Return to Horror High right off the bat is misleading as it has absolutely nothing to do with the Horror High that came out over a decade before. But that's only where the confusion starts, I actually had to watch this film twice to try and decipher what the hell was going on.
As much as I can figure out, the plot is basically this: in a high school abandoned because of a murder spree in which the killer was never caught, a production company is shooting a film based on the murders, and as you'd expect the cast and crew start getting picked off by an unknown killer. Now, you might think "obviously the murderer is back”, but it’s not that simple. At least I don’t think it's that simple, because this movie is so confusing that I don’t even know if it’s simple or not. [Spoilers ahead, I think???] The story is told through a series of flashbacks within flashbacks, movies scenes within the film and dream sequences, and because of all these layers, you start to question what's flashbacks and what's present day. You'd think that would be pretty apparent, but it's not in ways you couldn't possibly imagine.
The film opens with police investigating the death of an entire film crew. A detective and some officers are getting the gory story of what happened by questioning the lone survivor (the screenwriter) and we are pretty quickly thrown into a flashback. The flashback is mostly there to set-up who's who in the production crew. The film's producer keeps forcing the screenwriter to write in more sex and boobs, one of the actors is dropping from the production to take a better gig, the director is frustrated with everything, and actors and crew keep hanging out in inexplicably dark corners of the school far away from everyone else. Once the murders get going, it's hard for the crew to distinguish between the special effects and people who have been murdered. But it's not just the people in the film who are confused by what's "real" and what's part of the film production.
Things start getting really confusing for the audience when a scene (complete with full cinematic coverage and editing) suddenly ends when someone yells "cut". It turns out that scene was being shot by the film crew, and we were watching it play out as though it were the finished product. And, if that wasn't confusing enough, later on in the film an a different fully-cinematic scene turns out to have been a dream sequence! (There's a final element of confusion to this flashback salad, but it's a total spoiler. Let's just say that it leaves you wondering even deeper what's "real" and "fake", even though it was clearly intended to give the viewer a more concrete idea of what was what.)
The conclusion to this who-done-it horror doesn't give much clarification either, but let’s just say there is a javelin throw, a bunch of dead brides, a twist you couldn't see coming if you tried, and a teen pregnancy. There's also a tease for a sequel that never came.
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| Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!!! |
The film opens with police investigating the death of an entire film crew. A detective and some officers are getting the gory story of what happened by questioning the lone survivor (the screenwriter) and we are pretty quickly thrown into a flashback. The flashback is mostly there to set-up who's who in the production crew. The film's producer keeps forcing the screenwriter to write in more sex and boobs, one of the actors is dropping from the production to take a better gig, the director is frustrated with everything, and actors and crew keep hanging out in inexplicably dark corners of the school far away from everyone else. Once the murders get going, it's hard for the crew to distinguish between the special effects and people who have been murdered. But it's not just the people in the film who are confused by what's "real" and what's part of the film production.
Things start getting really confusing for the audience when a scene (complete with full cinematic coverage and editing) suddenly ends when someone yells "cut". It turns out that scene was being shot by the film crew, and we were watching it play out as though it were the finished product. And, if that wasn't confusing enough, later on in the film an a different fully-cinematic scene turns out to have been a dream sequence! (There's a final element of confusion to this flashback salad, but it's a total spoiler. Let's just say that it leaves you wondering even deeper what's "real" and "fake", even though it was clearly intended to give the viewer a more concrete idea of what was what.)
The conclusion to this who-done-it horror doesn't give much clarification either, but let’s just say there is a javelin throw, a bunch of dead brides, a twist you couldn't see coming if you tried, and a teen pregnancy. There's also a tease for a sequel that never came.
But even though this trashy 80’s slasher is actually the most complicated and confusing film I’ve ever seen, I highly recommend watching it. If not for any other reasons than it's peppered with awkward (and nonsensical) sex montages, features a young George Clooney and a Brady Bunch daughter all grown up, and was shot by pretty decent cinematographer (Roy H. Wagner). At least you can say all of those things make sense!
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