very tonally different from the original film. I love how the two films are representatives of two different points in slasher history - Horror High being a grindhouse proto-slasher made before the subgenre had fully defined itself, and Return To Horror High being made when the subgenre had already worn itself out and was almost a parody of itself.
Speaking of parody, there's a bit of that here but the film never goes all in on it. I think the concept is really smart and ambitious, but the script doesn't do it justice. There's some potential in the script, but ultimately it's underbaked and there's lots of missed opportunities. For example, there's a scene where a female character criticizes about the constant sexualization of women in horror and how the men never show their "schlongs." But the film falls into that same trap by having constant and solely female (breast) nudity, with only one scene of male chest. We never even get to see a schlong. Still, I appreciate that the issue was brought up, it shows that there were some smart directors who knew the genre in and out, even in the 80s.
Another minor problem the film has is the "film within a film" subplot. It's gets pretty confusing after a while, as you never know when the film within the film starts and stops.
The film's soundtrack is perfectly cheesy, especially the needledrop during the scene where the killer slices the teacher and the needledrop during the closing credits. It's very 80s and reminded me of Slaughter High and Aerobicide.
I love how meta and weird the film gets, even though it gets in the way sometimes. The acting is bad and suits the tone and the blood is great.
This is a fun and trippy film that will satisfy any horror fan looking for what a decent-good 80s meta horror looks like. Out of the three 80s meta horror I've seen - Student Bodies, Pandemonium and Return To Horror High - I can confidently say that Return To Horror High is the best.
I was gonna say this needs a remake...but it really doesn't. It's very of it's time and a remake wouldn't capture that vibe.
very tonally different from the original film. I love how the two films are representatives of two different points in slasher history - Horror High being a grindhouse proto-slasher made before the subgenre had fully defined itself, and Return To Horror High being made when the subgenre had already worn itself out and was almost a parody of itself.
Speaking of parody, there's a bit of that here but the film never goes all in on it. I think the concept is really smart and ambitious, but the script doesn't do it justice. There's some potential in the script, but ultimately it's underbaked and there's lots of missed opportunities. For example, there's a scene where a female character criticizes about the constant sexualization of women in horror and how the men never show their "schlongs." But the film falls into that same trap by having constant and solely female (breast) nudity, with only one scene of male chest. We never even get to see a schlong. Still, I appreciate that the issue was brought up, it shows that there were some smart directors who knew the genre in and out, even in the 80s.
Another minor problem the film has is the "film within a film" subplot. It's gets pretty confusing after a while, as you never know when the film within the film starts and stops.
The film's soundtrack is perfectly cheesy, especially the needledrop during the scene where the killer slices the teacher and the needledrop during the closing credits. It's very 80s and reminded me of Slaughter High and Aerobicide.
I love how meta and weird the film gets, even though it gets in the way sometimes. The acting is bad and suits the tone and the blood is great.
This is a fun and trippy film that will satisfy any horror fan looking for what a decent-good 80s meta horror looks like. Out of the three 80s meta horror I've seen - Student Bodies, Pandemonium and Return To Horror High - I can confidently say that Return To Horror High is the best.
I was gonna say this needs a remake...but it really doesn't. It's very of it's time and a remake wouldn't capture that vibe.
