Return to Horror High

If everyone thought "Scream 3" had an interesting plot - a movie set falling prey to the killer resembling the Ghost Face Killer, then why don't you try this interesting horror flick of the 80's. As an avid fan of cult films, that is exactly what this film is. Early appearances by George Clooney and later appearances by "Dr. Ben Casey" Vince Edwards, "Marcia Brady" Maureen McCormick, "Mo Green" himself, Alex Rocco, and that kid from "Alice", Philip McKeon, all star in this film about a killer who returns to the high school where he killed years ago to terrorize a movie crew. The finale is a hell of a surprise.

Horror spoofs either work or they don't - this one sadly doesn't. Within the first 5 minutes I knew that this was going to be a long hour & a half. It's a film within a film, an opportunity missed as this is something of a confusing mess. It's not that funny either. There's some reasonable gore - the lecherous teacher getting dissected is the standout scene - plus some gratuitous nudity thrown in. The killer wears a cool mask but is let down by wearing yellow rubber gloves, the type you wash up with! The DVD case gave George Clooney star billing but that's a con, he's only a very minor character in the first 10 minutes.

Yes, it was a standard cheesy 80s horror movie, but it had some nice touches. The filmmakers ambitiously tried to combine flashbacks with the movie-in-a-movie they were making, which was sometimes confusing, sometimes clever, but definitely worthwhile. You could do a lot worse than this one.

This movie had some really good comedy bits, but they don't add up to make a good movie. They don't even add up to make a horror movie. The basic plot follows a bunch of low-budget filmmakers who are making a movie about a series of murders that happened at a high school years ago. The only problem is the killer was never caught. The problems start off with this movie when you can obviously tell the school is not abandoned, or ever was. But according to the movie, it's been abandoned for years. Then theres the bad acting. It was pretty bad all the way through, although the producer actually pulls of some good one liners. The one redeeming factor of the movie is some funny comedy bits. Unfortunately, they are few and far between to make it worth while. Although the end was as stroke of genius, sitting through the film is quiet a task for such a small payoff. So I can't really recommend this film to all but the most hardcore fans of any of the cheesy 80's slashers, and even they might not find it all that entertaining.

Albeit confusing at times, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The directing/editting is certainly reminiscent of _Perfect Blue (1997/I)_ (or more likely the other way around, with Perfect Blue being released a full decade after Return to Horror High). Either way, you just have to be really one your toes to make sense of the stories, or be prepared to watch it a few times. The jokes fly out more than the fake blood does. Often, they come together. If you can't appreciate this movie for what it is, you just need to pop a couple of valium pills, and calm down. They way you people write about this film would make one think that Ed Wood decided to make a horror-comedy about Waylon Jennings cooking up some raw fetuses.

This movie kicks twice as much butt when you get it on the double-sided DVD with _Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)_