Review of Return to Horror High (1987) by Miriam H — 07 Sep 2009

A film crew is making a sleazy low-budget horror flick at Crippen High School. This location hides a terrible past, where a few years ago a series of brutal murders occurred and the killer was never captured. Strangely enough members of the cast and crew start disappearing and on the minds of certain cast members is that it's happening all over again.

Huh? Yep, huh? "Return to Horror High" is a hokey low-budget tongue-in-cheek slasher that peculiarly rips on its genre in a very confusing muddle of ideas and bizarre pathways. There's just too much going on, as the illogical story switches back and forth in a rather disjointed manner. The reason for this messy situation can be attributed to story moving between the police investigation, that of the crew actually making the horror flick with killer knocking them off and then the murders the film is based on. That's quite handful and when they gel into one. You're left rather bemused by it all and at times it hard to tell when it's just a film within a film moment. It can get tediously bog down (especially the awkward romance link) by its chattiness and little action. The "Scooby Doo" mystery piles on the red herrings and the lambs for the slaughter, but it's nothing we haven't watched before. What I found to lift this outrageously silly comic horror was that it has a real good time mocking that of stereotypes and clichés and there are a couple of fun hammy performances from the elastic cast. It simply plays for one big wicked joke.

The story's structure and overall editing might be a choppy mess, on the other-hand the production was well prepared and the setting was atmospheric. A spine-tingling score that tries to keep you on edge combined with sweeping semi-doco cinematography and gloomy lighting made that factor passable. Although the embarrassingly cheese-filled 80s soundtrack can destroy the mood in certain scenes and the humour can over-rail the menace it tries to build in the opening half of the film. On a whole, it can be lacking, but director Bill Froelich delivers some inventive flushes in a few piercing scenes. A lot of blood (if "fake" movie blood) is splashed about and nudity is dished up in minor bursts. On the other spectre, suspense is quite minimal and clumsy false jumps only reveal the real one with dire results. Actually it can get unpredictable in spontaneous spurts. The ridiculously out-there climax only proves so when it builds up towards its final outcome. This big twist is easy to understand, but how it came to be doesn't make a whole lotta' sense.

The humour is quite overwrought in its not-so-subtle style, but these playful jests in the dialogues do have its shining light. Alex Rocco gets most of the best lines and is real treat as the flat-out, obnoxious, slime ball producer. Also the likes of Maureen McCormick as the hot and bothered cop raises a few chuckles and Lori Lethin's feisty awe only engages. While, the acting teeters on lousy, the over-exaggerated turns only enhances the film's eccentric energy and likability. Oh yeah, I actually found the characters rather likable. I'm sure some people will be waiting for George Clooney to hit the screen and you don't have to wait for long, but then again he bites the dust after only about 15 minutes into the flick. Even if it was only a tiny part, his charisma was evident early on.

This spoof isn't always on the mark, but it passes time decently enough.