Night School (1981 film)

This article is about the 1981 American film. For the Japanese film, see Night School (1956 film). For other uses, see Night School.
Night School
Directed by Ken Hughes
Produced by Ruth Avergon
Larry Babb
Written by Ruth Avergon
Starring Leonard Mann
Rachel Ward
Drew Snyder
Music by Brad Fiedel
Cinematography Mark Irwin
Edited by Robert Reitano
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • September 11, 1981 (1981-09-11) (US)

[1]

Running time
 88 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget Unknown

Night School (released in the United Kingdom as Terror Eyes)[2] is a 1981 American slasher film, directed by Ken Hughes and starring Rachel Ward, in her feature film debut. The plot revolves around a series of gruesome decapitation murders targeting mostly college coeds in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] The film was originally to be directed by Alfred Sole, but Sole passed on the project. Ken Hughes was ultimately brought in to direct, and Night School was his final film. The music score was composed by Brad Fiedel.

The film premiered at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in 1981, and was released theatrically in the United States on September 11, 1981. Night School was denounced by critics upon release, and in England became a video nasty.[4] The film has developed a small cult following among slasher fans, and in 2011, it was given its first DVD release by Warner Archive with a remastered transfer.

Plot

Anne Barron (Meb Boden) is a teacher's aide at the Jack-N-Jill Daycare Center in Boston. It's the early evening and the last child has been picked up by her mother. Anne is relaxing on the playground carousel when someone pulls up on a motorcycle, wearing a black motorcycle helmet. She is startled as the stranger pulls out a kukri and starts spinning the carousel. The kukri is held up in the air and the terrified woman goes around until she's struck with it. Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) is the cop assigned to the case. He is called to the scene and when he gets there, he sees the girl decapitated, with her head in a bucket of water nearby. The distraught director of the center tells the officer that Anne worked there during the day and was attending night classes at Wendall College.

At the hospital, Judd and his partner Taj (Joseph R. Sicari) discuss a similar case from the previous week; another girl was found decapitated and her head in a pond. They begin to question if there's any connection between the two murders. At Wendell, the administrator Miss Helene Griffin (Annette Miller) tells Judd that Anne was close to a girl named Kim Morrison (Elizabeth Barnitz). When asked if Anne had a boyfriend, Kim tells the officer that the murdered girl was indeed involved with someone but she doesn't know who it was. She assumes the man must have been married as he was depressed. Judd enters Professor Millett's anthropology class to speak with him about his murdered student in French. The professor doesn't offer much information but he introduces Judd to an exchange student named Eleanor Adjai (Rachel Ward). Eleanor leaves the school and goes to the local diner operated by Gus (Nicholas Cairis) who yells at Gary with his Greek accent to take out the garbage, but Gary is fixated on Eleanor. There, she is creeped out by Gary (Bill McCann), the busboy who appears to have mental issues. Carol (Karen MacDonald), the waitress asks Eleanor if she's in Millet's class and implies that he sleeps around, irritating Eleanor and she leaves. Gary follows her home. When she realizes this, she runs the rest of the way and quickly locks the door. She gets into the shower but someone tries to break in. Frightened, she gets out of the shower, only to find that it's Professor Millet, her boyfriend who had been locked out by accident.

Anne's friend Kim is working at the local aquarium. About to leave work, she takes off her diving suit and is decapitated. A woman who was previously looking at the turtles, screams after she sees Kim's head fall into the tank.

Judd pays a visit to Professor Millett and is surprised to see Eleanor, but she explains that she is the professor's research assistant. The officer then informs Millett that a second student of his has been killed and asks him if he has had any affairs with his pupils. Millett is annoyed at this line of questioning and tells Judd to leave. Eleanor and Millett get into an argument and she goes to the diner to be alone. The professor follows her and she tells him that she is three months pregnant. He's sympathetic although he still manages to flirt with Carol as she waits on them. After the diner has closed, Carol is left to clean up. When the power goes out, she heads to the basement to investigate. The killer appears and attacks her, resulting Carol to escape, but then gets caught in an alley and killed. When one of the workers shows up the next day, he thinks someone has broken into the diner. A customer finds hair in his bowl of stew, Carol's head in a water-filled sink, and her body in a dumpster. Judd and Taj go to Gus's house since he is now considered a prime suspect, but Judd doesn't believe he was involved.

When Judd goes to Professor Millett's home again, he finds a collection of skulls taken from tribal headhunters from around the world. Oddly, Eleanor doesn't see anything wrong with the collection. At Wendell, Miss Griffin tells Millett to stop sleeping around with his students and counsels Kathy (Holly Hardman), who confesses that she too has been intimate with the professor. Miss Griffin, however, seems to have her own ideas about Kathy and she invites the girl to spend the night at her house, resulting the two of them sleeping together. The student is not entirely comfortable, but is enjoying the company. Miss Griffin is killed when she gets up to answer the phone, and Kathy is killed shortly after discovering Griffin's head in the toilet.

Judd is on his way to speak to Miss Griffin when he sees the killer fleeing. He chases the killer to Professor's Millett's apartment. When inside, it is revealed to be Eleanor. She confesses the killings to her boyfriend and justifies the crimes by comparing them to tribal rituals he teaches in his courses. As the police are closing in, Millett puts on the helmet and flees on his motorcycle to deflect attention from his pregnant girlfriend. During a chase with Judd and Taj, the professor is struck by a car and killed. Eleanor attends his burial and the police believe the case has been solved. It is implied that Judd suspects that the killer was Eleanor and that Millett died to protect her, but with the case closed, Judd lets Eleanor go without arresting her.

Cast

Release

Reception

Upon release, the film received negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 22% audience score, with an average rating of 2.7/5.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=nightschool.htm
  2. ↑ Canby, Vincent. "Terror Eyes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  3. ↑ Sipos, Thomas S. Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the Visual Language of Fear. McFarland. p. 20.
  4. ↑ IMDB - Night School - Alternate Versions
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