Posted by Brian Myers | Published
The 1980s introduced horror fans to thousands of slasher franchises and independent movies that have gone down in history with a brutal cult following. Whether it's Jason Vorhees chasing a victim through the woods with a machete, Freddy Kruger lurking in their dreams, or the Tall Man traversing dimensions to capture their souls, the violence and violence (with a little humor) captivates the audience and keeps them coming back to the screen time and time again.
With so many genre films from that era, it's easy to imagine how some great films can be forgotten. Another movie, 1987 Back to Horror Highan excellent example of a film that deserves another look. The horror-comedy packs in everything that made these movies so great and comes with the bonus of co-starring a young George Clooney.
From the start, the audience is bombarded with sick and twisted humor that sets the pace for the remaining 90+ minutes. Called to the scene of a mass murder, a police detective gets out of his car and barks at a uniformed officer, “How many?” “Six or seven. Maybe eight,” she answered him. “What's wrong, you can't count?” he retreated violently. “They're not exactly together, sir,” he laughed with a straight face.
Bloody sheets covering dozens of bodies are strewn across the lawn of what will soon be revealed as a high school. One survivor of the massacre, a screenwriter named Arthur, is being interviewed by investigators.
As his story unfolds, the audience begins to understand that the shocked filmmaker was part of a group that set up camp at the school, which was the site of a series of gruesome, unsolved murders a few years ago. Arthur and the rest of the film crew were in the middle of making a film based on the murders of years past, and decided that filming on location at the high school where it took place would give the project a realistic edge.
As the film progresses, Arthur's story takes the investigators through a sinister chain of events that ultimately reveal the grim truth of modern-day murders and unsolved murders of the past. One by one, the film crew is selected, leading the audience to believe that the original killer has returned. (Spoiler alert: Clooney's character is the first to die, 13 minutes into the film).
The remaining death scenes will not disappoint the horror fans. Another victim is lured into a sand pit and pulled into it by unknown hands. Another finds himself being cut to pieces by an industrial fan. Want to see a teacher get ripped apart by a masked assailant? Back to Horror High you've got it covered. The bodies were hacked to pieces and the toilets were demolished? Death by spear? The movie's killer has ways to kill and torture that would give Freddy and Jason a run for their money.
The film is more than just young adults just looking at the camera, though. Beautiful special effects makeup and eerie cinematic effects accompany well-timed jump scares and low-key humor. Add in a handful of artful on-screen deaths and an unexpected cliffhanger ending, and you've got the sum of a sad film well worth the time to watch.
Back to Horror High it's a type of entry filled with many horror movies, without a doubt. Cheap dialogue, low-budget special effects, and awkward one-liners were all par for the course in this era of cheaply made splatter films, and this example doesn't stray far from that formula. But well-timed humor and fear are set together, making horror comics almost perfectly balanced.
What is surprising to some may be the level of acting presented in such a low-budget movie. Clooney's efforts shine through in Blood and Blood, helping pave the way for the young actor to become one of Hollywood's leading men for decades to come.
The film also shows the audience a bunch of other familiar faces, some before they became stars, others long ago from the cinema or the small screen. Maureen McCormick, more than ten years after her The Brady Bunch the character Marcia combed her hair for the last time, she plays a supporting role as a police officer.
Anyone who watched a 70s/80s sitcom Alice you'll recognize the actor who played the title character's son, Philip McKeon. Actors Rescued by Alex Rocco (The Godfather, The White Lady), actor Andy Romano (How to Wear a Wild Bikini, Hill Street Blues), and actor and pro wrestler Pepper Martin (Walking Away, Superman II).
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You can stream 1987 horror comics Back to Horror High free on Tubi.
