Night School (1981)

Who's been decapitating the innocent girls at a local night school? The police are baffled. Who really cares?

Director:

Ken Hughes

Writer:

Ruth Avergon

Stars:

Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonard Mann	...	Lt. Judd Austin
Rachel Ward	...	Eleanor Adjai
Drew Snyder	...	Vincent Millett
Joseph R. Sicari	...	Taj
Nicholas Cairis	...	Gus
Karen MacDonald	...	Carol
Annette Miller	...	Helene Griffin
Bill McCann	...	Gary
Margo Skinner	...	Stevie Cabot
Elizabeth Barnitz	...	Kim Morrison
Holly Hardman	...	Kathy
Meb Boden	...	Anne Barron
Leonard Corman	...	Priest
Belle McDonald	...	Marjorie Armand
Edward C. Higgins	...	Coroner (as Ed Higgins)

Storyline

A Boston police detective investigates a series of gruesome decapitations of various college coeds commited by a helmeted, black-leather clad serial killer which leads him to suspect a well known anthropology professor as well as his female live-in assistant.

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Plot Keywords:

police | night school | professor | assistant | night | 

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Taglines:

A lesson in terror [USA theatrical] [as Night School]

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terror Eyes

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fiducial Resource Industrial, Lorimar Film Entertainment, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The feature film debut for actress Rachel Ward.

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Quotes

Judd Austin: Is, uh, Professor Millett in? I'd like to speak to him.
Eleanor Adjai: I'm afraid that's quite impossible. He's working, he left strict instructions not to be disturbed.
Judd Austin: Miss, uh, Adjai. Is that right?
Eleanor Adjai: Yes, that's right.
Judd Austin: I'm not a traveling salesman, Miss Adjai. I'm a police officer, and I have a badge that says I can disturb anybody anytime.
Eleanor Adjai: [after a moment's pause] I'll see if he can talk to you.

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Connections

References Psycho (1960)

User Reviews

Early 80's Slasher Makes the Grade

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 pink helmet. Anne is startled. Suddenly the stranger pulls out a machete and starts spinning the carousel. The machete is held up in the air and the terrified woman goes around and 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 a gruesome sight. The girl was decapitated and her head was put 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 Wendell 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 was dumped in a pond. They wonder if there's any connection between the two murders.

"Night School" is a typical run-of-the-mill early 80's whodunit slasher with a decapitation twist. This is the kind of movie where half of the money is trying to figure out where the detectives are going to find the missing heads. The twist ending is pretty predictable and the acting is a bit wooden (Rachel Ward, in her film debut, is all sorts of terrible here) but the film is never boring and has been directed with style. Boston looks positively wretched on film here and it gives the slasher a bit of a grungy "Departed" vibe. Overall, it's definitely worth checking out, just check your expectations-and your head--at the door.