Terror en los ojos

Night School (1981) Genre: Horror Sub Genre: Slasher Thriller

Night School is an excellent slasher film, with a lot of things to recommend. This is one nasty film, with a lot of well done, very unsettling kills and setups. The main score is nicely done, but the kill track combined with the kills, is extremely effective. It certainly makes you sit up and take notice, as does the unnerving presence of the killer with the black motorcycle helmet. Very, very unsettling. All I'll say is, I'll never look at Daft Punk in the same way again... *Screams in terror

Night School is best described as a serial killer thriller with slasher movie and horror elements. The plot revolves around a kill spree of local women being beheaded and the police are on the case to stop it at all costs. Nothing new here you may say, but how it's done is what really sets Night School apart from the competition.

As said, what makes this such a successful slasher in my opinion, is how well the shots are done. There is plenty of build up and suspense, a whodunnit angle and a great twist. The atmosphere running through Night School is creepy with a capital C. By far one of the best slashers films I've seen.

What is particularly impressive, is the original elements this film has. The main score which takes you into the film already lets you know, this isn't going to be just another rubbish samey slasher film. There is an element of class and craft here, completely devoid in many of the other slasher films. I am largely surprised I haven't heard more of this film, as Night School is that effective in what it does well, it deserves more acclaim. Totally ignore the 5.5 rating on here, Night School is a far more accomplished slasher movie than many have given it credit for.

Night School uses suspense extremely well and the kills and setups are memorable. Night School gets a very well deserved 7 rating and is highly recommended to horror and slasher film fans.

Ranking: 7/10

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RATING SYSTEM:

10) Untouchable - Marry me 9) Excellent 8) Great 7) Good 6) Average 5) Bad 4) Very Bad 3) Irredeemably Bad 2) An abomination 1) WTAF have you done?

It took me quite some time to find this pre-cert copy of TERROR EYES mainly due to the fact that it never got re-released after being thought a little too gruesome to be suitable viewing material and therefore it was banned in the United Kingdom way back in the early eighties. Surprisingly enough Kenneth Hughes directed it, which came as a real shock because his greatest cinematic conquest prior to this was the children's classic CHITTY, CHITTY, BANG, BANG! Here in his last movie before his demise in 2001, he attempts to join the ranks of Hitchcock and Carpenter and create a harrowing portrayal of a city in fear from a psychopathic headhunting assassin. But does he succeed in jumping from one end of the movie chain to the other without getting a little confused in-between?

It's all set in Boston, around ‘Wendell College', a suspicious night school where it seems a sadistic and ruthless butcher is targeting a number of the students for headless (!) assassination. Lieutenant Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) is put on the case and finds a prime suspect in professor Millet (Drew Snyder), a flirtatious anthropology lecturer who seems to have quite an interest in the young attractive female co-ed's extra curricular activities! However the police are left with no clues and no witnesses to each bizarre murder and find themselves struggling to come to terms with the fact that they are dealing with an extremely intelligent serial killer. Before long decapitated bodies begin to turn up all over town and Judd realises he must do everything in his power to stop this deranged butcher from striking again…

I'm having trouble finding out when this was actually released. The Roman numerals on the cover of my print state a production date of 1979, the IMDB say it was 1981 and the ‘All Movie Guide' reckon 1980? At a guess I'd say '81 but I may well be wrong. I'll do my best to try and find out more…

Unlike many of the genre films from this period, this manages not to imitate HALLOWEEN too much, but instead owes more to Italian Giallo movies and Hitchcock's PSYCHO. Hughes makes us well aware of his love for the later by including a remake of the notorious shower scene from that movie. Here Rachel Ward is washing, when all of a sudden in the background the door opens and through the curtain we see a silhouetted figure creeping up on her. It's effective in showing us that the director was well aware that he was making a slasher movie and he enjoyed using the obvious clichés that were apparent even that early in the cycle. You immediately notice that the guy behind the lense is a man with an experienced past, it's competently shot and surprisingly well budgeted. He also manages to pile on some suspense in a number of scenes, my favourite being the aftermath of the brutal murder of a female café waitress. The next day the owner turns up to find his restaurant in a mess. We already know by viewing the first two murders that the killer submerges the decapitated heads of his victims in the nearest pool of water, so we're already expecting him to find a shocking sight somewhere or other! As he begins clearing up the tables and chairs, two builders arrive and ask him to heat up some food for them. He places a large saucepan on the hob, which is filled with stew and warms them up a snack. They tuck in, and one of them finds a hair in his bowl! By now you're cringing thinking surely it wasn't in there…was it? The chef continues chatting and pours the remainders of the pan down the sink. You're on the edge of your seat expecting to see a blood-splashed head roll out at any minute! I wont tell you what happens, but the tension it creates is excellent.

The bogeyman has got to be one of the most violent slayers that I have ever seen. He repeatedly slashes his victims with a large machete before beheading them. In one bit, he cuts one unlucky girl to shreds, splashing pints of her blood all over the clear white walls as he goes! This must've been the scene that helped get the film added to the video nasties list and I can see why, it's one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed in a horror film. (The CHITTY, CHITTY, BANG, BANG similarities were wearing pretty thin by now!) He looks pretty creepy too, in shiny black motorcycle leathers and tinted helmet to conceal his identity. There are some genuinely macabre moments on show, including him dragging his machete along a wire fence creating an eerie clanking sound and one unlucky teen finding a gory head in her toilet! It's also worth noting that Dario Argento lifted a number of parts from this for arguably his greatest ever feature TENEBRAE from 1982. This is most evident at the beginning, when the demented worker guy follows Rachel Ward's character home from the café. It's almost identical to an early scene in Argento's flick, right up to the dog jumping up and barking at a wire fence! That in it's self is a huge compliment for any director.

Sadly though, what really came close to being an unsurpassed classic is let down by poor cinematic balancing. Though the murder scenes are brutal, effective and brinking on the verge of ingenious sleaziness, the rest of the runtime feels sloppy and meritless with some comically inept scripting and dialogue. There's no real plot twist at the end and the butcher's identity is far too easy to solve, offering no challenge for all the junior Agatha Christies among us! The general acting is also mediocre especially from Ward who doesn't manage to excel herself in her first silver screen role. She certainly had the looks, but all the charisma of a dead fish! I'm afraid that these minor problems prevent TERROR EYES from shinning as much as it could have done and it's a real shame.

The net result is an above average thriller with some interesting ideas and some chillingly effective set pieces. Unfortunately it falls slightly short of true greatness and fails to live up to its at times all too sleazy surroundings. However, it still comes highly recommended to any slasher follower as a neat example of the genre's peak period and many a horror fan will find fulfilment in the brutality of the demented bogeyman. It's not bad, but just at times a bit of a disappointment

This is a slasher film with a twist or two. It seems there's a loony loose in Boston who decapitates women and stuffs the heads in water. Several of the victims attended a women's college and so the cops zero in on a womanizing professor of anthropology who specializes in the customs of tribal New Guinea, including shrunken heads.

The prof (Drew Snyder) is also a real snot who's shacked up with his research assistant (Rachel Ward) who defends his every move. The cop (Leonard Mann) can't get an angle on the heads in water gimmick, and his sidekick (Joseph Sicari) is totally clueless. There is also a lesbian dean (Annette Miller) who preys on the girls and seems like the likely killer. As the student population drops, the cops gets desperate and go after a peeping tom but get lucky when he happens to be peeping on a victim. Certainly no classic, but there are enough twists to keep it going. Not especially vivid in its violence. Nice Boston locations.

The girls that study in a night school are being killed and decapitated. A police lieutenant and his partner (comic relief?) start to investigate the murders.

"Night School" takes place in Boston. The film begins with a brief view of the night skyline of Boston. We hear a melancholic and beautiful soundtrack that serves to enhance the poetry of city (and its people) and night. Soon after the camera becomes more intimate and we see old lamp posts, dark streets and small houses. The beautiful soundtrack goes on... and Boston looks quite pretty.

"Night School" is in some ways almost a giallo. There are some connection points:

1) Leonard Mann, an Italo-American actor that worked mainly in Italian films, including gialli like "Death Steps in the Dark" and "The Monster of Florence". In "Night School" he's the police lieutenant that investigates the murders but he's different from those policemen that we usually find in many thrillers. He's not trigger-happy and he hasn't trembling fists dying to punch a bad guy's nose. He's intelligent, sensitive and ready to follow his intuition.

2) The killing scenes are stylish and imaginative. The killer dresses all in black, black helmet and black gloves. But "Night School" is very discreet in what concerns nudity. In one scene Rachel Ward takes a shower. Not much is shown, but many Italian gialli would not shy away from FFN. Anyway "Night School" is quite engaging, charming and different from the normal fare.

3) There are many pretty girls (and some of them will be ruthlessly killed by the decapitator).

The highlights in "Night School" are Rachel Ward (her beauty illuminates the screen) and Leonard Mann. In short, I think that "Night School" is a very enjoyable film. Those that want a non-stop action film with lots of bullets and fists breaking bones (fast! fast! fast!), should look elsewhere.

Anne Barron (Meb Boden) is a teacher's aide at the Jack-N-Jill Daycare Center in Boston. It's the early evening and the last child has been picked up by her mother. Anne is relaxing on the playground carousel when someone pulls up on a motorcycle, wearing a pink helmet. Anne is startled. Suddenly the stranger pulls out a machete and starts spinning the carousel. The machete is held up in the air and the terrified woman goes around and around - until she's struck with it.

Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) is the cop assigned to the case. He is called to the scene and when he gets there, he sees a gruesome sight. The girl was decapitated and her head was put in a bucket of water nearby. The distraught director of the center tells the officer that Anne worked there during the day - and was attending night classes at Wendell College. At the hospital, Judd and his partner Taj (Joseph R. Sicari) discuss a similar case from the previous week. Another girl was found decapitated and her head was dumped in a pond. They wonder if there's any connection between the two murders.

"Night School" is a typical run-of-the-mill early 80's whodunit slasher with a decapitation twist. This is the kind of movie where half of the money is trying to figure out where the detectives are going to find the missing heads. The twist ending is pretty predictable and the acting is a bit wooden (Rachel Ward, in her film debut, is all sorts of terrible here) but the film is never boring and has been directed with style. Boston looks positively wretched on film here and it gives the slasher a bit of a grungy "Departed" vibe. Overall, it's definitely worth checking out, just check your expectations-and your head--at the door.