Return to Horror High (1987)

   
Directed by: Bill Froehlich

Written by: Bill Froehlich, Mark Lisson, Dana Escalante & Greg H. Sims

Starring:

Lori Lethin .... Callie Cassidy / Sarah Walker / Susan
Brendan Hughes .... Steven Blake
Alex Rocco .... Harry Sleerik
Scott Jacoby .... Josh Forbes
Andy Romano .... Principal Kastleman
Richard Brestoff .... Arthur Lyman Kastleman
Al Fann .... Amos
Pepper Martin .... Chief Deyner
Maureen McCormick .... Officer Tyler
Vince Edwards .... Richard Birnbaum
Philip McKeon .... Richard Farley
Panchito Gomez .... Choo Choo
Michael Eric Kramer .... Donny Porter
Marvin McIntire .... Robbie Rice
George Clooney .... Oliver
Remy O'Neill .... Esther Molvania

Special Appearance:

Darcy DeMoss .... Sherri Haines

Release Date: Limited Theatrical: January 9, 1987

*Images courtesy at: www.cult-cinema.ru

 

 

 

 

Rating:

 

A group of filmmakers called Cosmic Pictures decides to make a fact based horror film at a highschool called Crippen High where a bunch of people were once slaughtered there a few years before as one of the movie's producer's named Harry Sleerik (Alex Rocco) figures that this will sell well since the school has been abandoned since the incident and some of the students and teachers returns to the school to play themselves. However, this killer was never caught as many of the people are being slaughtered and one of the cast members named Steven Blake (Brendan Hughes) who is a police officer gets suspicious since alot of the people are missing one by one and notices that the hallways are bloody and thinks that this is not the effects of the filmmakers either. It looks like that the history is repeating itself but who could be causing this madness?

 

There's good scene's with people like Harry Sleerik and Josh Forbes instructing their movie shoots and showing the stress levels on what's going on around them.
We have a nice shot on Oliver standing in a dark hallway hearing a sound and then trying to go to the area where he hears it along with a nice shot on him inside a doorways window of him being slaughtered and a good gruesome shot underneath a doorway with blood oozing out. We also spot a nice shot on someone mopping up the blood.
Many goofy discussions with Chief Deyner and Officer Tyler investigating the slaughtering that happened at the high school during the film shooting which offers some of the odd dark humor which worked quite well with the two of them as well as them questioning
Arthur Lyman Kastleman with him acting paranoid about everything. We also spot many effective moments surrounding Tyler towards Deyner about the stuff she witnessed on the slaughterings and smearing herself with blood.
There's a nice camera shot on
Choo Choo in a mechanics room trying to grab a metal object that is sliding away into a sandbox and then he stares at the sandbox with the masked figure grabbing his neck and then pulling him down in which I have to admit this scene can make you jump and was well done. There's also a good shot on Richard Farley tied upside down and a propellor engine is slowly approaching him.
Good argumentive discussions between Harry and Josh about what a killing should be.
A nice camera shot going across a classroom with a science teacher Richard Birnbaum instructing as well as later on discussing a dissection on a frog as well as forcing a student Donny Porter to dissect it with him acting paranoid about it which offers some chuckles on how it was done.
We spot many terrific camera shots with Richard tied on a table with the killer staring at him and placing some nails on his hands as well as cringing shots on him being dissected. This was one of the best moments ever in this film.
We spot a nice romantic conversation and make out scene between Callie Cassidy and Steven Blake as this was probably the best moments ever cause it looked very natural.
A good moment with Steven panicking after not finding his gun and scared about the killer nearby which packs a good suspense as well as a shot on the killer staring in a window of the door in a classroom both Steven and Callie are in. There's a perfect shot on Steven standing next to the door with the killers hands breaking the window glass and grabbing his neck along with good shots on Callie trying to get away from this maniac by jumping out of a window.
Many great takes between this couple by discovering a bloody hallway as well as discovering hidden passageways and exploring everything as the makers tried to make the setting look quite mysterious. However there is a lacking moment on Callie screaming after she finds some decapitated heads in the middle of what is going on here.
We spot many cheesy camera takes between both Steven and Amos fighting it out which looked a bit low on energy. However there's many good shots on some skeletal corpses in this scene which looked amusing.
We have a corny moment with
Principal Kastleman acting crazy towards both Callie and Steven while holding a dissecting knife and acting threatening. The moments on this was still fun to watch regardless.
Bottom line is that critics usually bombed this flick. Yes it was bad and the story was extremely confusing and not making any sense but at the same time the flick can be fun if you're in the mood for it. I kinda found this one to be a parody of 80's slasher flicks. This film is not a sequel to any film like the title almost suggests since it stressed that filmmakers return to this highschool to make a fact based horror movie off of a killer.
The ending was very trashy I must say and I found it incredibly stupid as well as a disappointment with the mysterious murders being solved too. If you saw April Fools Day this film tried to make it like that too. Ho hum.
It's still a teenage slasher film and can be admired to those who enjoy trashy low budget horror films but again half would be as dissappointed as me.
I found they tried to make this film scary but the writing was too trashy and it seemed more funny with all that was happening but there were the odd scares. However, the killings looked quite obvious for the most part of this story.
They tried to make this spoof a little original but didn't go too far at all.

The acting is a bit cheesy but some of it was not too bad. Lead actress Lori Lethin (Callie Cassidy / Sarah Walker / Susan) played an actress in the flick and doing three different roles and really pulled it off well since it was convincing and hard to tell if it was a different actress or not playing these parts. She brought alot of character into her roles in the film.
Brendan Hughes
(Steven Blake) knew his stuff as a dipstick deputy trying to act and shows good energy to his performance in the film and playing the heroic part. I will cut him some slack for doing all of this. He wasn't the greatest actor but tried his best to do what he had to do.
Alex Rocco
(Harry Sleerik) I had to say was the best actor bringing alot of charisma to his part as a passionate filmmaker showing a good sense of humor and an anxious behavior too. I always enjoyed his work in shows and was definetely not a let down with this one.
Scott Jacoby
(Josh Forbes) really pulled off his part well as an obnoxious assistant director as he knew how to bring up the energy with his aggressions. He stood out quite well in the film and you wonder if he will be a victim for the killer.
Andy Romano
(
Principal Kastleman) does his part well playing a principal acting nervous and showing good nervous and paranoid expressions too. His energy was great and really came across as someone to be a possible suspect.
Richard Brestoff
(Arthur Lyman Kastleman) was another one with descent timing for the dark comedy in the film being questioned about the slaughterings and knew how to act nerdy and goofy too. Well done.
Pepper Martin
(Chief Deyner) showed a good serious attitude as a head police chief even if he was one of the comedic characters. He showed good stern expressions too.
Maureen McCormick
(Officer Tyler) showed good timing with her comedy too playing his assistant and proved that she can wear different hats than the wholesome Marcia Brady that he's famous for. She showed a nice gruesome lustful behavior and knew how to act gross with what she has discovered with the slaughterings which may turn off some of her fans but of course as an actress you need to expect these people should play many different characters as possible.
Vince Edwards
(
Richard Birnbaum) really made me laugh as a science teacher bringing a great character to the set of the film. He was a great drawing card with his demanding behavior that he was supposed to do for the story. A perfect victim too showing that he's getting what's coming to him.
Philip McKeon
(Richard Farley) however as an actor playing a highschool student tried his best to act like a horny teen but he didn't seem to ull off too much of a character on what he had to do.
He does well panicking when he is near his death. He misses out trying to be as successful as his sister.

A woman is topless on set with the directors talking about her breasts if they're fake or not
Dacri Demoss' shirt is pulled up briefly exposing her breast briefly
There are women in a change room as some are topless there too

Many cut off arms and legs revealed in front of the school ground
Tons of bloody trails in the school hallways
Some cut off heads in different scene's
A teacher is dissected and his hear torn out
A person imapled by a metal object against a wall
Lots of bloodied corpses lied on the ground covered in sheets
Lots of gory props for the film shooting

There's some good thumping sound effects along with some screechy noises which fit right in for a low budgeter like this one. We also hear the odd chiming music too. There's some organ chanting music during a battling moment when the killer is revealed too which sounded cheesy but in a fun way.

There's a great bitchin hair metal songtrack during a painful death scene with a killer dissecting a teacher and from the band Pleasant Company with their track "Meet the Teacher". It toally sounded very 80's style and perfect for a slasher flick like this one.
Next 80's song we have a peaceful pop tune by Wendy Fraser with "Man for Me" during a romantic make out scene.
Then we have a closing credtis song by once again Pleasant Company with "Scary Movies" which sounded pretty cool with the belting out lead vocals but it wasn't as good as their previous song used during the plotline mentioned earlier.

Steven Blake: Class dismissed!