The Hall Monitor (1999 Video) User Reviews

Lame high school thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 20 March 2017]

THE HALL MONITOR is a trashy, zero-budget attempt at a high school thriller, put out by Troma because nobody else wanted it. The whole filming style is so dated that it looks like a 1980s throwback which perhaps was the intention. The story is about the titular character who wanders the corridors and classrooms with a gun, dealing justice as if his school is the Wild West.

A murder mystery plot is the main thrust of the narrative, but it's all so ineptly staged that the whole production is nothing more than a joke. The overacting of the cast members give the production a campy look but it really isn't funny or thrilling.

An entertaining send-up of high school movies!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 26 March 2017]

After watching this movie last night on its splendid Troma DVD, I debated with myself as to how many reviews it has attracted here at good old IMDb. Of course, I could have looked it up then and there, but I couldn't be bothered turning the computer back on. Anyway, my first guess was between two hundred and two thousand reviews. But after further thought, I modified that guesstimate to between two hundred and eight hundred. To find only one reviewer ahead of me is the surprise of my life!

When I was at uni, I had a great interest in the campus cinema. It screened movies all day, every day, during term - except Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. And "The Hall Monitor" is exactly the sort of movie that our undergraduate audiences doted on. For a starter, the locations are not only familiar, but almost dead ringers for the classrooms and other facilities at our own university. Secondly, the people on screen - professors, students and administrators - are almost exact photo copies of our own companions, teachers, general staff, principals and handymen. Admittedly, the clashes between these five classes is somewhat exaggerated in the movie, but nonetheless is has a solid grounding in fact until the last quarter hour or so, when the killer turns out to be - well I won't spoil the movie for the one or two people who will read this review!

My only complaint is that this last quarter hour or so of the movie is - to my way of thinking - just too exaggerated and overdone. Hence my 8/10 rating instead of a 10/10!