Student Bodies (1981)
“With rape and violence rampant in this land — with human flesh cheapened and vulgarized — one of the last bastions of decency is the general satisfaction one gains from making a horse head bookend.”
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Review: and her boyfriend (Keith Singleton) who are killed on Jamie Lee Curtis’s birthday as they’re about to have sex; an unseen villain who not only breathes heavily but actually drools over the phone; flashing body count numbers appearing across the screen each time another victim is found; and many openly disturbed potential suspects, including the principal (Joe Talarowski), the aging school secretary (Mimi Weddell): … the woodshop instructor (Joe Flood): …the distracted school psychiatrist (Carl Jacobs), and the double-jointed janitor (The Stick). The premise is amusing (of course), but unfortunately the jokes fall flat as often as they succeed. Note: Interestingly, as pointed out in Spinning Image’s review, co-director Michael Ritchie (who opted for an “Alan Smithee” producer designation on this) actually helmed a number of reputable and interesting flicks, including The Candidate (1972), Smile (1975), and The Bad News Bears (1976). Redeeming Qualities and Moments: Must See? Links: |
2 thoughts on “Student Bodies (1981)”
First viewing. Not must-see.
Generally lame (and now forgotten) horror parody that wants to be a lot funnier than it is – and would eventually be forever eclipsed by the ‘Scream’ and ‘Scary Movie’ films. Even at 85 minutes it seems long. A few of the jokes land but you can maybe sense the cast wishing they had better material to work with – though there’s little attempt on anyone’s part to compensate. The only one who seems to rise above is star Riter, who has a bit of the flavor that Anna Faris would bring to the ‘Scary Movie’ flicks. (This was her only film.)
⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fairly lame slasher comedy only has a couple of laughs. The cast try hard but perhaps too hard.
Not must see.