High school nerd Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) spends every spare minute of his day in the school lab trying to perfect his formula for enhancing his guinea pig's physiology; when the rodent finally mutates and kills the janitor's cat, the moggie's furious owner forces Vernon to drink his own potion, causing the usually meek student to become an uncontrollable monster driven to settle the score with anyone who has ever made his life a misery.Vernon's chemical concoction might be a scientific revelation, but the formula for this film is nowhere near as ground-breaking, following in the well-trodden footsteps of numerous Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde rip-offs; but even though the film is predictable stuff, there is still plenty of fun to be had from this contemporary take on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic.The cast is surprisingly good, Cardi impressing as the affable biology buff, scrumptious redhead Rosie Holotik (as caring classmate Robin Jones) making for an appealing love interest, and Austin Stoker putting in a decent turn as Lieutenant Bozeman, the cop tasked with solving all the murders at the school. A reasonable helping of gore also adds to the enjoyment factor, gruesome highlights including a bloody face-melt, a corpse in an acid vat, Vernon's nasty English teacher losing her fingers under a guillotine blade, and the school's coach being trampled to death by Vernon wearing spiked running shoes. The film ends on a suitably tragic note, Vernon gunned down by the police in front of a horrified Robin.

"Horror High" aka "Twisted Brain" is as bare-bones as any seventies independent flick can get. This is not a very good film, by far not, yet it might be an enjoyable watch for fans of obscure exploitation horror. It's basically a cross between an avant-la-lettre slasher movie (because of the high school setting & the systematic killings) and a contemporary re-imagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous "Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" story.For the biggest part the screenplay of "Horror High" sticks to its guns, which is good. And it's a simple story: Vernon Potts is the nerdy high school whiz kid that gets picked on by everybody (teachers & students alike). Since he's good at chemistry & biology, he invented a potion that occasionally transforms him in a murderous maniac. Thus Vernon has the abilities to exact his bloody revenge. The killings are mildly amusing and the overall atmosphere of the film is gritty enough. However, at one point the screenplay takes a sudden and completely unnecessary side-jump introducing Vernon's estranged father & his girlfriend. A completely redundant padding scene that goes on for too long, since the father character is never mentioned again afterwards. Vernon also gets an obligatory love-interest thrown his way: The girlfriend of a bullying jock student. She falls for Vernon's intelligence, naturally."Horror High" is a curious effort altogether, not only because the film is so obscure, but also because it foreshadows many high school slasher films to come over the next decade. At the time, the 'slasher rules' of contemporary horror cinema weren't even established yet. Sadly the execution of the film, as well as the acting, is severely below par. Not a lot of talent & money were involved. But there were a couple of other elements that made this viewing more interesting to me, like the use of many bizarre sound effects (e.g. shredding distorted guitars). The soundtrack itself also becomes funky & rocky at times. Every now and then inventive camera angles were used and the use of conveniently placed flashbacks (re-use of footage) to 'enhance' the narrative provided some amusing chuckles throughout. Again, I can't call this a good movie by any means, but I can imagine it a worthwhile watch to lovers of strange & vintage, moody & atmospheric exploitation horror. Don't expect nudity in this one, though.

Wow. I am amazed I went beyond the opening song with this film. After all, the song was just horrible in every possible way--whiny, bad and dreadful. Was this a portent of more awfulness to come or was this low-budget film actually worth seeing?The star of this film is a nerdy high school student (who, incidentally was 23 when the film was made). He's mistreated by his teachers, the janitor and his classmates. Like such to be Vernon Potts and you know that based on the title of this film that eventually all these people will have a major butt-kicking coming by the end of the film. But, in the meantime, we are treated to scene after scene of the most ridiculously nasty treatment of poor Vernon. Subtle this isn't.Later, a deranged (and horribly acted) janitor freaks out and forces poor Vernon to drink some formula he's been working on in the lab. And, not at all unexpectedly, Vernon is now a crazed killer beast. I love how incredibly stupid and cheesy the first act of retribution is--when he shoves the janitor's head in a conveniently placed bucket of sulfuric acid (I always have a few sitting around the house for just such emergencies). When Vernon has recovered, he's covered in blood and hides the evidence of his atrocity. Is this the last killing by good ol' Vern? Well, considering it's only the 25 minute mark, I doubt it.By the way, speaking of sulfuric acid in this murder scene, I noticed that the label on the drum was MISSPELLED!! Talk about sloppy!! Surely a chemical supply house can spell sulfuric!!The next day, the police come to the school to investigate the killing. This apparently was prompted when one of the kids in chemistry class opened the giant drum of 'sulphuric acid' and bits and pieces of the janitor and his cat were floating in it.There's more to it than this, but frankly it's all so dull and pointless I'll just wrap it up now. Overall, the acting, writing, special effects and direction totally suck. There really is nothing of interest or value in the film other than small parts played by Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Craig Morton and linebacker D.D. Lewis, as well as Pittsburg Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene and Chuck Beatty. It's interesting for anyone who watched football back in the 1970s--otherwise I have no idea why anyone would want to see this stinking film. Also, I hope I didn't miss any other players who were in the film--I'm trying my best considering that I was pretty young back then and my crazy old man memory isn't perfect!Worthless--a complete waste of time.

Mild-mannered high school student Vernon Potts is a strong candidate for the Pencil Neck Geek of the Year Award. The thuggish jocks in his gym class are always ruthlessly picking on him and beating him up. His bitchy English teacher gives him mucho flack for only caring about biology and chemistry. Vernon's negligent, self-absorbed dad is so wrapped up in making a fast buck that he completely ignores the poor boy. Even the grubby, mean-spirited janitor constantly browbeats him. After being forced to drink a special liquid formula he created for a biology experiment, Vernon acquires the necessary power to violently turn the tables on his cruel tormentors. Wormy, sniveling mouse Vernon occasionally mutates into a hairy, club-footed humanoid monster which embarks on a grisly murderous rampage, brutally slaying everyone who ever treated him badly. The custodian has his face dunked in a steaming vat of sulfuric acid, the English teacher has her hand lobbed off with a paper cutter, and, best of all, the malicious blackmailing football coach gets messily hashed when Vernon stomps all over his squat body while wearing spiked running shoes! Okay, I'll admit that this shoddily made low-budget male adolescent revenge horror fantasy clunker is so incredibly bad that it's often downright gut-busting, but I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed it just the same. Larry N. Stouffer's ham-fisted direction is loaded with lots of laughably inept affectations; his maladroit use of oddly tinted camera angles in order to capture and convey a creepy mood of impending menace in particular stands out as a tremendous source of inadvertent hilarity. Erstwhile child star Pat Cardi gives a nice, personable portrayal of the pitiably meek Vernon, but the rest of the cast, which includes the ever-smooth and ingratiating Austin ("Assault on Precinct 13") Stoker as the casually assiduous cop investigating the killings and "Don't Look in the Basement" 's Rosie Holotik as the fetching heroine, deliver comically dreadful performances. (Cardi and Stoker also appeared together in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes.") Even 70's football stars Mean Joe Greene, Calvin Hill and Craig Morton have no clue why they were even invited to this celluloid nightmare. Janis P. Valtenburg's chintzy, grainy, unsightly cinematography and the mandatory ghastly ending credits theme song (a sad, haunting, unforgettably atrocious pop-slop ballad called "Vernon's Theme" sung by Jerry Coward) are likewise hilariously atrocious. However, Don Hulette's funky, groovy, syncopated score does manage to hit the correct right-on happening spot. Good, schlocky 70's drive-in horror fun.