In the early 1980s, making a teen slasher movie solely intended for distribution via cable television was either a very courageous undertaking or a very ignorant one. If you ask me, it was a very ignorant one because 80s slashers could only distinguish themselves from the massive competition in two areas, namely the depiction of nasty gore (various & ingenious methods for killing dumb teenagers) and explicit sleaze (beauties showering or having premarital sex moments before getting killed). Being a TV-movie, "Deadly Lessons" couldn't feature any of these two sub-genre trademarks and the consequences are irreversible now. Today, practically all contemporary slasher movies have received fancy DVD-releases and often enjoy massive cult reputations even though many of them downright suck, whereas "Deadly Lessons" is entirely forgotten and obscure. Numerous TV thrillers and horror movies from the 70s decade are still around and popular, however, but that's because they often benefited from an exceptionally great screenplay or a uniquely suspenseful atmosphere. Apart from being blood-free and sleaze-free, "Deadly Lessons" also has the bad luck of being very mundane, dullish and unremarkable from all possible viewpoints. The setting, pacing, story and denouement are standard slasher material. It's not worse, but certainly not any better than the rest of the 80s slashers, but at least all the others showcased gruesome murders and gratuitous nudity. In an exclusive all-girls boarding school, one of the students is found drowned in a lake. It looks like an unfortunate accident, but police detective Kemper immediately suspects that she was murdered. He's quickly proven right, as more girls are turning up dead while fear and hysteria are taking over the daily life at school. Prime suspects include the handsome but bizarre stable boy, the obligatory old & creepy janitor, the eccentric French teacher and maybe even the sophisticated but uptight school principal Mrs. Wade. The climax is implausible and far-fetched, but I'm not deducting any points for that since it was also a typical slasher trademark in the eighties. If you have too much free time on your hands, "Deadly Lessons" might still be worth seeking out in case you like horror curiosities, or to see a few stars in their earliest roles, like Bill Paxton, Ally Sheedy and Nancy Cartwright (yes, she who does Bart Simpson's voice)

There's a hint of cinematic exploitation in this made for TV movie about a boarding school full of pretty rich girls stalked by a phantom killer. Enter Diane Franklin as the new girl, taking everything in with a naïve, vulnerable expression and meeting each character along with the audience. There's Ally Sheedy as a rich girl and a host of others, including Bart Simpson's voice Nancy Cartwright, most getting picked off by a mysterious killer within the Southern plantation style campus.The mystery aspect works good – it's hard to tell who the culprit might be. Perhaps Bill Paxton as a seemingly kindhearted horse-trainer or the classy French teacher. Our only hope in stopping the killings, which occur mostly off screen (if you don't jot down each victim's names you'll forget who dies or lives), is Larry Wilcox as a local plainclothes investigator with a chip on his shoulder and a particular dislike for pompous school owner Donna Reed.An intriguing body count premise where the spoiled beauties, like in any horror film template, are put through the ringer. And the "who done it" finale turns out somewhat creative.For More Reviews: www.cultfilmfreak.com

I thought this movie was pretty good. It's like a 'Scream' movie without the gore and a large variety of suspects. Donna Reed adds a classy touch to the proceedings and Ally Sheedy is shown just before she hit stardom with 'WarGames'. Hopefully this film will be shown on TV soon.

Not bad "slasher" Movie with a great cast. It's about a psychopath who stalks an exclusive girls' school headed by Donna Reed. Among the ill-fated students are Diane Franklin (Better off Dead), Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order), and Renee Jones (Friday the 13th Part 6). Larry Wilcox plays the cop hot on the murderer's trail, whoever he may be.