A group of adults are summoned to their high school reunion, only to find out the invitation was a ruse and they're being stalked by a former classmate whom they wronged.
This movie reminds me of the Boris Karloff film The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), or any of the Agatha Christie 'And Then There Were None' film adaptations - except much, much crappier.
Slaughter High is about a nerdy high school student named Marty (Simon Scuddamore - who passed away shortly after production), who's humiliated on April Fool's Day after being tricked into getting naked by his classmates (this is a rare movie with full frontal male nudity). If that wasn't enough, Marty is pranked again, only this time he's horrible burned with acid as a result. 10 years later, Marty tricks his classmates into attending a fake class reunion at their now defunct high school, where he traps everyone inside and goes on a killing spree.
I honestly think the set up is good, but the execution is poor. The kills are a mixed bag, and the movie really struggles with its characters; both in terms of acting and writing. Slaughter High is a UK production with UK actors, but everyone tries to fake American accents and it comes off as awkward.
There's also a reliance on the idiot plot here. I don't know about you, but if I was trapped in my creepy old high school and people were dying around me, I don't think I'd get completely naked and take a bath, nor do I think I'd decide to get naked and have sex. I realize other horror movies have scenes like this - they're practically a slasher genre requirement - but it works in other films because those characters aren't aware of the danger yet. In Slaughter High, any tension that is built up goes away when characters continue to do things that defy logic.
The music in this movie was composed by Harry Manfredini, famous for his work in the Friday the 13th series. I mention this for two reasons. Firstly, the movie actually uses several music cues from the Friday the 13th series, which feel very out of place. Secondly, the new music is truly bizarre; it sounds like something you'd hear if someone slipped on a banana peel, followed by hair metal music. I hated it the first time I heard it in the movie, but I have to say it did grow on me by the end. It's so strange that it somehow works.
The movie does have one cool scene at the very end (major spoiler) - when Marty, having killed everyone, is haunted by visions of their ghosts. But mostly the movie is below average. I watched it on streaming, and the version available looked like a VHS copy, and was so dark in some instances that I couldn't see what was happening. Even so, I think I saw enough to be confident in my ranking. But they, the movie poster is cool!
This movie reminds me of the Boris Karloff film The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), or any of the Agatha Christie 'And Then There Were None' film adaptations - except much, much crappier.
Slaughter High is about a nerdy high school student named Marty (Simon Scuddamore - who passed away shortly after production), who's humiliated on April Fool's Day after being tricked into getting naked by his classmates (this is a rare movie with full frontal male nudity). If that wasn't enough, Marty is pranked again, only this time he's horrible burned with acid as a result. 10 years later, Marty tricks his classmates into attending a fake class reunion at their now defunct high school, where he traps everyone inside and goes on a killing spree.
I honestly think the set up is good, but the execution is poor. The kills are a mixed bag, and the movie really struggles with its characters; both in terms of acting and writing. Slaughter High is a UK production with UK actors, but everyone tries to fake American accents and it comes off as awkward.
There's also a reliance on the idiot plot here. I don't know about you, but if I was trapped in my creepy old high school and people were dying around me, I don't think I'd get completely naked and take a bath, nor do I think I'd decide to get naked and have sex. I realize other horror movies have scenes like this - they're practically a slasher genre requirement - but it works in other films because those characters aren't aware of the danger yet. In Slaughter High, any tension that is built up goes away when characters continue to do things that defy logic.
The music in this movie was composed by Harry Manfredini, famous for his work in the Friday the 13th series. I mention this for two reasons. Firstly, the movie actually uses several music cues from the Friday the 13th series, which feel very out of place. Secondly, the new music is truly bizarre; it sounds like something you'd hear if someone slipped on a banana peel, followed by hair metal music. I hated it the first time I heard it in the movie, but I have to say it did grow on me by the end. It's so strange that it somehow works.
The movie does have one cool scene at the very end (major spoiler) - when Marty, having killed everyone, is haunted by visions of their ghosts. But mostly the movie is below average. I watched it on streaming, and the version available looked like a VHS copy, and was so dark in some instances that I couldn't see what was happening. Even so, I think I saw enough to be confident in my ranking. But they, the movie poster is cool!