Review: Massacre at Central High

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Massacre at Central High
Directed by Rene Daalder (d. 2019)
Brian Distributing Corp; Synapse Films; MVD Entertainment
87 minutes, 1976 / 2022
www.synapsefilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com/
High school bully films are a nice subgenre of thrillers and possible violent (did I mention bullies) murder tales. This theme is more common in Japan where there are strict social rules in instructional institutions, such as was in England in the 19th Century (e.g., Tom Brown’s School Days), but that is another story. This film was obviously a launching pad for the likes of cult release, Heathers (1988), which has a very similar revenge theme. There are differences between, for example, this film and Heathers in that the latter is a vicious comedy and the former a vicious drama.

I don’t know why this subgenre tend to group the bully social construct as a three- or foursome, but that is true here. Perhaps this release set the pathway? The leader of the baddies is Mark (Andrew Stevens; at one time I could honestly say, in the words of the SoCal punk band VOM, “I’m In Love With Your Mom”). His cohorts are Bruce (Ray Underwood; d. 1993), blond and really tall Paul (Damon Douglas; d. 2006) and Craig (Steve Bond). From the opening shot of them walking side-by-side down the narrow school corridor, like it was theirs, gives all the indication you need for who and what they are. And we see their behavior right off when the run into the film’s hippie rebel, Spoony (Robert Carradine), who is wise and sharp-tongued, but seems to get away with much.

Darrel Maury

We quickly meet the hero/anti-hero of the piece, in the form of transfer student David (Derrel Maury). The baddies are out to groom him to be one of “theirs,” as David was friends with Mark at a previous school. However, David has flirted with Theresa (Kimberly Beck), who unknowingly is actually Mark’s girl. Okay, enough with the exposition, since we now have all the main characters (though I’d like to give a nod to Rambeaux Smith, aka Cheryl Smith, who plays secondary character, Mary; d. 2002).

While it is obvious that these guys are no good, but the film take the wise choice to escalate their actions in steps. At first, they “just” harass and intimidate, but as the story progresses, they get more aggro, justifying the actions/reactions to come. One nearly amusing deed they take is to knock books off several library shelves onto nerdy Arthur (Dennis Kort). Thing is, there is something these goons, who obviously do not read library books, do not realize; the Dewey Decimal System. To put the books in order, just follow the numbers. Anyway, tensions mount between the turdettes and David, when the latter starts helping those who have been injured by his – er – pals.

Andrew Stevens, Kimberly Beck

Another interesting choice is that these bozos – well, conflicted Mark anyway, really wants David to join rather than rebel. Mark’s friends are not so keen, and they actually have a say. In many bully films, the main bad guy is king and the rest are his followers, but here, while Mark is the alpha male, he is surprisingly thoughtful at times and not just a bully cliché. Yet, he is still pressured by the rest of the crew.

The shift in the story, where it escalates, is a series of three events (which I will not describe; no spoilers). By the third, as my grandmother would say, “Enough is enough” (speaking of which, one of the characters, Jane, is played by Lani O’Grady, who would go on to “Eight is Enough” fame, and even has the same haircut here as in the TV show; d. 2001), and the revenge aspect of the story starts, and it becomes more, if a tad predictable (i.e., you know when something is going to happen, just before it does).

Damon Douglas, Ray Underwood, (Maury), Steve Bond

One of the common themes of the bully movie, is it usually turns into a violent revenge scenario, and then goes a step further and there are some times where the bullied become the new bullies. For example, Mark was bullied and then became one himself. With the absence of this hierarchy, the school turns into a Lord of the Flies situation, with past victims demanding their due and wanting influence in whatever form over the others.

This is where the film gets political, as each faction has its own social focus (misinterpreted social justice, rich vs. poor, intellect vs. brawn, brawn vs. intellect, etc.). Well, David’s to the “rescue,” like Christian Slater in Heathers.

Robert Carradine

Along with the original theatrical trailer, a TV and radio spot, and a still gallery, the main extra is “Hell in the Hallways,” a Making Of featurette created for this Blu-ray (42 min; 2020). While it follows the pattern of so many Making Ofs (cast interviews, getting the roles, crew interviews, anecdotes, impact on culture), this one is pretty interesting because – especially the actors – seem really engaged when they talk about their experiences. Also, what is fun, is that they dissect specific effect scenes that are quite amusing. Worth the watch.

There are some aspects of the film worth noting (and I am not the first), there is no official authority figures present through the whole story, except for the last scene. There are no teachers, administration, parents or police. That was a stylistic choice for which I approve, although it makes no sense that classes would continue after so many acts of violence in such a short period of time. And the fact that they go on with Prom? Wow.

But the most egregious thing about the whole film has to be the theme song, “Crossroads,” sung by Tommy Leonetti, is just plain gawd-awful. Lyrically, musically, and vocally, it is just horrendous. It is so bad, and was hated so much by the director, he refused to watch the film for 30 years. For myself, I worked in a movie theater as an usher and had to stay inside the main room my whole shift. If I had to hear this song three times a day, five days a week, I would have torn my ears off.

For  film of this sort, and the date of its release, there is no surprise in the amount of nudity (kudos to Beck). However, there is a nice level of gore that was unexpected, and pre-CGI. I also liked that while it was predictable on who would die, I was surprised by some of the survivors.

Even through some stilted dialogue and ‘70s style acting, this film is a cult classic. It is easy to see why,

IMDB listing HERE