Slaughter High (1986)

***Where the 90’s band Acid Bath got their name***

Eight American high school graduates return to their now-defunct school for a 5-year reunion celebration. Unfortunately for them the nerd they picked on and inadvertently ruined is also there with fatal revenge in mind.

The dilapidated school building that “Slaughter High” (1986) is mostly set recalls “Death Tunnel” (2005), but “Slaughter High” is subpar by comparison; it lacks the professionalism and aesthetics of that later film. Whether you like “Death Tunnel” or not is a different story, but it IS professionally made with awesome visuals, state-of-the-art editing, a superlative female cast and excellent score/soundtrack.

So “Slaughter High” is a decidedly Grade B 80’s slasher in production values; and arguably Grade C. It’s marred by a dated score and a little camp, particularly the nerd, but is otherwise decent for what it is. Everyone involved knew it wasn’t a top-of-the-line production, but gave it their best to entertain the audience. The ending features an original twist that is done much better a year later in “Slumber Party Massacre II.”

The beautiful Caroline Munro was a little long in the tooth at 36 (during shooting) to play a high school senior and early 20’s B-movie actress by the second act, but her attractive vibrancy pulls it off. Nevertheless, her heyday was the 70s and her star was falling at this point, which didn’t seem to bother her a bit. Kelly Baker is worth mentioning as Nancy while Carmine Iannaccone is charismatic as Skip.

Simon Scudamore, the actor who plays the nerd unfortunately committed suicide after the completion of the movie on November 21, 1984, an apparently intentional drug overdose.

The film runs 1 hour, 30 minutes; it was shot in England as follows: St. Marylebone Grammar School, London (interiors of school); Holloway Sanatorium, Surrey (exteriors of school); London (interior and exterior of apartment); and Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey (the road where the car breaks down).

GRADE: C