Les baskets se déchaînent

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently.

This is not ur regular slasher movie inspite of the kills happening around a high skool involving teens. The swimming pool kill terrified me then. The film has lots of kills, lil nudity but the best part is the script n the characters.

The theme where the oppressed students take on the role of their bully oppressors really impressed me aft revisiting it now.

To hear the name of this implies it is a typical horror/slasher film and it isn't. I loved this movie when my brother, a major film buff, first introduced me to it many years ago. Massacre may have its flaws(admittedly it's not a high budget movie!) but it is surprisingly chilling and would have alot of relevence, were it to be rereleased today.

The film ruthlessly drives home to the viewer what it can be like to be a a highschool student at a school where nobody cares-the lack of any adults in the movie and many scenes of bullying and tormenting bring the point home as did another great movie "Carrie".

However, Massacre takes the premise one, two, three steps further- this isn't "Carrie" as many have said, it's more "Carrie" meets "Lord of the flies". Massacre shows the flaws of all the main characters and lets nobody off the hook. That's all I will say but if your reading this and haven't seen it check it out-it's little known but is good!

The title might suggest a cheap hybrid of Carrie and Death Wish, but Massacre at Central High is not your typical drive-in movie. Granted it's filled with violence, blood, and nudity, and the revenge angle is quite powerful, but its examination of high-school politics is the element that really gets your brain working.

We've all experienced it--the Jerk Jock gets transferred to another school, and right away someone fills his position as King of the Cretins. Those at the top of the social structure exercise their ultimately negligible powers in order to make themselves feel bigger and better than everyone else. It is this tradition that Massacre at Central High pierces with a razor-sharp skewer.

Unfortunately, the picture is very hard to find in this age of sickening political correctness. A typical knee-jerk reaction would be to say that films like this glorify school violence--currently a big concern. But, as always, that sort of viewpoint is formulated without really looking at the message of the project. Yes, it's violent. Yes, it deals with a teenager killing other teenagers. But ultimately, what does this accomplish? No matter how many are killed, they're immediately replaced. Violence does not solve the problem. THIS is the point, and it's stated with a subtle brilliance that really hits home.

Of course, this underground classic also benefits from a terrific exploitation cast and an imaginative approach to the material. The scratchy, grainy color cinematography has a low-budget beauty that not everyone can appreciate. The melding of professional and amateurish elements results in a genuinely tense, scary experience...but one with much more to offer than your typical psycho epic.

This is a VERY under-rated film that seems to have disappeared from the video shelves & will never see the likes of a DVD release...what a shame! As you may have read from previous reviews, this movie really has a hard time fitting into one category...but at the same time, the story draws you in & you find yourself identifying with many of the characters...I, myself, have never seen a copy of the unrated version (The version I have is from a WPIX New York broadcast from around 1985) but this doesn't deter from the impact this movie has on the viewer...Some type of strange social commentary? A semi-slasher-revenge plot? Actually - who knows & who cares...almost 30 years after it's release the movie is very entertaining, accomplishes what it set out to do, and is a wonderful exercise in 70's exploitation...only a few rungs higher when it comes to plot & acting...I give this flick a 5 star "groovy" ~ Let yourself go & enjoy the ride...

PS: The only thing to watch out for & skip at all costs is the lame...did I say LAME theme song from the opening & ending credits...If you already don't - this will make you want to wish that the 70's never happened (But it did...It DID...!) "You're at the crossroads of your life...the crossroads of your life and you are..." AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!

"Massacre at Central High" is perhaps misleading in its title, which evokes a gore-filled splatterfest, which this film is not. The premise surrounds David, a teenager who transfers to a new high school where the students run wild, and a group of male bullies torment their peers without consequence. The unhinged David begins to murder each of the bullies, but his plan to cleanse the school backfires when those on the bottom of the social ladder take on the same traits as their former dead oppressors.

A weird but memorable entry in the horror genre, "Massacre at Central" high feels like it occurs in a dreamscape or an alternate world. This is largely due to the fact that the film features no "adult" figures to speak of; the bullies torment the students to extreme lengths, and even attempted gang rapes are left unreported and largely up to the students themselves to sort out. "Lord of the Flies" comes to mind, as well as some elements of "Carrie," minus the supernatural edge. This off-kilter universe in which the film orbits lends it a unique and memorable feel.

It's not what I'd classify as a conventionally "scary" film by any stretch of the imagination. It is a horror film, but only in the sense that there are savage murders occurring throughout and that the subject matter is generally dark. The film itself is aesthetically quite bright, boasting a distinctive Los Angeles atmosphere that is laid on thick. Malibu's beaches set the stage for several scenes, and the film feels every bit a "California" production.

Performances from Robert Carradine and Kimberly Beck (who would later become a genre favorite for her role in "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter") are some notable highlights, while Derrel Maury plays the outsider/deranged avenger with an appropriate distance. None of the performances are particularly provoking and are by and large rather bland, but serviceable given the material.

All in all, "Massacre at Central High" is a unique and thoroughly strange film that toes the line between exploitation slasher and thoughtful allegory. It is not a great film and at times feels extremely choppy, but it's a certain oddity and a respectable example of a filmmaker attempting something different. The fact that it predates the slasher by a significant amount of time also makes it an intriguing film on the historical timeline that is worth examining. 7/10.