American High School

This is a strange movie, as you can tell by reading the split in the reviews, but I think you have to understand that it belongs in the Glee or Strangers with Candy genre --- broad-brush satire that is well aware of how fake and silly it is --- not the Beverly Hills 90210 or Saved by the Bell earnest after school genre.

So the question, then, is how well does it perform within its genre? I think the answer is adequately, but not great. There are a few touches that are original and amusing, things like: the apparently deliberate choice of 30 yr old actors for the students, who therefore frequently can't be distinguished from the actors for the teachers. (This is even referenced/mocked at one point). Also the over-the-top awfulness of the wanna-be-cool Hollywood parent, or the lechery of the school principal. But overall the script is weak, not enough strong laughs, and some flat-out horrible scenes that are disgusting rather than amusing and that don't move the story along.

I'd say if you have some reason to study this particular genre (parodies of high school TV/movies) it's worth seeing for completeness sake; but if you simply want to be amused by the genre you're better off watching reruns of Glee or Strangers with Candy (or Glee Gone to College aka Scream Queens). There remains scope for a good movie in this genre. The best apparently similar movies (like American Pie) are more teenager than high school; and most of the specifically high school parody movies are more from the point of view of the teacher and too earnest, ala Sex Ed, or too sucky ala Bad Teacher; or are pastiche (High School High).

Where do I start? I feel ashamed that I wasted the precious minutes of my life watching this movie past the 10th minute. First, most of the actors in this movie do not even deserve the title of "actor". It felt like the person who casted this movie just asked some of his best friends to be in the movie or picked people off the street. Seriously, this was some of the worst acting I have ever seen.

The next thing you'll notice is that the sound was totally amateur. It's as if they shot the movie with a video camera and didn't even think to use a microphone. But you can tell there was a sound mixer-- who probably works at a dry cleaning shop for his day job. There are some scenes where you're supposed to believe there is a crowd watching and you can just hear how cheesy the crowd sound effect is. Really, the sound on this film is embarrassing.

The plot. Who cares? This movie was made as if they just got together and made it up as they went along. I've heard Chinese torture is pretty bad, but it ain't got nothing on this movie.

American High School truly is the definition of classic American cinema. Not only is it though provoking and entertaining at the same time, it is one of the bravest films I have ever been privileged enough to experience. It was one of those rare diamonds in the rough, this film confronts sexism and the shows the way youth in America really is. Many people are too afraid to deal with the current issue of our youth getting betrothed or sex at such young age, but this film explores it in detail. The harsh realities of living in America today, have no where left to hide It is truly an enthralling and engaging cinematic experience, one you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. So please my friends, I implore you to take a few moments from your day and find the time to open your mind to a whole new world that you never before believed possible.

This film is without a doubt one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

The acting is so unbelievably bad. A second grade class musical has more convincing line delivery than any of these actors manage to achieve. The directing makes most youtube videos look like Citizen Kane. They could have saved a lot of money and went straight for a crew members cell phone without the cinematography losing a thing. The soundtrack is a listing of generic rock sounds. This is all without saying a thing about the plot, or as it should be known in this movie, the loosely pieced story that is just an excuse to show breasts and try as hard as possible to appeal to all of the teenage sensibilities. I don't know how much anyone got paid to be involved in this movie, but it was too much. Suffice it to say, all copies of this movie be destroyed immediately.

OK, I just spent an hour and a half watching this movie, another half hour making a "WTF" face and staring at the screen in disbelief, and some 10 minutes to write this comment, so all in all I've wasted more than two hours of my life.

First I'd like to say that I really, and I mean really, enjoy this type of movies, when I don't expect much and just want to relax my brain and enjoy in a few laughs. Not only that there were NO funny scenes in this movie (literally), but I also didn't relax, I mean this was brain torture! The characters are annoying, the plot is *put your favorite swear word here* stupid, the acting was awful (I have to give some credit to Jillian Murray though, she did OK, but that's about it, all the other actors sucked), the directing was even worse and I really can't find not one positive thing here. I don't know how many votes it takes to get to the bottom 100 list, but I hope it makes it there soon.

This is the first time I am giving a 1/10 to a movie (I usually try to find at least something good) and the first time I'm writing a comment here, but I just had to share my anger. Please don't watch this, staring at the wall for an hour and a half is more exciting, trust me.