Slaughter High

Despite the pretense of commentary, the film asks no underlying questions about the society that produces slasher films and revels in its narrative’s basic premise to numbing ends.

Slaughter High, which benefits greatly from its authentic setting, a big, old derelict Tudor-style school building in a remote area, gets actually quite scary, yet its grisly special effects are of the darkly comic, Grand Guignol variety. There's a trite coda that the film could have done without, but even so, Slaughter High (appropriately rated R) is effective schlock.

The story line is as direct as can be, and little time is wasted with extraneous subplots. Very effective use is made of the location, a decaying old school building that would give anyone the creeps. Good performances by Scuddamore, Iannaccone, and veteran B-movie starlet Munro further enhance the film. The effects are rather good but not too gross, tending to be near-comic.