Routine '80s slasher about a group of people gathering for a high school reunion and being killed off one by one. This is one of many slashers with the same premise: nerdy outcast is bullied and usually disfigured by assholes but comes back years later for revenge. The only "star" in the movie is Caroline Munro. She was 36 at the time, which makes her playing a teenager in early scenes a hoot. The production's pretty cheap but I do enjoy the location shooting, one of the primary selling points of '70s & '80s slasher films. The score is by Harry Manfredini of Friday the 13th fame. He reuses some of that memorable score here. But the best part of his new score is this Sanford & Son-ish bit of music that seems more at home in a comedy than a horror movie. It gives the movie an extra bit of quirkiness that I liked. There's also a comically bad heavy metal theme song. It's not a terrible movie of its type but very predictable. It helps that it doesn't take itself seriously.

Marty Rantzen (Simon Scuddamore) is a nerdy high school student who is frequently tormented by his peers. One day the bullies go too far while playing a prank on Marty, and he becomes injured and subsequently hospitalized. Poor Marty was badly disfigured from the accident they caused and was never the same after that. Ten years later, everyone involved attends their high school reunion and, suspiciously, it seems as if they were the only ones invited. The school has since become abandoned and is now quite a creepy place, especially at night. When the former bullies are killed off one by one by a creep wearing a jester costume and mask, they realize that Marty Rantzen is back for revenge! God bless the 80's! They sure don't make them like this anymore and that's a shame because films like this have resulted in some great times for yours truly. I have always loved revenge movies, especially ones that involve an outcast getting even with those who wronged him. Put that formula into a slasher format and you end up with this awesome film. There are a few flaws here, however. Aside from some minor things like the actors in the beginning looking way too old to be in high school, throughout the film I kept wondering why no one tried to leave when the murders first started. There's a vengeful killer on the loose, get the hell out! The filmmakers should have included a better reason why they couldn't escape. I also despised the ending, which was simply awful in comparison to the rest of the film. I won't give it away but it nearly ruined the movie for me on the first viewing. I still love Slaughter High though, and would definitely recommend it for any slasher fan who's looking for a great time!

This was sort of a British attempt to make a Troma style slasher, in that its a slasher with elements of nerd revenge and all of the British actors are attempting to affect awkward New Jersey accents. The kill scenes are all pretty cool, the nudity is more disturbing than sexy, and everyone dies. So in many ways this is actually a bit more satisfying than your standard "virgin lives" slasher. Knowing that the guy who played Simon committed suicide shortly after production on this wrapped up gives this sleazy piece of trash an unsettling weight. According to other cast members, he was very odd and depressed during the whole shooting to the point everyone just thought he was going "method." Also strange is how little is known about the weird theme song that appears, as Manfredini claims it was added in after he submitted his final score, and the original recording was has been lost for many years. Its pretty rockin though. All in all, one of the worthier slashers from the 80s.

Slaughter High was the only slasher movie I saw growing up. It was harmless fun for the most part, but had one death scene that really bothered me. In recent years, I've become more interested in horror movies, so when I came across a good copy of Slaughter High, I decided it was time to revisit it to see how it held up.The story is about a nerd who gets painfully disfigured when a group of popular kids keep picking on him. He gets them back years later by trapping them in the school and killing them off.Watching it today was almost like watching it for the first time, since I didn't remember much of it. My verdict: it holds up just fine. It moves along at a decent pace and does what these movies do fairly well. The scene I remembered most vividly--the shower scene--is still pretty disturbing. It ends satisfyingly enough, and kept me entertained throughout.