One of a number of malevolent chillers produced by Hollywood at the end of the 60's and early 70's, this one pits two teachers at a Catholic boys' school against one another in a battle of wills against one another.
Robert Preston.plays the easy-going popular, drama teacher against James Mason's unyieldingly strict Latin teacher in an apparent struggle for the hearts and minds of their increasingly out of control pupils who have lately taken to random acts of escalating extreme violence against select members of their own number.
Into the fray comes the new physical education teacher, Beau Bridges, himself a former pupil of the school. Although he tries to keep the peace between the two old men, his sympathies appear to lie more with the more personable and placatory Preston. However, when the feud inevitably ends by exacting the ultimate toll, we, along with Bridges, sort of learn the truth in a hushed enigmatic ending in keeping with much of the rest of the movie which has relatively few shocking moments as director Lumet instead seeks to build up the tension slowly and surely all the way through.
Director Lumet is probably best known for his gritty police procedurals but I'm afraid in this attempt at the horror genre he rather falls flat. Despite some well-lit scenes, he somehow fails to really convey the sense of evil pervading the school. I also wasn't convinced by the lead acting, Preston I found too passive, Mason too histrionic and Bridges too gauche in their parts. The irritating and distracting scratchy, scrapy soundtrack didn't help matters either.
I'm afraid this is one school-based thriller I'd struggle to award a pass-mark.
Robert Preston.plays the easy-going popular, drama teacher against James Mason's unyieldingly strict Latin teacher in an apparent struggle for the hearts and minds of their increasingly out of control pupils who have lately taken to random acts of escalating extreme violence against select members of their own number.
Into the fray comes the new physical education teacher, Beau Bridges, himself a former pupil of the school. Although he tries to keep the peace between the two old men, his sympathies appear to lie more with the more personable and placatory Preston. However, when the feud inevitably ends by exacting the ultimate toll, we, along with Bridges, sort of learn the truth in a hushed enigmatic ending in keeping with much of the rest of the movie which has relatively few shocking moments as director Lumet instead seeks to build up the tension slowly and surely all the way through.
Director Lumet is probably best known for his gritty police procedurals but I'm afraid in this attempt at the horror genre he rather falls flat. Despite some well-lit scenes, he somehow fails to really convey the sense of evil pervading the school. I also wasn't convinced by the lead acting, Preston I found too passive, Mason too histrionic and Bridges too gauche in their parts. The irritating and distracting scratchy, scrapy soundtrack didn't help matters either.
I'm afraid this is one school-based thriller I'd struggle to award a pass-mark.
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