Jones) who, recognizing that she has no remorse for killing one of the nasty old men who beat up on her, arms her with a gun and gives her a taste for cocaine.  “I may be a hooker, but I’m no hit man,” she protests.  She’s not, of course, she’s a hit woman.

And so it begins.  Malibu High goes from soft-core sleaze to hard-hitting action as Kim gets off on squeezing the trigger and killing men for new cars, new clothes, and a new positive attitude more than she does screwing them.  Ridiculously entertaining and fraught with your typical low budget trappings, this skin flick is a lesson in how NOT to do school.  It’s BADASS SINEMA UNEARTHED at its dirtiest; squeezing every ounce of juice from a certifiable lemon with one bad decision after another. 

Soon enough, Kim is gunning down all the bitches she hates and running for her life in knee boots on the beach of the Pacific Ocean.  California dreaming this is not. And, all the while, a wacky soundtrack full of recognizable stock tracks, electronic noodlings, smooth jazz vibes, and funky beats plays.  This is an 'After School Special' for the 42nd Street enthusiasts out there.  It’s daylight film noir.    

Released with three big premieres, Malibu High and its certifiable FRESH poster (featuring Playboy’s Mary-Margaret Humes and NOT the leading actress because of her high financial demands) had already made a name for itself before anyone had even seen the movie.  It was made during the era of fat cigars, ridiculously big egos, and “boiler plate” distribution contracts and it shows.  Vinegar Syndrome has gone out of its way to restore this sexploitation classic for its blu-ray debut.

So…who are you doing after school?

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Malibu High (1979) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
92 mins
Director
: Irvin Berwick
Writer:
Thomas Singer
Cast:
Jill Lansing, Stuart Taylor, Katie Johnson
Genre
: Crime | Drama
Tagline:
Every Teacher in School Wanted to FLUNK HER... But Nobody Dared!
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm going to get the highest grades and studying isn't going to have anything to do with it."
Theatrical Distributor:
Crown International Pictures
Official Site: http://www.crownintlpictures.com/lntitles.html
Release Date:
May 1979
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 30, 2017
Synopsis: A racy, high-paced story about a beautiful high-school senior, whose personal problems get her involved over her head with sex and criminal elements.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Malibu High (1979) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray
- May 30, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: Region A, B

 

Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p MPEG-4 AVC is simply the best Malibu High has ever looked.  Framed in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the HD transfer is both crisp and clearer, supporting a much more stable picture than I’ve ever seen from this flick.  The skin on display is well-balanced and less sun-blasted orange than I’ve ever seen, too.  Black levels are stable.  Shadows are good, too.  But, as the review states, this isn’t a flick that concerns itself with much darkness.  It’s all light and airy and the sun factors in it a lot more than expected.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track is accompanied by optional SDH subtitles and, as most of the tunes are borrowed from the KPM library, sound and feel very, very familiar.

 

Supplements:

Commentary:

  •  

    Vinegar Syndrome issues this blu-ray with a brand new audio commentary track featuring producer Lawrence Foldes and actress Tammy Taylor.  It is hosted by Marc Edward Heuck and, as expected, is a blast of information about the making of the movie.

     

Special Features:

The supplemental material included on this Blu-ray/DVD combo release is incredible.  We get lots of good interviews from the film’s producer, two of its stars, a Q&A session featuring Alex Mann, the film’s theatrical trailer, a still gallery, and two short films.  It’s a lot of interesting material and shines a new light on this sexploitation classic.  Reversible sleeve art is also included.

  • Lawrence Foldes Interview (27 min)
  • Tammy Taylor Interview (13 min)
  • Garth Howard Interview (15 min)
  • New Beverly Cinema Q&A (27 min)
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
  • Still Gallery (3 min)
  • Struggle for Israel (20 min)
  • Grandpa & Marika (11 min)

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[tab title="Art"]Malibu High (1979) - Blu-ray Review

 

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