I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did. I've heard for years from friends that it's one of the funniest unjustly overlooked and forgotten comedies from the early 80's. Well, I got a copy of this film on DVD, saw it and thought it was okay. Neither very good nor totally bad. Just okay. Please allow me to elaborate on this.
The premise certainly has potential: A wacky assortment of folks -- snobby preppie Gerrit ("The Phantom of the Paradise," "Used Cars") Graham, obnoxious fat slob Stephen Furst (Flounder in "Animal House") and crazed psychic Satanist Zane Busby among 'em -- who make up the graduating class of Lizzie Borden High ("A cut above the rest") gather together at a creepy remote old house for their 10th Anniversary High School Reunion. Alas, another unbalanced student named Walter Baylor who was horribly humiliated by the graduating class when they played a cruel prank on him also shows up to murder the people responsible for said prank.
Director Micheal ("Jackson County Jail") Miller, working from a suitably lowbrow script written by 80's teen comedy titan John ("Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club") Hughes, barely manages to wring a handful of laughs from the regrettably mediocre material. The main problem with this picture is that it crucially lacks the necessary wit and vitality needed to be as uproarious as it keeps constantly threatening to be. Moreover, while the characters are appropriately zany (said nutty characters include a blundering blind woman, a hulking transvestite, a weird vampire guy and even a Cheech and Chong-style stoner dope humor duo), they unfortunately aren't remotely likable or appealing. Furthermore, despite the occasional inspired line of dialogue ("My father didn't spend all that money to keep me out of Vienam so I can die in my own high school") or genuinely hilarious moment (the Diana Ross and the Supremes routine is positively sidesplitting), the bulk of the jokes tend to fall flat and the film runs out of steam at the halfway point, limping towards a pretty blah conclusion. On the plus side we've got a groovy theme song sung by Gary U.S. Bonds, a nifty guest appearance by Chuck Berry, and amusing supporting performances by Michael Lerner as a useless psychiatrist and late, great gnarled character actress Anne ("The Goonies," "Throw Mama From the Train") Ramsey as a grubby old battle axe of a cafeteria worker (she uses a chainsaw to cut lasagna!). Overall this feature sizes up as a strictly watchable, but altogether middling and thus forgettable diversion.
The premise certainly has potential: A wacky assortment of folks -- snobby preppie Gerrit ("The Phantom of the Paradise," "Used Cars") Graham, obnoxious fat slob Stephen Furst (Flounder in "Animal House") and crazed psychic Satanist Zane Busby among 'em -- who make up the graduating class of Lizzie Borden High ("A cut above the rest") gather together at a creepy remote old house for their 10th Anniversary High School Reunion. Alas, another unbalanced student named Walter Baylor who was horribly humiliated by the graduating class when they played a cruel prank on him also shows up to murder the people responsible for said prank.
Director Micheal ("Jackson County Jail") Miller, working from a suitably lowbrow script written by 80's teen comedy titan John ("Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club") Hughes, barely manages to wring a handful of laughs from the regrettably mediocre material. The main problem with this picture is that it crucially lacks the necessary wit and vitality needed to be as uproarious as it keeps constantly threatening to be. Moreover, while the characters are appropriately zany (said nutty characters include a blundering blind woman, a hulking transvestite, a weird vampire guy and even a Cheech and Chong-style stoner dope humor duo), they unfortunately aren't remotely likable or appealing. Furthermore, despite the occasional inspired line of dialogue ("My father didn't spend all that money to keep me out of Vienam so I can die in my own high school") or genuinely hilarious moment (the Diana Ross and the Supremes routine is positively sidesplitting), the bulk of the jokes tend to fall flat and the film runs out of steam at the halfway point, limping towards a pretty blah conclusion. On the plus side we've got a groovy theme song sung by Gary U.S. Bonds, a nifty guest appearance by Chuck Berry, and amusing supporting performances by Michael Lerner as a useless psychiatrist and late, great gnarled character actress Anne ("The Goonies," "Throw Mama From the Train") Ramsey as a grubby old battle axe of a cafeteria worker (she uses a chainsaw to cut lasagna!). Overall this feature sizes up as a strictly watchable, but altogether middling and thus forgettable diversion.