School Killer

I cannot believe someone gave this movie a 1 rating!!! and it is only a 3. average... What is not to love about this film? It is original, it has lots of scare scenes that actually made me jump out of my seat, and it has some great special effects. The story is fresh, there is some nudity, and it is very campy. The killer was scary in his own demented way and the end is very unexpected. I must admit that I really love this film, one of Spain's best horror films ever. If you consider yourself a true horror fan you need to get out there and try to find this film. You will be pleasantly surprised to do so.

If you want to make a worthwhile slasher film, there has to be certain elements present. If any are missing then this will just be an adventure for Paul Naschy completists, which is not a bad thing.

There is plenty of gore and violence after the movie gets going for a while. It is not overly gory, but enough to make it a good slasher. The gore does look realistic, which is good, as did the decapitation. There was plenty of screaming, too.

The best endowed girl in the film does give us a show with her boyfriend. When the slasher puts her away for later, her stupendous breasts are covered in blood. We get to see those breasts over and over.

Paul Naschy made a really good killer. He had a sinister smile and was very funny as he collected his victims.

It was a very suspenseful film. I won't say scary, but very tense. It kept you captivated through the entire time. The ending is, unfortunately, unclear.

The World of Horror has lost one of its last remaining icons. I was deeply saddened to learn that Paul Naschy (born Jacinto Molina), a true deity of European Exploitation cinema and one of the last living legends of the Horror genre, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 75 in his native Madrid last week. Maybe best known for playing the Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky in thirteen films between 1968 and 2004, Naschy was a multi-talent who scripted and directed many of the films he starred in himself, and doubtlessly the most charismatic and influential leading man in Spanish Horror cinema. Not all of the films in Naschy's career may qualify as 'good' in a traditional sense (though some, such as the near-brilliant "El Jorobado De La Morgue" of 1973, doubtlessly qualify as great), but they are almost entirely highly entertaining and impossible-not-to-love gems of European Horror cinema, and they all have a certain inimitable charm to them that can not be found anywhere but in a Naschy-film. The world of cult-cinema is a lot poorer for the loss of this great man, but it is oh so much richer for the wonderful films he has given us. So what would be a better way of mourning this icon than to celebrate his work by watching as many of his films as possible?

I had delayed the viewing of this film several times, for the reason that I generally prefer my Horror to be old, and therefore rather watched the films Naschy did in the 70s and 80s. These preconceptions were unfounded, as one of the most wonderful films Naschy ever was in was the 2004 film "Rojo Sangre", which was directed by his son and which basically was a giant tribute to leading man Naschy. Carlos Gil's "School Killer" of 2001 is indeed not one of Naschy's best films, but it s still a highly entertaining Naschy one-man-show that none of my fellow fans of the man should miss. The main attraction of the film is, of course, Paul Naschy, who stars as the eponymous School Killer. The film starts out pretty unimaginative when a bunch of kids decide to spend the night at an abandoned old boarding school set in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Strange and supernatural things soon begin to happen, and when it turns out that the school was the site of a massacre in 1973, things begin to get out of hand... The film begins unspectacular, and gets a little ridiculous when the first supernatural events occur. However, it really catches up in the second half, and once one has acquired a taste for the rather far-fetched premise of the film, it actually becomes really creepy. Naschy is once again awesome and wonderfully creepy in his role, which basically carries the whole film. The rest of the cast aren't memorable, and their characters are pretty forgettable; however, even though the young characters are a little annoying at times, Naschy's creepiness makes it possible to actually feel for them.

Overall, "School Killer" is no must see, but it is a decent little film and, especially now, it is mandatory for us Naschy fans to see the master in as many of his later roles as possible. There are dozens of Naschy films to recommend over this one, such as "El Jorobado De La Morgue" ("The Hunchback of the Morgue", 1973), "La Orgia De Los Muertos" (The Hanging Woman, 1973), "El Espanto Surge De La Tumba" ("Horror Rises from The Tomb", 1973), "Latidos De Panico" ("Panic Beats", 1983), any of the Waldemar Daninsky films like "La Noche De Walpurgis" ("The Werewolf Vs the Vampire Woman", 1971) or, more recently, "Rojo Sangre" (2004). However, once one has seen many of the films Naschy has been in, this is yet another worthy addition to his oeuvre. Once again: The World of Horror has lost one of its last icons. My deep condolences go to Paul Naschy's family. Rest in peace, Hombre Lobo. You were a legend, and you always will be. And legends never die!

Spain has produced a number of good horror films over the last two decades, with directors such as Alejandro Amenabar, Álex de la Iglesia and Jaume Balagueró making some truly standout films. School Killer stars one of the main players of seventies/eighties Spanish horror films in the form of the great Paul Naschy; but overall I'm not surprised that this film doesn't get mentioned alongside the likes of Tesis, Rec and Day of the Beast as one of the better modern films to come out of Spain as despite some good ideas, there's far too many things wrong with it. The plot is not particularly original and focuses on the common horror film ideas of a bunch of kids getting into trouble and an old abandoned building harbouring a maniacal killer. The kids decide to go to the old school building, where one of their dads stayed twenty seven years earlier, for a party but it soon becomes apparent that there's something strange going on inside the building and they soon learn that the boy's father was the only survivor of a massacre the night that he and his friends stayed there.

The best thing about this film is undoubtedly the atmosphere and director Carlos Gil succeeds in creating a truly foreboding feeling that suits the film very well and excellently compliments the plot and the building at the centre of the story. I went into this film expecting a slasher (and thus without any high hopes) but to the film's credit, it actually tries to be more than that and it could be argued that the film is more of a psychological thriller. This certainly gives the film an extra element of interest and it manages to take a mysterious plot and blend it well with the gore you'd expect from a slasher. Paul Naschy is obviously the main standout of the cast and he still has a good screen presence despite his advanced years and provides an extremely effective villain. As mentioned, the film does feature some good gore and although it doesn't feature all the way through; what we do get works well within the context. The film is rather slow to start and it doesn't really get interesting until the final third. However, despite this; the film doesn't end very well and there's too much left unexplained for this to be an effective film overall. Still, School Killer is better than a lot of modern horror films and is at least worth a look.

An annoying group of ex-students from 'Monte Alto International High School' decide to spend a night in the now abandoned institution where a 'mystery' killer called the watchman played by horror legend Paul Naschy murders them off one by one."School Killer" features some references to such teen slasher staples like "Scream" or "Friday the 13th".The climatic twist ending looks like lilted from "The Sixth Sense".The uncertainty about whether the homicidal watchman is alive or dead provide some mild interest,but the characters are one-dimensional and the endless scenes of walking through dark school corridors really got on my nerves.The presence of charismatic Paul Naschy almost saves this clichéd slasher flick.There is also some decent gore on display including a splendidly bloody beheading.It's nice to see Manuela Velasco of "Rec" fame in a small role.4 out of 10.