Night School (1981) Paramount Pictures/Horror RT: 88 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, nudity, sexual content) Director: Ken Hughes Screenplay: Ruth Avergon Music: Brad Fiedel Cinematography: Mark Irwin Release date: August 1981 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder, Joseph R. Sicari, Nicholas Cairis, Karen MacDonald, Annette Miller, Bill McCann, Margo Skinner, Elizabeth Barnitz, Holly Hardman, Meb Boden. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ** ½
As far as 80s slasher flicks go, Night School isn’t too bad. It follows the same basic formula as the other slasher flicks that came out around the same time. It’s a formula that seems to please the fans, so I can’t really fault the movie for not being original. Whatever works, right?
This time around, a homicidal maniac wearing a black motorcycle helmet is stalking and decapitating night school students with a kukri (a knife with an inwardly curved edge). That’s all there is to Night School, a film I’m sure I would have liked better had I seen it at 13. It hit area theaters near the end of August ’81 and, as expected, the parentals had it on their “NO WAY!” list. I didn’t see it until five years later when Showtime aired it one Saturday night (November ’86). I recently rewatched it and enjoyed the whole retro aspect of it. It’s clearly a product of the early 80s with its casual attitudes towards sex and violence against women. Ah, the halcyon days of R-rated un-PC slasher flicks! Even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good.
Night School opens with an attractive young teacher’s aide (Boden) losing her head on the playground carousel. The Boston detective, Judd Austin (Mann, Cut and Run), assigned to the case finds the girl’s severed head in a bucket of water. It’s eerily similar to a previous case in which the female victim’s head was dumped in a pond.
The carousel victim attended night classes at nearby Wendell College. Austin questions a few people on campus including anthropology professor Vincent Millett (Snyder, Commando) and his attractive research assistant Eleanor (Ward, Sharky’s Machine). Millett becomes the prime suspect after it’s discovered he has a reputation for sleeping with his students. He was sexually involved with the carousel victim and is currently living with Eleanor.
Millet isn’t the only suspect. It could also be Gary (McCann), the creepy busboy at a local diner. He stalks Eleanor as she walks home from class one night. It could even be somebody else. Whoever it is, he’s keeping Detective Austin busy. It’s not easy work uncovering the identity of a deranged killer.
It’s long been established that I love movies like Night School. As a true gorehound, I must express my disappointment that it isn’t gorier than it is. Yes, there are several beheadings, but you don’t see a lot of blood. So what’s the point in watching it then? Some would argue not much, but I still think Night School has its cool points. I like the scene where one girl’s head gets dumped in the sea turtle tank at the local aquarium. In another scene, a victim’s head is discovered in a toilet. Still, something is lost without spurting blood.
What many don’t realize is that Night School is Ward’s film debut. Sharky’s Machine didn’t come out until later that year and The Final Terror, while filmed in ’81, sat unreleased for two years (it opened in Philadelphia in May’ 84). There’s no question that Ward is a striking lady. In keeping with the movie’s un-PC spirit, I’ll say that she’s freaking HOT! But what about acting ability? I reiterate, she’s freaking HOT! Does that answer the question?
The storyline, albeit familiar and somewhat predictable, is pretty good. Director Ken Hughes (his final film) makes no attempt to pass off Night School as anything other than what it is, a violent mad slasher movie with at least one sex scene. I wouldn’t exactly call it suspenseful, but it’s never boring. Basically, it is what it is and that’s not a bad thing. I’m giving Night School a passing grade.
