Campus

The Sentinels is a group of self appointed high school monitors at Vista Verde High. Leader Randy McDevitt (John Stockwell) befriends magnet student Danny Lennox (J. Eddie Peck), but may have ulterior motives as the group likes to torment those they feel don't belong in their social circle. This was Albert Pyun's third film and his first of several for Cannon. Probably inspired by The Wave (1981), this shows how fascism and intolerance can quickly grow out of control. The problem here is while you are supposed to hate the jocks, the guy playing Lennox's punk buddy is so annoying that you want to see him killed. One of the more interesting things is Stockwell co-wrote the script and opted to play the bad guy. Perhaps rebelling from his hero status in John Carpenter's Christine (1983)? Also impressive is the soundtrack (featuring the likes of The Smithereens and Depeche Mode) which shows you could get a song cheap back in the day as we all know Golan and Globus wouldn't put out big bucks for those artists (interesting note: this hit theaters the same week Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" featured in the film hit no. 1 on the Billboard charts). Cool cast of co-stars include Miguel Nunez, Don Michael Paul, Bradford Bancroft, Carey Lowell, and Thom Mathews (the last two later appearing in Pyun's better Down Twisted).

Not a good movie. Not a bad movie. Kind of a non-movie. Had to give it a shot being from the 80s. First up we get some nearly inaudible exchange between a father and son at a kitchen table, then some hot rod punker blazes his way to school in a loud car, then some panty waist talks about the dangers of something or other, then there's a shooting at a party, then I stopped the tape. Plotless, cheaply photographed, surprised even a head honcho at Canon read this script and said "Yeah, this is up to our standards". C'mon, guys, you made much better "junk" like "American Ninja" and "Invasion USA". Film also features the oldest looking high school students in film history. Not even the fast forward button can save you here.

Things are going very wrong at the high school attended by crusading newspaper editor Donny Lennox (J. Eddie Peck). There's a student group there named The Sentinels, ostensibly formed to act as something of a security force. But now the group is out of control, and is bent on eliminating any individual whom they deem "undesirable". Now people are actually dying.

Give these filmmakers credit for at least *attempting* to deal with serious subject matter in a reasonably sincere way. Director Albert Pyun works from a script co-written by leading actor John Stockwell. Stockwell ("Christine", "My Science Project") plays unofficial Sentinels leader Randy McDevitt. The movie features some of the trappings of the period, namely, fashions and the hip soundtrack of artists ranging from Robert Palmer to Fine Young Cannibals to The Smithereens. But it's fairly stylish and slick, and not gratuitously gory. The story is entertaining and provocative enough to draw the viewer in, and there is a potent theme about the danger of blindly following somebody's lead.

An array of recognizable faces play roles big and small: Carey Lowell ("Licence to Kill"), Don Michael Paul ("Heart of Dixie"), Bradford Bancroft ("Bachelor Party"), Madison Mason ("Dreamscape"), Thom Mathews and Miguel A. Nunez Jr. from "The Return of the Living Dead", Gerard Christopher ("Tomboy"), Carmen Argenziano ("The Accused"), Dedee Pfeiffer ("Vamp"), Karen Witter ("The Vineyard"), Angel Tompkins ("The Teacher"), and Rosalind Allen ("Ticks"). The performances, much like the movie itself, do earn points for sincerity.

Only a last minute reveal involving the Krooger character genuinely annoyed this viewer. Overall, this is a decent 1980s effort waiting to be discovered or rediscovered.

Seven out of 10.

An underprivileged teen (J. Eddie Peck) attends an upper-class school near the coast in SoCal where a group of students, organized by a teacher who's a Vietnam vet, guard the school from thuggish behavior. The leader of the Sentinels (John Stockwell) tries to woo him into his increasingly arrogant group.

"Dangerously Close" (1986) had the same producer as "Massacre at Central High" from ten years prior. I point this out because the plots & settings are similar, albeit this one doesn't have the awkward twist of the second half of "Massacre" and is an all-around improvement. It's similar to "Tuff Turf" from the previous year, but more focused ("Tuff Turf" is entertaining, but tried to be too many things). There are also bits reminiscent of "Eddie and the Cruisers," minus the band angle.

The soundtrack is a highlight, featuring 80's pop rock and new wave bands, with notable songs like "Stripped" by Depeche Mode and "Blood and Roses" by The Smithereens.

Carey Lowell is serviceable on the female front, as are Dedee Pfeiffer and Karen Lorre, but not enough is done with them. On the other side of the spectrum, Don Michael Paul is effective as a member of the Sentinels marked by "toxic masculinity."

If you like similar 80's teen movies like "Valley Girl" and "The Karate Kid," you should appreciate this undeservedly obscure one. It influenced "Some Kind of Wonderful," which came out the next year, but focuses on the intense clash of the male students rather than romance.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area, including Glendale (high school), Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, Marina del Rey and Redondo Beach.

GRADE: B+

Standard bubblegum high school thriller in the vein of "Massacre at Central High", "Wolfpack" and having a touch of "The Most Dangerous Game". This little, gritty b-grade outing from Cannon productions and low-budget filmmaker Albert Pyun is a true time capsule of the 80s period, where a whole bunch of films of a similar ilk flooded the screens. However these exploitative teen revenge films ("Savage Streets", "Class of 1984", "The New Kids", "3:15" and such) acted on its nastiness. However Pyun's film while it can be unpleasant, actually felt a little more thoughtful (despite formulaic and simple minded) in its narrative and struck up a mystery angle (even though predictably done) that added another element to it. This probably took away a bit of mindless fun, by upping the talkative nature; sticking with a grim air and deliberately letting the pace mellow out. As our protagonists (J. Eddie Peck and Carey Lowell) try to put the dots together, but we the audience are always ahead of them to the very final frame. There it pulls out a twist in an anticlimactic finale, only to top that one with another freeze frame closing. Foreseeable, but nonetheless bleak. The plot follows that of a group of students known as "The Sentinels", who combat the vandalism occurring in their school. However it's what they do outside of school, as this deputised group has turned into a violent neo-fascist army who pick out the kids that don't fit in. School newspaper editor Danny Lennox finds himself caught in the thick of it, as his best friend Krooger is a trouble-maker, but the "The Sentinels" leader Randy wants to get Danny of his side. It's a promising set-up, but not as exciting as it could have been. It feels all build-up and it takes a while to really get into it, so when it comes to it there's little in the way of a pay-off. Pyun presents some impulsively atmospheric scenes, especially when the "The Sentinels" are toying around with their victims. These guys really do love their school. But for most part it never gets out of first-gear. The performances are acceptably done (although there are some unconvincing looking high school students). John Stockwell (who also co-wrote the story) is fitting as Randy, who underneath that cool persona boils a menacing edge. J. Eddie Peck and Carey Lowell are agreeably likable in their parts. Bradford Bancroft (who was in "3:15") adds some defiant energy. Also for "Return of the Living Dead" fans; Thom Mathews (one of "The Sentinels" who begins to have second thoughts) and Miguel A Nuriez Jr. (one of their victims) add to the curiosity. A bubbly Dedee Pfeiffer also pops up. Then there's game support by Carmen Argenziano, Madison Mason, Anthony De Longis, Greg Finley and Karen Witter. Then we got this pumping rock / punk soundtrack, which have some notable tracks - namely Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love".

Nothing we haven't already seen before, but in its abuse of power it has its moments and a capable cast to boot.

"What an arsenal."