Class Reunion (1982) User Reviews

S10 Reviews: National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)

[suspiria10 · 6/10 · 17 August 2005]

The Class of 1972 from Lizzie Borden High (nyuk, nyuk) is all gathering together for their ten-year reunion. All those guys you remember are back. The jock, ms. Popular, the cripple, the nobody, the class pump, the girl who sold her soul to the devil so she could get rid of leg braces and now breathes fire and has an Exorcist thing going on and let's not forget Howard Baylor. Baylor escaped from the loony bin just to get back at the poor slobs who pulled the senior prank on him (he made-out with his twin sister) and put him there to begin with. All that and a National Lampoon charter to boot…Whoa Nelly!

Certainly not the most popular National Lampoon film (it's got a serious reputation for being bad) but I actually had fun with it. It moved at a pretty fast pace with enough bad jokes and screwiness to keep me entertained. Give it a view. "National Lampoon's Class Reunion" may grow on you like that rash you got from gym.

What a reunion this is!! (contains spoilers)

[AndyVanScoyoc · 5/10 · 21 February 2003]

Campy, silly but all out fun, the Lizzie Borden class of '72 will make you wish you were in on some of the "fun" they have!

You have your snooty playboy and his equally as snooty girlfriend, your prissy class prude who just happened to be as popular as she was snotty, the class cretin, a devil worshipper and a vampire and they all make for a hilarious "class."

Gerrit Graham is great as Bob Spinnaker the class playboy who has his nose so far up in the air if it were to rain, he would drown.

Stephen Furst is typical in his role, as only he can do and make it look convincing as the cretinous, perverted Hubert Downs who hasn't changed much since High School and Miriam Flynn is such a prude in her role as the snide Bunny Packard that you wish someone would slap her.

Zane Buzby puts in one hilarious performance as Delores Salk, a cripple who sold her soul to the devil in order to not be crippled any longer.

Enter Michael Lerner as Doctor Robert Young, a psychiatrist who tries to help solve all the mysterious murders that begin happening and you have side splitting twists, turns and action until the very end of the movie.

Great fun and with a guest appearance by music legend Chuck Berry, great music too!

'a leisurely evacuation'

[transient-2 · 6/10 · 20 June 2005]

You can't convince someone to like this movie. I found the image of a high school class singing The Supremes over the ornate corpse of a Krishna to be comically endearing. I also liked the image of Scatman Caruthers bicycling through flying sausages in "Zapped!" with Scott Baio; neither of these films can be called excellent, but each has a tepid silliness which is pleasant. Gerrit Graham and Michael Lerner make memorable characters, and the rest are painless. 'Painless' is a high rating for any as jaded as I.

Never having read the original lampoon concept, and never having seen a 'John Hughes' film prior to this one (it is hard to recognize John Hughes in here - although the film takes place in a high school, the characters are all adults) I thought it was at least as funny as Animal House, which I never really found that funny.

Awesome Movie!

[lildixie · 12 July 2002]

This movie is one of my favorites!

All of the characters are hilariously developed and the actors who play them do a wonderful job. I've loved this movie since I was a kid and every once in a while I quote from it or think of one of the characters (my favorite being Delores).

It's a shame that more people haven't heard of this movie. It's somewhat hard to find but if you seek it out it is well worth it!

Where's the Beef

[caspian1978 · 4/10 · 18 March 2005]

Gerrit Graham is a great actor....but he can not star in a movie. Much like football, Gerrit has the talent to run the ball in for a touchdown but can't. However, he is a guarantee 3 points every game. Here, Gerrit is good but does nothing as the star of the movie. The entire cast has there moments, but nothing worth keeping your attention for an entire 90 minutes. The movie at times seems too low budget to be anything great like Animal House or Chritmas Vacation. The story is pure humor, nothing but quick and sometimes witty fart jokes that only make you laugh for a second or two. Nudity is added just for pure laughs, nothing terrific. All in all, it is a quick comedy with nothing to show for it. The movie starts out good with a potential story but ends quick and corny.

"Can we see her naked before you kill her?"

[Hey_Sweden · 4/10 · 27 July 2013]

This tediously unfunny slasher movie parody succeeds mostly in wasting a fair deal of comedic talent. It's something of a chore to get through, as it goes from scene to scene with one joke after another falling flat. It's not without its moments, of course - Zane Buzby, at least, is hilarious - but it's hard to care about a bunch of characters THIS insufferable. It wouldn't be so bad if they were actually funny, but they weren't, not to this viewer.

Directed by Michael Miller ("Jackson County Jail", "Silent Rage") and written by John Hughes, it's an ensemble piece in which an obnoxious bunch of students at Lizzie Borden high school (ha, ha) play a cruel prank on loser Walter Baylor (Blackie Dammett). 10 years, ol' Walter is ready for revenge, attending their class reunion uninvited and aiming to kill.

And that's another thing. If whoever watches this is a slasher fan they may well be disappointed with the very small body count. "Class Reunion" wastes an awful lot of time for an 85 minute long feature; it probably would have worked better as a short. Still, it's got a decent enough cast - they just can't make this uninspired material work. Gerrit Graham ("Used Cars"), Stephen Furst ("Animal House"), Miriam Flynn (the "Vacation" series), Fred McCarren ("The Boogens"), Mews Small ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), Misty Rowe ("Meatballs Part II"), and a seriously slumming Michael Lerner ("Barton Fink") star. Art Evans ("Die Hard 2") and Barry Diamond supply some mild chuckles as the stoner duo. Dammett, it's worth noting, was born John Kiedis, and is the dad of Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis. Look for Anne Ramsey ("Throw Momma from the Train") as the cook. Rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry makes a musical appearance.

Overall, a lame, boring movie that cannot really be recommended. The title song sung by Gary U.S. Bonds made me think that I might have a good time, but such was not the case.

Four out of 10.

I watch this every few years, although I'm unsure as to why...

[terrywatt375 · 5/10 · 16 July 2023]

I remember seeing this on cable a year or so after it was released - maybe in 1983, when I was 13 - and even with my mindset back then I didn't think much of it. Mind you, back then I was watching all sorts of dumb movies back then. Slasher flicks, teen sex comedies, stupid gross-out b-movies. Heck, back then I found the 1981 movie Student Bodies amusing (still do). National Lampoon's Class Reunion always struck me as, at best, mildly amusing to my 13-year-old brain.

For some reason, I bought a VHS copy of it in the 1990's and continued to watch it once in a blue moon. Several years ago, I bought the Kino Lorber dvd release because I just HAD to have it finally in widescreen. But why?

I dunno. Although a very early slasher movie spoof, Class Reunion isn't gory in the least. Although rated R, Class Reunion far as I can remember doesn't have any rough language re: the f word. Nor does it have any nudity other than a brief side-boob shot.

What it does have are a lot of dumb jokes and a sensibility carried over from the 1970's Lampoon era. The characters include a couple of Cheech & Chong wannabe stoner-types who smoke dope and can't remember anything. One of the more memorable roles features Zane Busby playing a formerly handicapped student who made a deal with Satan to become not handicapped. Steven Furst (Flounder from Animal House fame) turns up as the class slob. One of his lines is "I see London, I see France, I see so-and-so's underpants"...I mean, it's literally that type of elementary school playground humor on display throughout the flick. Chuck Berry shows up and sings 'My Ding-a-Ling'...a couple of people in the cast I've seen in other movies featuring SNL alumni, but for the most part most of the cast are people I'd never seen before nor would go on to see in much else.

All I can say is that this lowest common denominator (and now in 2023 VERY dated movie regarding the humor) flick has inexplicably grown on me over the decades. Inexplicably meaning I'm at a loss to explain as to why since I STILL don't find it particularly amusing (it's not like I enjoyed it much 40 years ago and am giving it the ranking I am for the sake of nostalgia). In point of fact, it's fairly undistinguished in nearly every way...not violent in a gory way, not revealing in a horndog sense, mildly humorous at times at best. So, like I said, it's an R-rated horror spoof that neither scares nor amuses.

Must be some reason I've seen it perhaps 40 times over the last 40 years, but darned if I can figure out what that reason is.

So dumb...yet enjoyable!

[tributarystu · 4/10 · 17 February 2003]

I had no idea what to expect from this movie. It was just being showed on HBO and I thought, what the heck! I won't say I regret I saw it, but I can't say I am delighted that I watched it. It wasn't a good movie, it was dumb, but...but...unlike "Mistery Men", for example, it made me feel better.

SPOILERS

The story is about the craziest people one might see who celebrate some kind of reunion. One of the ex-students though plans revenge on his former "mates", who played a "terrible" prank on him at the end of school. So he goes on a killing spree and some people die, but of course, it's all a comedy, so it's not a big deal... The movie did remind me of Scary Movie though...I don't know why, but I felt it was kind of a parody to scary movies to come.

The characters are all very predictable. The one who is least known gets to be the "hero", the one who has the best reputation shows his own "disgraced" side, the good looking chick is kidnapped, etc.

It was funny at times and what is most important it did not bore me. Probably will bore others...not me though. I doubt you can "think deep" on this movie because I doubt it was made for this purpose. It's not worth renting, but if you have a wasted day it might just cheer you up. 4.5/10

Under-rated? More like under-achieved!

[Glyde Stick · 2/10 · 19 February 2001]

Anyone who thinks this film has not been appreciated for its comic genius must have been smoking with the two stoners in the film. This film is NOT under-rated...it is a bad movie.

There should be no comparisons between this film and The Naked Gun or Airplane since the latter two films are well written and funny. Class Reunion is neither of those things. The sad thing is it had such potential (good cast, good story lines) but the good jokes are few and far between. The scenes that were supposed to be funny came off more annoying than amusing. The stoner guys, the vampire, the blind girl...NOT FUNNY. The only funny character were Delores (the one who sold her soul to the devil).

National Lampoon has made some really good films (Animal House, Vacation) but this isn't one of them. I certainly expected more from John Hughes.

Walter Bayler - Most Likely To Fail At Mass Murder. But, Most Likely To Have A Dance Named After Him. 1-2-Watch

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 21 May 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Class Reunion; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.25 out of 10.00

I had forgotten how good a film National Lampoon's Class Reunion was, which isn't surprising as I've not watched it for thirty-odd years. I originally watched this Comedic Horror flick back in the late eighties when it made it onto the telly. Thinking back; I believe I found it funny, though not a laugh-riot. And that is my same conclusion today.

The story revolves around the prank played on Walter Bayler by his classmates. It leaves him mentally scarred, and he spends the next ten years in the local nut-hatch. On the night of the Class Reunion, Watler escapes. Could he be in the vicinity of the Lizzie Borden High School? His shrink, Dr Young, thinks so. When the dead classmates start swinging, so does the class of 72. John Hughes gives the audience a wide range of stereotypical high-schoolers-come-adults and places them into some Airplane-type skits. You can expect satire, sarcasm, and slapstick abound. Very little is off-limits in this vaudeville'esq buffoonery. Though Reunion contains few laugh-out-loud moments, there's plenty to snigger at. I particularly liked "I sold my soul to the Devil" Delores Salk, who has a bee in her bonnet about Bunny "Miss Perfect" Packard. When these two get together, it's great. And the comedy works thanks to the actress's perfect timing. Another wonderfully written scene is the clergyman confessions skit. When things look their bleakest, the religious give confessions to the classmate who entered into the priesthood. Unfortunately for him, one of the congregation gets over-enthused in describing her sexual preferences. I loved the look on the faces of the husband who faints, the priest who's hot under the dog collar, and the woman whose sexual hunger runs rampant, like a rabbit, through her entire body language. Well written and even better acted.

Granted, the director, Michael Miller, didn't need to do much as the writing and the cast are responsible for the majority of the chuckles. That said, he has an eye for composition, which works to frame the slapstick sketches superbly. The image of the visually impaired (no, scratch that). The sight of the blind as a bat Iris Augen stumbling around the old school's halls with her mismatched stockinged feet in mop buckets and white cane flailing in the air calling for her guide-dog is priceless. And it gets better when old Bag-Head Walter turns up to take his revenge. Iris does more unintentional damage to him than he intended for her. It's a great skit. I also liked the vision of the skipping Buddhist. Milt is off to make a phone call, and Miller films him skipping down the hallway from a high vantage point. This slight change in angle adds extra attraction to the scene. It doesn't make you laugh, but it does give you a smile and a warm feeling.

The cast is dazzling in their performances, which is splendid because most gags rely on them. Stephen Furst is superbly excellent as the sleazy trash-mouthed-and-minded, Hubert Downs. Miriam Flynn and Zane Buzby's teamwork as Bunny and Delores is exceptional. Blackie Dammett as Walter has some of the best facial expressions in the film. And the stoners Chip (Barry Diamond) and Carl (Art Evens) are chilled-out comedic classics. Even that guy who played...you know...whatshisname...Barry? Larry? Jerry? Whoever, well, even he was pretty funny. (You'll get that joke if you watch the film - Soz.)

I would cheerfully recommend National Lampoon's Class Reunion to lighten up your viewing pleasure; and, hopefully, your life - for a little while, at least - It did mine. Now excuse me, the music's playing and I feel like doing The Walter.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror, Killer Thriller Chillers, Just For Laughs, and Guilty Pleasures lists to see where I ranked Class Reunion.

Take Care & Stay Well.

A strictly so-so send-up of early 80's slasher flicks

[Woodyanders · 5/10 · 12 July 2006]

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.

People Can Be So Cruel

[jamesbourke59 · 10/10 · 7 April 2005]

Personal taste rules when it comes to talking about movies such as this treasured little gem. Way back in the eighties, the early eighties, i discovered this movie, like so many released at the time, "Night Patrol" "Bad Manners" or even "King Frat" the artwork and blurbs on the back of the covers tempted and teased you.

Of course being of an age, movies like that i have already mentioned as well as stuff like "Screwballs" and the many others, captured the imagination, and thankfully many years later i still remember some with fondness and some with disdain the many movies that help maintain my love of such genre as parodies or pastiches.

Made many years after the huge success of "Animal House" and having seen how it had fared down through the years, I now know that there would be no way this movie would ever eclipse the box office bucks obtain aforementioned nor would it linger in the memory, much like that of National Lampoon's Vacation.

To be honest, not everything that has carried the National Lampoon Logo has been a wild success, however to me Class Reunion remains one of my all time favourite movies, with instantly recognisable characters, such as the aloof Bob Spinnaker played to perfection by Gerrit Graham, so good in Charles Band's "Terrorvision" still lingering in the past glories of his youth. Or how about Stephen Furst's brash and ballsy turn as the high school lazy drunken sex crazed bum Hubert Downs.

Sweet as. Which makes me ponder. As i already said, personal taste not withstanding. People can be so cruel, so it will never win any awards or be compared to the like of its's peers within the comedy world. It does have some merit. Being one of the earlier scripts penned by John Hughes, who would later go on to do one of my own favourites of his work "Weird Science" as well as having a wonderful theme title sung by the great Gary U.S Bonds.

What more can i say, it's a movie just waiting to be rediscovered, time and time again.

If you like 80's comedies, then you will like this movie.

[joeytosi · 7/10 · 2 July 2023]

This movie is clever and funny, and that is unsurprising considering it was written by John Hughes. Several memorable characters gather for their 10 yr reunion only to discover that one of their classmates is a psycho killer intent on making people pay for theuir cruel behavior to each other back in high school. Plot keeps you guessing and has many stupidly funny interludes that are reminiscent of a live action scooby do episode. Also, Chuck Berry shows up and performs My Dingaling. It's crass, sophomoric and juvenile. But it's funny, and some parts are unforgettable. It deserves much better than the rating it has on IMDb.

It lasted one week in theaters!

[Maciste_Brother · 1/10 · 5 May 2004]

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CLASS REUNION was a flop when it was released. It didn't stay long in theaters in my big city. Why? Because it's BAD!!!!!

Not bad in a good way but bad in a really painfully unfunny way. The entire cast of actors were mostly unknowns then and have remained unknowns after this turkey.

The idea is actually great (a parody of slasher flicks) but the execution is sorely lacking in every aspect.

Just avoid this "comedy". Your time is more precious than spending a nanosecond watching this embarrassing misfire.

Parody slasher: great idea...someone should do one

[TonyDood · 15 June 2005]

This should be a classic--it was made during the height of both 80's slashers and sex-comedies. It had a great cast (Stephen Furst as well as two great underused, but always fascinating actresses--Zane Busby as a weirdly compassionate and helpful woman possessed by the devil, and chipmunk-voiced Mews Small as a blind nympho had a lot of potential) and the budget looked reasonable. And it's inoffensive enough--it's doesn't inspire one to seek out the director and hang him with his own celluloid strips like, say, "Up The Academy" did.

It's just not that interesting. It's like a bad 80's sitcom pilot that you forget five minutes after the credits roll. It's something you watch with a hangover in a marathon of similarly themed movies on cable, falling asleep frequently without fear of having "missed anything." It has a few chuckles here and there, and the attempt to simulate the slashers of the era is appreciated. It's probably no dumber than others of its kind. It's just bland and lifeless, like a bored jellyfish. I'm about to fall asleep writing about it. I suddenly can't even remember why I wanted to...

Nothing redeemable//Might be spoilers!

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 2/10 · 22 March 2005]

If it wasn't for the performances of Barry Diamond and Art Evans as the clueless stoners, I would have no reason to recommend this to anyone.

The plot centers around a 10 year high school reunion, which takes place in a supposed abandon high school(looks more like a prop from a 1950s low budget horror flick), and the deranged student the class pulled a very traumatizing prank on. This student desires to kill off the entire class for revenge.

John Hughes falls in love with his characters too much, as only one student is killed as well as the lunch lady(Goonies' Anne Ramsey). We're led to believe that the horny coupled gets killed, but never see a blasted thing! This is a horrible movie that continued National Lampoon's downward spiral throughout the 80s and 90s.

A movie really low on laughs. Where's Up The Creek, when we want you

[PeterMitchell-506-564364 · 3/10 · 3 April 2013]

This movie is just too stupid to be funny. When watching it first when I was 14, not at my request, I laughed much more. It's another of these Can't Hardly Wait, Van Wilder's party, but the bizarre version. A nut is loose on campus, an old student with a grudge. Featuring a few stars from Animal House, who's presence adds a little spice, the jokes of this sinker keep misfiring left, right, and centre. It's a real sloppy movie, that you can't wait for it to be over. And to think this was the late great Hughes, writing debut, that's a bizarre fact in itself. I'm glad to see he so raised his level of performance. I guess though, the absurdity, or bizarre goings on of the film, and it's color, give it a style of it's own, but for laughs, you're better off attending your own class reunion. And judged by the film and it's instances, just be glad and prey you never have to attend a reunion such as this one. Shame on you, National Lampoons.

National Lampoon - therein lies the problem....

[Mister-6 · 1/10 · 14 August 1999]

The biggest National Lampoon hit remains "Animal House", and rightly so. It was funny, raucous and good-natured.

The exact opposite of every other National Lampoon film. Including "Class Reunion".

PLEASE do not be fooled by the inclusion of Stephen Furst ("Flounder") from "Animal House". Or by the fact that John Hughes wrote this jumbled mess. This reunion is about as hilarious as root canal and twice as painful.

One star, and that's being generous. Then again, I always thought most of my old classmates were demons, vampires and serial killers, too.

not that funny and pales in comparison to Animal House

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 18 February 2015]

It's June 1972. Snooty Bob Spinnaker (Gerrit Graham) and the rest of the class prank Walter Baylor with his twin sister which ultimately sends him to a mental hospital. Ten years later, the class of Lizzie Borden High reunites. Gary Nash is the class nobody. Bunny Packard is the prudish bossy girl. Hubert Downs is disgusting. Iris Augen is the blind girl who has trouble hearing. Meredith Modess is the class stuck up beauty. Delores Salk is a cripple who is walking again with the devil's help. Jaws is the exchange student from Transylvania High. Chip Hendrix and Carl Clapton are the pot-smoking burnouts. Chuck Berry plays at the reunion. People start getting killed off one by one. Dr. Robert Young (Michael Lerner) arrives to tell them that Walter Baylor has escaped. They are locked in and have to search for an escape route.

John Hughes writes a low level broad spoof of a horror movie. Basically he's written some outlandish characters and let them go. It has the same National Lampoon sense of humor but it doesn't have the same comic talents in the cast as Animal House. Stephen Furst is there for both and Gerrit Graham is pretty good. However if Gary Nash is suppose to be the protagonist, Fred McCarren is too much of a nobody to play the nobody role. This has limited humor, done in a flat way and underpowered by the performances.

Should Have Been Funnier

[ellenmorrison-12485 · 3/10 · 5 February 2020]

While the concept seems ripe for comedy gold, Class Reunion never becomes anything more than occasionally amusing. The cast seems up for it, but the material just isn't there which is even more surprising since this is written by 80's comedy golden child John Hughes.

The movie centers on a - you guessed it - class reunion where someone from the pre-credit flashback scene wants to get revenge on their classmates for a prank that was pulled on them, so they put on a dress, grab a bunch of sharp objects, and put a paper bag on their head and attend the reunion in the hopes of killing everyone responsible.

It's a classic slasher film set up (seen executed with sincerity in such films as The Redeemer and, later, Slaughter High) that should be easy to parody, but most of the jokes fall flat and, at 85 minutes, it feels endless.

This is definitely one reunion you don't want to R.S.V.P. to.

An enjoyable romp through spoof-land!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 29 April 2016]

The fourth of TV director Michael Miller's six movies is somewhat inconsistently funny, but he does keep the story moving, so it's wise to continue watching even though some of the gags fall flat. A few of them are ineptly staged and some of them had no promise to begin with. Some travel well-worn paths and some are reasonably fresh. The players too are a mixed lot, but the characters I'm rooting for may not necessarily be the characters that other viewers will identify with. In short "National Lampoon's Class Reuniuon" obviously aims to provide something for everyone -- and in this respect, it succeeds admirably. Many of the players are unknown to me and my DVD is most unhelpful in this regard as it doesn't bother to list any of the players at all. In fact the only characters it mentions are Bob Spinnaker and Meredith Modess. Both are admirably enacted.

"What a great bunch of kids".

[lost-in-limbo · 3/10 · 8 January 2011]

A mostly unfunny, one-joke spoof on the high school / slasher sub-genre that got to me not because of the lack of laughs, but to just how tediously uninteresting the story felt. I found the two stoner buddies (Barry Diamond and Art Evans) amusing enough and so of Gerry Graham's mannered performance along with Anne Ramsey's grouchy cafeteria worker. However for most part I found it a hard task to sit through, trying not to fast-forward (yep I was watching it on a VHS tape). Deliberately goofball in tone --- it keeps its quips quite crude, where the running gags only get repetitively stale and even embarrassing. The material was penned by John Hughes, where he sets up the situation quite well enough but then does nothing then rely on its random, if witlessly lacklustre occurrences and disappointingly screwed-up conclusion. The silly plot sees the class of 72 returns to their old rundown high school Lizzie Borden High for a reunion, but they are soon terrorised by a former student that recently escaped the loony bin seeking revenge for the prank that put him there. Michael Miller's direction is gimmicky, but the low-scale execution holds up better than it should and there's a high-energy soundtrack to boot. The cast is made-up of colourful, over-the-top characters; Michael Lerner, Misty Rowe, Miriam Flynn, Stephen Furst and Mews Small.

Classic Comedy

[delago1245 · 10/10 · 25 November 2001]

This movie is probably my favorite movie of all time. Miriam Flynn is excellent as Bunny Packard. Zane Buzby as Delores is comic genius. The rest of the cast is amazing, and the film is really really funny. A definite satire of horror films, with a zany twist. If you enjoy a fun, comedy filled evening, then go and rent this classic. You'll laugh all the way through!

Way ahead of it's time.

[dominic_champniss · 7/10 · 18 April 2020]

One of the first parody slasher movies and probably the best. A film I grew up with and holds a lot of fond memories. Extremely quotable and worthy of a remake.

Check it out.

One of the worst movies I have ever seen!

[jaws! · 2/10 · 14 April 1999]

This movie is about as underrated as Police Acadmey Mission to Moscow. This movie is never funny. It's maybe the worst comedy spoof ever made. Very boring,and dumb beyond belief. For those people that think this movie is underrated god help you. I give this movie * out of ****