Night School
(1981)
Lorimar Film Entertainment / Paramount Pictures / Resource Films : 20th Century Fox / Paramount Pictures / Warner Home Video
5.5 / 10
If you like slasher films then this one may take your fancy - it has an added bonus of having a decent mystery interwoven into it.
However, this movie suffers from what I call "The Fugitive" syndrome. I was looking forward to the film due to loving the series, however, in the first section, they introduce a character at a party. It's at this point I thought "He" did it... and he had. It's best, in a mystery, to not flag the villain in such an obvious way and that's what happens here, though they do try to muddy the water to confuse the audience.
The other stumbling block is that there's no real tension. The director, Ken Hughes, goes for the thrill route, which isn't a bad thing as it gives the audience the adrenalin rush, it could have been better had there been a build up to the rush.
This starts in the first sequence when a teacher's aid is tormented by a helmeted attacker. This is done by having the aid spun around on a round-a-bout while her assailant brandishes a knife, making stabs each time she passes.
In the morning, the aid is found decapitated in the school playground and the police investigation gets underway. There are plenty of suspects ranging from the lascivious male lecturer at the "women's only" night school, Vincent Millett (played by Drew Snyder) to the Dean of the school, Helene Griffin (played by Annette Miller), who is aware of Millett's extracurricular activities; however, she's more annoyed that he's getting more "bed" action than she is.
For the most part, the acting is of a high calibre, though it's Rachel Ward as Elenor who lets the film down. This is the main drawback of the film. Since she's one of the main characters her wooden acting, that makes her character two-dimensional and unbelievable, really hampers the flow and feel of the film.
If you didn't figure out The Fugitive then you might like this film as the mystery is pretty well handled and the twist at the end is a brilliantly thought out one, which follows matters mentioned in the film. If the Ruth Avergon story were in book form I'd be hunting it down right now as the story is the thing which makes this film.
The other stumbling block is that there's no real tension. The director, Ken Hughes, goes for the thrill route, which isn't a bad thing as it gives the audience the adrenalin rush, it could have been better had there been a build up to the rush.
This starts in the first sequence when a teacher's aid is tormented by a helmeted attacker. This is done by having the aid spun around on a round-a-bout while her assailant brandishes a knife, making stabs each time she passes.
In the morning, the aid is found decapitated in the school playground and the police investigation gets underway. There are plenty of suspects ranging from the lascivious male lecturer at the "women's only" night school, Vincent Millett (played by Drew Snyder) to the Dean of the school, Helene Griffin (played by Annette Miller), who is aware of Millett's extracurricular activities; however, she's more annoyed that he's getting more "bed" action than she is.
For the most part, the acting is of a high calibre, though it's Rachel Ward as Elenor who lets the film down. This is the main drawback of the film. Since she's one of the main characters her wooden acting, that makes her character two-dimensional and unbelievable, really hampers the flow and feel of the film.
If you didn't figure out The Fugitive then you might like this film as the mystery is pretty well handled and the twist at the end is a brilliantly thought out one, which follows matters mentioned in the film. If the Ruth Avergon story were in book form I'd be hunting it down right now as the story is the thing which makes this film.
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