“Massacre at Central High” is a thriller about a high school transfer student who resorts to murder after being pushed too far by a trio of bullies. When it appears he has freed his fellow classmates from the rule of violent oppressors, the newfound power becomes too much, and soon the bullied become the bullies.
I remember watching “Massacre at Central High” on VHS when I was a teenager during the Golden Age of slasher films in the 1980s. I recall being bored by it because, according to its title, it suggested the film was a slasher flick, but after having watched it in its entirety, thanks to Synapse Films’ new high-definition remastered release, it is more of a thriller, and while it barely stands on its own two feet under that genre, its title is very deceptive and misleading.
When David (Derrel Maury) transfers to a new high school, he meets up with his old friend Mark (Andrew Stevens), but their happy reunion is shortlived when David discovers that Mark is friends with three bullies who persecute and intimidate everyone who doesn’t fit into their clique, which is pretty much everyone. Mark tries to initiate David into the group, but he balks at the idea. When the bullies tire of his constant rejection, they try to hurt him, but he retaliates by killing them, one by one. The school students celebrate the bullies’ demise, but in no time at all, a new posse of antagonizers take over the reins of their predecessors, and now David must decide if he is to stand up to them or walk away.
The movie deals with bullying and oppression and adopts a slasher motif; the new kid stands up for all the victimized students and takes revenge on their behalf, and while that might sound like a great slasher premise on paper, the finished result is quite the opposite, including a couple of watered-down and insipid deaths, with one of them, even transpiring offscreen. The acting by all involved is perfunctory at best, and most of the deaths are anticlimactic. In one scene, the trio of bullies tries to rape two girls in a vacant classroom, but David intercedes and saves the girls. After that, the girls and the bullies continue their day-to-day activities as if nothing happened. Much of the film falls under this unbelievable attribute; something terrible happens, then everyone moves past it, and everything is normal again.
A dramatic and gripping screenplay was not going to draw the crowds back in 1976, violence and nudity was, and both are prevalent throughout its entire 87-minute runtime. Some might be unable to stomach the central narrative surrounding one man taking the lives of fellow classmates, especially in today’s volatile climate, even if they are warranted, but the acting and lack of a digestible screenplay should prevent any pensiveness from seeping in. The film’s premise is most definitely intriguing, but its execution is anything but.
The new release from Synapse Films features a high-definition 1080p remaster scanned, transferred, and supervised by director Rene Daalder. The Blu-ray™ also contains a full course-load of special features, including the brand-new documentary “Hell in the Hallways: The Making of Massacre at Central High.”
Available on Blu-ray™ September 13th
