Killer Workout

Everyone should see Aerobicide (as it is known in England), everything about it is bad therefore, it's good! It's better than good; the gratuitous nudity, the gratuitous close ups of women in lycra, the dumb death scenes, shockingly bad production and acting values, it's a work of suppressed genius! One of the all time great so bad they're good movies every passing minute is a work of art. Top stuff.

Some great outfits in this one! Bring back the 80s fashion!!

Really want to get into aerobics after watching this movie..

would definitely watch segments of this movie again..

Note: also released under the title Killer Workout.

What an absolute masterpiece of So Bad It's Good filmmaking. Nothing makes sense. The acting is atrocious. The breasts are gratuitous. The main cop doesn't say a word for ages, then when he opens his mouth and you hear his ridiculous voice, you realise why. There's a fight scene that's like a cross between the ones in They Live (1988) and Hobgoblins (1988). I mean…

It's a slasher film. It's set in a gym. It was made in 1987. I don't want to spoil it by saying anything else.

Verdict: Track it down, order a pizza, and enjoy.

Widely hated by moviegoers and horror fanatics alike, the years have given this cheesy slasher film a certain charm. While it's obviously hampered by the low budget (it's one of those films where the producer/director/actor are all the same person), the cult appeal of this atrocious film is such that I found myself having a great time while watching it.

The acting is bad all around, with the possible exception of the actor playing the cop Morgan, who overacts a bit and chews the scenery in a fun way (at least this variety of 'acting' is better than standing around and delivering leaden lines straight off the cue card). The killer kills people with a giant safety pin, which gives you some idea of the ingenuity of this film (the cleverest thing is the title AEROBICIDE). The '80s pop music soon grates heavily on the viewer's nerves while the point-of-view killer shots are stolen from HALLOWEEN (as per usual), and basically have been copied far too often to be effective anymore. The camera dwells on the girls in the aerobics classes far too long, and works the other way too when focusing on muscular young men. Add the fact that they're all dressed in hideous '80s clothes and you'll be ripping your own eyes out to try and stop the torment.

As you can imagine, this film is pretty dire, full of bland actors, characters who you don't give a damn about, and the murders aren't even particularly gory. So why did I enjoy it? It's difficult to say really apart from the fact that as everything was so bad it all became one big comedy and, in a way, one of those 'so-bad-it's-good' kind of films. Saying that, you probably need a high tolerance level to be able to sit through a film like this… or maybe, like me, you're just a glutton for punishment!

Set in Rhonda's Work-out, an L.A. aerobics gym where the only the gorgeous are welcome (well, with the exception of a token fatty on an exercise bike, presumably there for the hard-bodies to make fun of), Aerobicide sees a killer hacking through the establishment's clientèle with a giant safety pin (!). Meanwhile, police detective Lt. Morgan (David James Campbell) and private investigator Chuck Dawson (Ted Prior) attempt to uncover the identity of the murderer, and gym owner Rhonda Johnson (Marcia Karr) tries to prevent her customers from cancelling their memberships.

As a slasher film, Aerobicide is a complete failure, devoid of scares, tension, or decent kills (there's very little in the way of gore); however, as an opportunity to ogle hot 80s women flaunting their flawless, toned bodies in skimpy lycra outfits, it can't be beat.

With the 'horror' regularly punctuated by cheesy 80s dance routines, fans of the female form are guaranteed plenty to enjoy: shapely butt's gyrate, groins thrust, and big breasts jiggle to a hi-energy disco soundtrack, and additional titillation comes in the form of a nekkid bird who gets grilled like a cheese toastie in a sun bed, tasty Teresa Van der Woude whipping her top off during a dream sequence, a victim being killed whilst taking a shower, and buxom Dianne Copeland flashing her ample charms in a bikini that is quite clearly struggling to contain such a well developed physique.

Fans of trashy 80s nonsense should also get a kick out of an unbelievably hideous gold and black outfit worn by Rhonda, a couple of ridiculous punch-ups between the gym's beefcake male instructors, one of horror cinema's silliest jump scares in the shape of a spring-loaded rubber arm (which pops out a locker not once, but twice), and a seriously unconvincing wig (to explain more would be to spoil the film, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it).

If you've watched and enjoyed similarly themed slashers Death Spa and Murderock, then this voyeuristic piece of low-brow entertainment from the days when big hair and leg-warmers ruled the world will no doubt also hit the spot.