Hell High (1989)

Director:

Douglas Grossman

Writers:

Leo Evans (writer)
Douglas Grossman (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The teachers are tough...but their exams are murder.

Plot:

A teacher still haunted by the death of two teens that she accidentally caused as a young girl goes...

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Teacher | High School Friends | Forward Pass | Little Girl

Cast

Christopher Stryker	...	Dickens
Maureen Mooney	...	Miss Brooke Storm
Christopher Cousins	...	Jon-Jon
Millie Prezioso	...	Queenie
Jason Brill	...	Smiler
Kathryn Rossetter	...	Coach Sandy Hand (as Kathy Rossetter)
J.R. Horne	...	Coach Heaton
Daniel Beer	...	Quarterback
Victoria Andahazy	...	Mink
Amy Beth Erenrich	...	Little Brooke
Webster Whinery	...	Teen Boy
Karen Russell	...	Teen Girl
Cylk Cozart	...	Wide Receiver
Janet Attwood	...	Miss Draper
Rhoda Robinson	...	Classroom Student

Also Known As:

Raging Fury (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:79 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Scarsdale, New York, USA

Company:

DGS Productions

Trivia:

Hell High was originally entitled 'What Do You Want To Do Tonight?', but the distributors opted for a more generic horror movie title for its release.

Bad. Really bad.

(* out of *****) The Blockbuster Video Guide gave this movie three stars -- I'm thinking everyone involved in the Blockbuster franchise must have undergone mentally-corruptive radiation treatments in the '70s. Boy, is this movie stupid! It's your typical cruel prank/revenge/slasher plot, except it looks even cheaper and bored me even more than usual. Some mean (and over-aged) high school kids throw rocks at their mean teacher's house and then sexually molest her, so she jumps out the window. Well, of course she's not dead, and of course there's a traumatic incident from her childhood (she `accidentally' threw a bucktful of mud onto two libidinous motorists, causing them to fly off the bike and impale themselves on wooden stakes in a scene that I assume was supposed to be shocking, but, instead, had me laughing for a good five minutes), and, next thing you know, she's hopping mad and homicidal. Character motivations are weak and absurd, at best, and the plotting is almost transparent in this sick turkey. I loved the scene where the former football star and his friends drive a car onto the field in the middle of a game and intercept a pass while cheesy, triumphant music swells -- were we supposed to feel uplifted here and like this guy or something because he's not quite as cruel and sadistic as the other guy, he's just too much of a coward and a doofus to not go along with him? It stars -- well, really, who cares?

Lowlight: Oh dear, so much to choose from.... There's the tacky scene where the teacher's out cold and undressed on her bed and the slutty girl's showing her dopey ex-boyfriend how to properly touch a woman. But, no, let's just stick with the opening scene where the kid throws the mud at the bikers and they lose control and somehow land on those sharp wooden stakes. I'm sure there are even `better' scenes, but I'd have to rent the movie and watch it again to refresh my memory, and I'm just not ready to do that.