Class of 1984 (1982)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers:

Tom Holland (story)
Mark L. Lester (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 August 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Class of 1984. Is this the future?

Plot:

Andy is a new teacher and an inner city high school that is like nothing he has ever seen before. The...

Plot Keywords:

High School | Teacher | City | Teenage Boy | Lesbian

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Perry King	...	Andrew Norris
Merrie Lynn Ross	...	Diane Norris
Timothy Van Patten	...	Peter Stegman
Roddy McDowall	...	Terry Corrigan
Stefan Arngrim	...	Drugstore
Michael J. Fox	...	Arthur (as Michael Fox)
Keith Knight	...	Barnyard
Lisa Langlois	...	Patsy
Neil Clifford	...	Fallon
Al Waxman	...	Detective Stewiski
Erin Noble	...	Deneen (as Erin Flannery)
David Gardner	...	Principal Morganthau
Steve Pernie	...	Rejack
Robert Reece	...	Leroy
Joseph Kelly	...	Jimmy

Also Known As:

Guerrilla High (Canada: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (DVD rating) (uncut) (2005) | USA:R (cut) | Norway:15 (DVD rating) (2006) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2006) | Finland:(Banned) (heavily cut) (1984) | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1982) (1983) (1986) | Australia:R | Denmark:15 | France:-16 | Germany:18 (cut version: 2002) | Iceland:(Banned) | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | UK:(Banned) (video rating) (1987) | UK:18 (original rating) (cut) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (2005) | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Central Tech. High School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Guerilla High Productions

Trivia:

Director Mark L. Lester felt the scene where Corrigan holds the class at gunpoint was so pivotal to the film that he set aside two days to film that scene alone. Lester says it remains his favorite scene in the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: There is a visible pad under Mr Norris's shirt, as he is beaten up.

Quotes:

Deneen: You jerks don't belong here.
Peter Stegman: Shut your hole, you little dyke!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hip Hip Hurray (1984)

Soundtrack:

Fresh Flesh

A wonderfully visceral and gripping cult flick.

"Class of 1984" is a highly memorable melodrama depicting a high school of the "future" overridden by violence and crime. Sadly, this premise, while far-out at the time, turned out to be all too prophetic.

Perry King plays Andy Norris, the new music teacher at this high school. He's replacing a man named Goldstein who supposedly had an "accident". Almost immediately, Andy is butting heads with the kingpin of this school, a snot-nosed and deranged under-age creep named Peter Stegman (Timothy Van Patten). Andy refuses to be bullied by the young psychopath, and their war of wills reaches an inevitable breaking point when Stegman and his gang target Andy's pregnant wife (Merrie Lynn Ross).

Van Patten creates a very vivid villain who I had a lot of fun hating, but the real star of this movie is, for me, veteran Roddy McDowall. The "Planet of the Apes" series star is biology teacher Terry Corrigan, an embittered alcoholic despondent over the fact that he can't get his students to want to learn anything, and who is clearly just one step from a nervous breakdown. His highlight scene is the said breakdown, where he forces his students to answer biology questions at gunpoint.

Canadian legend Al Waxman pops in from time to time as the detective who is basically powerless to appropriately punish these young miscreants. And Michael J. Fox (billed here without the middle initial) makes an early screen appearance as a dorky little wise-guy.

Yes, this film is undeniably lurid and perverse trash. But it WORKS. The struggle between Andy and Stegman is too compelling to ignore, and the ultra-violent final battle had me on the edge of my seat, cheering on Andy as he handles things the Charles Bronson way.

Co-star Ross has little to do. Essentially, she seems to function more as a plot device than as a character - as in the plot device that will conclusively drive Andy over the edge.

The film is co-written with future film director Tom Holland, and features a song contribution by Alice Cooper ("I Am The Future").

"Class of 1984" is a great dose of 1980's trash with a nice side dish of social comment; it's one of the finest films of its kind that I've ever seen. Note that if you check out the external reviews link, even Roger Ebert had to admit that he enjoyed it! I certainly give it a hearty endorsement myself.

10/10