Cutting Class 1988

Directed by: Rospo Pallenberg

Starring: Donovan Leitch, Jill Schoelen, Brad Pitt

Review by Luisito Joaquín González

So you’ve all been told until you are blue in the face by me and others how Scream redefined the genre blah blah. Whilst Kevin Williamson’s script was sharp and clever, attempts at a comedic self-referential whodunit had been on the scene since the late eighties. The majority had been overlooked or in effect weren’t really good enough to grab the attention garnered by Wes Craven’s hit.

One of that number was Cutting Class from 1988. A film that is often overlooked by genre enthusiasts, probably because it’s always been very easy to find on VHS and then DVD. It will have been seen perhaps more times than it would have if it hadn’t had boasted a pre Thelma and Louise performance from a young Brad Pitt, who by this point was still some way off his super star status.

An unseen nut job is killing students and teachers at a High School. The murders seem to have a connection with beautiful student Paula Carson, but as more bodies turn up, she realises that it could be someone closer to her than she expected…

Lushly financed and shot with a gorgeous cast of up and coming talent and a couple of veterans, Cutting Class was released at a time when the slasher genre was not much of a draw at all for audiences. They had already by that time seen everything that could be done with the simplistic plot structure and had ambled along to pastures new. This one offers absolutely nothing adventurous, but packs just about enough to please fans looking for a period piece of slashertastic action.

Cutting Class 1988 – Decent Killings – a SLASH above!

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You can see what they were attempting with the story, which focuses heavily on the mystery of who it is committing the killings. Could it be Brian Woods who has just been released from an insane asylum and looks the most likely? Maybe it’s the possessive and aggressive Dwight Ingalls, who in typical slasher fashion shows no redeeming moral features? Or perhaps it’s the creepy caretaker who hangs around muttering about being the ‘custodian of lives’? The screenwriter tries hard to throw as many red herrings in as possible, but the revelation still lacks punch. Between all this we have a teen romance between the three leads, which engulfs much of the runtime. The killings are numerous, but rushed and gore free, so at times it’s easy to forget that you’re watching a horror film. I still liked the way they were conveyed, especially the gruesome demise of the art teacher, the vice principle’s death by photocopier and the twin murder during a basketball game. There are attempts at comedy to stop the pace from dissolving, but it rarely hits a crescendo in either mood.

The picture quality is superb with a lot of bright colours and the performances are good enough all round. Brad Pitt had his moments, but was outshone by Donovan Leitch who built audience sympathy well with his portrayal of a misunderstood loner. Jill Schoelen was cute and naïve as the gorgeous goodie goodie heroine and although underused, the comedic turn from Roddy McDowall was a nice addition. Like many of its eighties colleagues, Cutting Class is unbelievably cheesy and sometimes a tad too silly. Despite missing people, bodies turning up on a daily basis and a killer on the loose, the Police presence is non existent and the fate of William Carson III is beyond logical explanation.

Rospo Pallenburg had been a screenwriter prior to the shoot and somehow blagged his way in to the director’s chair. He lacks invention here and his style is bland and it feels almost as if it is being filmed from the pages of ‘a beginner’s guide to filmmaking’. It makes you wonder what it would have looked like in the hands of a helmer with a good knowledge of building suspense. Someone like Scott Spiegel or Skip Schoolnik who both would have jumped at the chance to utilise this cast and funding. Thankfully the feature is kept afloat by the energetic performances and an overdose of OTT eighties fashions.

When I sit down to watch a slasher movie, I think of a checklist with the most important box being, ‘Am I having a good time’. Cutting Class is a fun time waster that you’ll easily forget, but enjoy while it lasts. It even has a moral to its story that says, ‘stay at school’, which is ironic as it is flicks like these that I used to skip class to watch.

The cinematic equivalent of a McDonald’s double sausage and egg McMuffin. You know that it has no nutrients or goodness for your body, but hits the spot from time to time; most definitely after a long night on the lash. It’s far too silly to be memorable, but thanks to a fantastic leading lady and an all round interesting cast, it’s worth dusting off to take a look at. We would see Ms Schoelen again in Popcorn, before she disappeared, which is a shame because she should have done much more 

Slasher Trappings:

Killer Guise:

Gore:√

Final Girl: √√√√√

RATING:

*Also, something I almost forgot. As you can see by the picture, this was released on VHS in Spain with EXACTLY the same cover as Slaughter High. I have no idea why?