Slaughter High

SLAUGHTR HIGH (DVD)
Arrow Video 

Release date: July 11th 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 86 minutes

Year of production: 1986

Writers and directors: George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, Peter Litten

Cast: Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore, Sally Cross, Kelly Baker, Donna Yeager, Carmine Iannaccone

There’s always a kid at school that everyone likes to pick on. If you had big buck teeth, a lisp or glasses, well, quite frankly you were doomed.

I’m really glad to say I wasn’t that kid. I kept my head down, my mouth shut and got on with my work but if the situation called for it I wasn’t afraid to stick my foot out and trip up a lesser fortunate kid for the sake of it.

Yeah, I was a geeky and well mannered badass but I’ve got nothing on Marty Rantzen (Simon Scuddamore) from Slaughter High, a film that utilises the classic “psycho takes revenge on his tormentors” theme.

We first meet Martin when he’s lured into the girls’ bathroom by popular student Carol Manning (Caroline Munro) who says she’ll have sex with him. Bragging that he’s done it loads of times, Martin doesn’t realise its part of an elaborate April Fools Day prank and is completely humiliated when his classmates wait for him to undress and dunk him head first into the toilet. They continue to tease and torment him until a terrible accident in the chemistry lab leaves him scarred mentally and physically.

Years later Martin’s former classmates receive invitations for a school reunion. The school is deserted when they arrive and they try to figure out who sent the invites. It doesn’t take a geeky school nerd to figure out that Martin has returned with a plan to get even on those who made his life a living hell.

One by one they’re picked off by a killer masquerading as a jester in a variety of ways including death by coat hook, exploding intestines, cesspit, acid bath, javelin, and lawnmower… and there’s an electrifying sex scene.

With atrocious acting, hilarious make-up effects and a twist ending, Slaughter High remains one of the guilty pleasures of the slasher genre from the 80’s, but there’s also a serious side to this story too.

Simon Scuddamore, who plays the hapless nerd Martin, committed suicide shortly after starring in this, making it his one and only film. It certainly does leave you wondering what his reasons for taking his own life were, leading fans to speculate that playing the character might have brought up too many memories from his own childhood. Whatever the case, he gives a spirited performance here and might have gone on to make a mark in the horror genre in years to come had he lived.

This is the first time the film has been released in the UK in its uncut form and it also includes a look back on the career of Caroline Munro who has acted in numerous horror, science fiction and action films since the 1970’s. There’s also an interview with co-writer/co-director Mark Ezra but nothing definitive for fans of Scuddamore unfortunately.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

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