Directed by René Daalder • 1976 • United States
Starring Derrel Maury, Andrew Stevens, Robert Carradine
This powerful blend of social commentary and exploitation is one of the premiere genre films of the 1970s and a provocative allegory about fascism and power structures in a high school world where adults are absent. When new student David (Derrel Maury) arrives at Central High, he discovers that it is lorded over by a gang of bullies who rule the school through intimidation and violence. David’s friend Mark (Andrew Stevens) encourages him to join this dominant clique, but instead David stands up for their victims, and the gang cripples him in retaliation. Soon David begins taking steps to end their reign of terror permanently, setting in motion an explosive cycle of killing that may not end until no one is left to graduate.
Up Next in High School Horror
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Suspiria
Directed by Dario Argento • 1977 • Italy
Starring Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio BucciOne of cinema’s most potent hallucinogens, Dario Argento’s witchy freak-out is a sustained spectacle of outrageously stylized violence and eye-popping art direction. When doe-eyed American ballerina S...
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Prom Night
Directed by Paul Lynch • 1980 • Canada
Starring Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey StevensUltimate scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis stars in this midnight-movie classic, one of the most popular slashers to follow in the wake of HALLOWEEN’s success. For six years, a group of four teenage frien...
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The Slumber Party Massacre
Directed by Amy Holden Jones • 1982 • United States
Starring Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael VillellaScripted by lesbian feminist author Rita Mae Brown, THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE puts a smart, subversive, and lightly satirical spin on the 1980s slasher formula. When Trish (Michelle Mi...
