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IMDbPro

Student Bodies

  • 19811981
  • RR
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
5K
YOUR RATING
Student Bodies (1981)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:15
1 Video
99+ Photos
ComedyHorrorMystery
A serial killer with his signature heavy breathing proceeds to systematically kill the students and teachers of Lamab high school.A serial killer with his signature heavy breathing proceeds to systematically kill the students and teachers of Lamab high school.A serial killer with his signature heavy breathing proceeds to systematically kill the students and teachers of Lamab high school.
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
5K
YOUR RATING
    • Mickey Rose
    • Michael Ritchie(uncredited)
    • Mickey Rose
  • Stars
    • Kristen Riter
    • Matthew Goldsby
    • Jerry Belson
    • Mickey Rose
    • Michael Ritchie(uncredited)
    • Mickey Rose
  • Stars
    • Kristen Riter
    • Matthew Goldsby
    • Jerry Belson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 108User reviews
    • 55Critic reviews
    • 41Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Student Bodies
    Trailer 3:15
    Watch Student Bodies

    Photos109

    Student Bodies (1981)
    Student Bodies (1981)
    Charles L. Trotter in Student Bodies (1981)
    Angela Bressler in Student Bodies (1981)
    Angela Bressler in Student Bodies (1981)
    Angela Bressler in Student Bodies (1981)
    Student Bodies (1981)
    Angela Bressler in Student Bodies (1981)
    Angela Bressler and Keith Singleton in Student Bodies (1981)
    Jack Armstrong, Sara Eckhardt, Matthew Goldsby, Kevin Mannis, Kristen Riter, and Anita Taylor in Student Bodies (1981)
    Jack Armstrong and Anita Taylor in Student Bodies (1981)
    Jack Armstrong and Anita Taylor in Student Bodies (1981)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kristen Riter
    Kristen Riter
    • Toby
    Matthew Goldsby
    • Hardy
    • (as Matt Goldsby)
    Jerry Belson
    • The Breather
    • (as Richard Brando)
    Joe Flood
    Joe Flood
    • Mr. Dumpkin
    Joe Talarowski
    Joe Talarowski
    • Principal Peters
    Mimi Weddell
    Mimi Weddell
    • Miss Mumsley
    Carl Jacobs
    • Dr. Sigmund
    Peggy Cooper
    • Ms. Van Dyke
    Janice E. O'Malley
    • Nurse Krud
    Kevin Mannis
    • Scott
    Sara Eckhardt
    • Patti
    Brian Batytis
    • Wheels
    Cullen G. Chambers
    Cullen G. Chambers
    • Charles Ray
    Joan Browning Jacobs
    Joan Browning Jacobs
    • Mrs. Hummers
    Angela Bressler
    Angela Bressler
    • Julie
    Kay Ogden
    • Ms. Leclair
    Douglas Cotner
    • Mr. Hummers
    Charles L. Trotter
    • Announcer
      • Mickey Rose
      • Michael Ritchie(uncredited)
      • Mickey Rose
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The segment in the middle of the movie where an announcer, who is stated as being an 'executive producer', addresses the audience and says an expletive ('f**k you') was just added so the production could guarantee 'Student Bodies' an 'R' rating from the MPAA (the Motion Picture Association of America) since at the time the use of that word meant an automatic "R" rating. The dialogue here mentions how R-rated films at the box-office gross more money. Limited use of the "F" word would go into the "PG-13" category instead when that rating was created in July of 1984 which is the rating that this movie would likely received had it existed when it was released.
    • Goofs
      When Toby is on the gurney with the corpse, the dead boy's eyes move. Later his arm moves.
    • Quotes

      Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, in order to achieve an "R" rating today, a motion picture must contain full frontal nudity, graphic violence, or an explicit reference to the sex act. Since this film has none of those, and since research has proven that R-rated films are by far the most popular with the moviegoing public, the producers of this motion picture have asked me to take this opportunity to say "Fuck you."

      [the MPAA R-rating logo appears on the screen]

    • Crazy credits
      Before the opening credits there's a note that reads "This motion picture is based on an actual incident. Last year 26 horror films were released... None of them lost money."
    • Alternate versions
      Some cuts open with the following on-screen title: "This motion picture is based on an actual incident. Last year 26 horror films were released...None of them lost money."
    • Connections
      Featured in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      When the Saints Go Marching In
      (uncredited)

      Traditional

      Performed by Lamab High School Marching Band

    User reviews108

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    "Funerals get me hot!"
    Part of me thinks that, if the ever-reputable Criterion Collection can put out a 2-disc special edition of crap like "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas," they certainly could throw a bone to a sharp-witted parody like "Student Bodies," which nails the genre better than the 3 "Scream"s (which eventually went down the route of self-parody anyway) and the 4 (and counting) "Scary Movie"s. So why, then, has this cover-all-bases send-up been relegated to a word-of-mouth cult item since its 1981 release? Distributor Paramount, which hit paydirt with "Friday the 13th" the year before (and its sequels in the years following), likely saw "Bodies" as an opportunity to take a satirical jab at a genre that really only "began" with the breakout success of John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978). The result? A film so ahead of its time that the audience didn't know what to make of it--relatively goreless and sex-free (our killer offs his teen victims BEFORE they get a chance to score), "Student Bodies" approaches an "Airplane!"-style level of pull-all-stops humor (albeit on a shoestring budget) that remains surprisingly tasteful, even in the midst of cracks about necrophilia and a farting corpse. The opening 15 minutes alone stuffs in references to "Halloween," "When a Stranger Calls," "The Prowler," and even Dario Argento's gialli (our killer's gloved hands figure heavily into the plot); the filmmakers superimpose a helpful "body count" tally plus other deliciously obvious mistakes the characters make (a door kept unlocked, for instance). I only have one major complaint about the film: even at a scant 86 minutes, it goes on for too long, halting to a crawl during a prom sequence that unwisely tries to build some suspense to accompany the humor (though I will give the climax credit for successfully managing to lampoon "Carrie," "Psycho," and even "The Tenant"). That being said, "Student Bodies" is a fine, funny horror lampoon, even more resonant in the fact that, despite its early placement in the slasher pantheon, it still manages to nail all the clichés that have afflicted the genre ever since.
    helpful•8
    3
    • Jonny_Numb
    • Jul 12, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 7, 1981 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Houston, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Allen Smithee Classic Films
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Universal Southwest Cinema
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 26 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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