Malibu High (1979) Crown International Pictures/Drama RT: 90 minutes Rated R (language, violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use) Director: Irvin Berwick Screenplay: John Buckley and Tom Singer Cinematography: William DeDiego Release date: May 1979 (US) Cast: Kim Lansing, Stuart Taylor, Katie Johnson, Phyllis Benson, Al Mannino, Tammy Taylor, Garth Howard, John Harmon, John Grant, James Devney, Robert Gordon, Ken Layton. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
Don’t be misled by the title, poster art or the fact that it’s a Crown International Pictures release; Malibu High is NOT a teen sex romp full of gratuitous T&A and dopey high school hijinks. It wants to be a more serious picture about an unhappy girl gone bad, REALLY BAD! I say it wants to be serious because there’s no way anybody can take Malibu High seriously. Not even for a minute!
On the contrary, it’s about as silly as they come. It’s nothing more than a trashy low budget exploitation flick along the sleazy lines of Switchblade Sisters and Savage Streets. Every single aspect of it- acting, writing, directing, music, scene composition, cinematography, sound, etc.- is BAD! It’s the kind of movie one normally finds playing on cable TV late at night. Guess what? I LOVE IT! It’s so bad, it’s hilarious.
I saw Malibu High for the first time this past weekend and had a ball watching it. As you all know, I’m a big fan of crappy B-movies and exploitation flicks. It stems from a film-deprived childhood in which hours were spent poring longingly over the titles of the movies playing at area drive-ins and grindhouses in the local newspaper. I’m sure I must have come across Malibu High at some point. In any event, it’s always a great pleasure to finally watch one of these cheesy ass movies. There’s nothing highbrow about them which is precisely the point. Not every movie has to aspire to the level of Citizen Kane or Gandhi. There’s enough room for all kinds of movies for all kinds of moviegoers. I just happen to be one who likes all kinds of films and can find as much entertainment value in Malibu High as in any of the so-called prestigious films that critics praise to the skies. In some instances, a movie like Malibu High is the better bet (I’m looking at you, English Patient!).
Does it really matter what one of these sleazy flicks is about? You bet your ass it does! In order for the movie to work, it has to have the kind of story that mainstream films won’t touch with a ten-foot pole. That’s certainly the case with Malibu High. It’s about a high school senior named Kim (Lansing) whose life really sucks. Her boyfriend Kevin (Stuart Taylor) has just dumped her for a snobby rich girl named Annette (Tammy Taylor, Meatballs Part II). She’s flunking all her classes and might not graduate. Her mother (Benson) is always on her back about everything. She has no money. Like I said, her life sucks.
One night, Kim decides that she’s going to turn things around and make a better life for herself. She starts out by seducing all her male teachers in exchange for undeserved good grades. She invites history teacher Mr. Donaldson (Grant) to meet her in a secluded area where she takes care of him real good. Realizing that she could be earning money for this activity, Kim hooks up with sleazy small-time pimp Tony (Mannino) who keeps most of the money for himself while making her work out of the back of his van. Then she meets Lance (Howard) who promises her more money and a better class of clientele if she comes to work for him. Things start looking up for Kim; she now has money which she spends on nicer clothes and a new car. Annette hates her even more than she did before while Kevin becomes quite jealous.
Then Kim stabs one of her clients to death with an ice pick after he gets too rough with her. After that, she becomes a hit woman and moves in with Lance. She takes out several people, one of them being Tony. She also “takes care” of the school principal (Harmon) who has become suspicious of the drastic improvement in her grades. As for the ending, it’s not a matter of a happy or unhappy ending for Kim, it’s when and how she will meet the expected ending.
As I said, Malibu High is hardly the material of fine cinema, but it makes for a damn good late night movie. When I think of movies like this, I think of sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to watch something behind my parents’ backs. Ah yes, my teen years! Who cares if the movie is any good? Does it have a lot of nudity and sex? Is there a lot of violence? Is it a dirty movie? In the case of Malibu High, the answer to all three questions is an emphatic YES!
However, if one were to rate it as they would a more mainstream picture, it’s going to come up extremely short. The acting and dialogue are especially bad. There isn’t a single line delivered with any conviction. It’s no mystery why this is the only film credit many of these actors have to their names. The only one that I’ve ever seen before is Tammy Taylor in Meatballs Part II (1984). Ms. Lansing is reasonably attractive, but that’s about the only point she has in her favor.
Although it’s pointless and silly to say this (I almost choke on the words!), Malibu High wouldn’t be as believable with a really HOT actress in the lead. I know, it sounds crazy, right? It’s NOT AT ALL believable in its present form, but would have been less so starring some random blond bimbo with big boobs. The music is so cheesy that the composer isn’t even listed in the screen credits. The only thing I can find about it is that the theme song (“Lovely But Deadly”) was written by somebody named Steve Myland. The cinematography and sound are strictly bargain basement stuff, but I’m sure you already know that.
It’s directed by one Irvin Berwick whose other titles include The Monster of Piedras Blancas, The Street Is My Beat and Hitch Hike to Hell. Great titles, yes? He was primarily a dialogue director whose credits include a lot of other old B-movies that I’ve never heard of.
Look, Malibu High is a Crown International flick which means that the potential viewer needs to keep his/her expectations low. It must be taken on its own meager terms. What do I really think of it? It’s cheap, lowbrow, amateurish, crappy and dumb. In other words, it’s great trashy exploitation movie fun!
