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[tab title="Movie Review"]
There’s something funky tasting with the meat in this bowl of chili. The owner of the restaurant wants to find out why. He pours the vat of chili out into the sink. It plop, plop, plops with thick gumminess as it hits the silver, trickling slowly out in clumps. He sees nothing wrong with what he dumped out.
But still his friend complains about the taste.
Not satisfied, he turns to the dishwashing sink. It’s still full of soapy water. He leans over it, getting closer while inspecting something at the bottom of the drain. He puts his hand in and pulls out a clump of hair. Suddenly, his reflection is not his own. There is a woman’s face staring up at him from the soapy water. And then the face reveals itself to be decapitated head. The man screams.
This is only one of the big reveals in this nasty little slasher. Night School, with a big ol’ mystery behind it, is quite the gnarly b-movie. Someone is going round after hours and lopping the heads off of beautiful female students at Wendell College in Boston. This all-girls school is full of fright and one black-clad motorcycle helmet-wearing killer is to blame. But who is it?
And why must the killer chop the heads off? That’s what Detective Austin (Leonard Mann) and his partner Taj (Joseph R. Sicari) want to know when they begin to suspect the anthropology professor who is content to have fling after fling with his students, including his live-in assistant (Rachel Ward, in her feature film debut). With one great and explicit kill scene after another, Night School is a terrifying and rich portrayal of murder by way of machete.
Frankly, the movie still stings. It was originally dismissed by critics and, rather quickly, earned a spot on the Video Nasty list in England. It is directed by Ken Hughes (best known for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and, as it was his last film, continues to surprise its audience with thrills, kills, and lots of ripe T&A teases. The film, with some fairly wooden performances from its main cast, has a lot to overcome and does so with a sick sense of murder and style, especially thanks to Brad Fiedel’s electronic score.
But the suspense and shock the film crafts in some of its key moments is a complete surprise. That opening scene in which a teacher’s aide is forced upon a merry-go-round and tortured with the machete as she spins round and round is a classic moment of mayhem that Horror Hounds and Gore-Gore Girls will certainly appreciate. And, later, thanks to a shower-stalking scene, another coed is violently taken down by this merciless killer.
It is in this way, with a slow and steady burn, that Night School builds and builds in favor and, today, is considered a minor cult classic of the slasher genre. The horror film is armed with a nice mystery at its center, thanks to writer Ruth Avergon and it is delivered with a nice twist. The film is now available on 1080p thanks to a rather bare-boned release from the Warner Archive Collection.
Don’t lose your head. Your Night School lesson is about to begin.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 88 mins
Director: Ken Hughes
Writer: Ruth Avergon
Cast: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder
Genre: Horror
Tagline: A is for Apple B is for Bed C is for Co-ed D is for Dead F is for Failing to keep your Head!
Memorable Movie Quote: "We'll pray. We'll pray. We'll pray for the last time. We'll pray."
Theatrical Distributor: United Artists
Official Site:
Release Date: November 16, 1976
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: October 11, 2016
Synopsis: Never seen anybody so goddamn stupid all my life.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Warner Bros.
Available on Blu-ray - October 24, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Warner Archive Collection has done fans of this little slasher/mystery a solid with their handling of the film’s 1080p debut. Colors are bold. Black levels are intense and shadows are thick with edges that keep their shapes together. Sure, it is a low budgeted release but so much is forgivable when you consider just how effective the movie is as a whole. The original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 has also been included for the sound.
Supplements:
Commentary:
-
None
Special Features:
- None
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