A British slasher film parading as your prototypical American one, 1986’s Slaughter High (which was originally going to be more accurately titled April Fool’s Day, but changed after a conflict arose with a Paramount movie coming out with the same name), written and directed by triumvirate George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Mackenzie Litten, is a by the books horror movie with some above average kills. . . and, as we all know in this sub-genre, that is usually what truly stands out.
Following a group of high school hot shot jerks led by pretty girl Carol Manning (Caroline Munro – Bond girl Naomi from The Spy Who Loved Me; as well as the Hammer horror film Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter), cruel prankster Skip Pollack (Carmine Iannaccone), feigners Ted Harrison (Michael Safran) and Carl Putney (John Segal), slutty Stella (Donna Yeager), and other entourage members, their sole goal is to sabotage the life of science nerd Marty (Simon Scuddamore). As these things do, they take the jester prank way too far. . . leaving the teen in a horribly disfigured state.
Flash forward some time and the group have all had some success – Carol is making some inroads as an actress, a pair of them are engaged, while others are the same old song and dance. Soon, they are all getting special invitations celebrating their five year anniversary in the mail.
Deciding to return to their former haunt, they soon discover that something must be wrong. . . as the locale has been closed ever since they graduated. Now stuck there with a massive incoming storm, they decide to enter the building for some cover – and some old kicks. . . but, as you might imagine, not the kicks they might be hoping for.
As they hunker down for the night, some weird things begin to occur. . . before too long, someone in a jester costume starts terrorizing them (with some science involved). Of course, it would only make sense that it was the long tortured Marty, though one has to wonder if that could just be too easy.
With the interior locations being shot at a long condemned grammar school that was ready for demolition and the exteriors being set at an abandoned insane asylum, the three filmmakers utilize the creepily accurate looking locales to great effect as they ratchet up the slashing.
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with Caroline Munro, who stars as Carol Manning in Slaughter High
Though it’s all done in a pretty stereotypical format (but in a bit of a British tongue in cheek type of way), one thing cannot be denied – that these deaths (all done with practical effects) are wholly creative and utterly original. Some will be absolutely shocking, while others might even contain some acid wit.
A fun, simple, if silly slasher flick that should moderately appease fans of the 80s craze, Slaughter High is most memorable for starring former Bond girl Caroline Munro, its wildly entertaining deaths, its accurate and somewhat gothic locales, as well as its rather unorthodox conclusion. Speaking of locales, the exterior scenes mentioned above are also featured in Adam Ant’s music video for his hit “Goody Two Shoes”, which rather interestingly also features Caroline Munro as the female journalist. So, jest around with this quirkily grafted together slash-fest, it’s high on horror.