Massacre At Central High (1976)

MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH (1976)

Dir: Rene Daalder

3/31 #31daysofhorror

A goddamn hidden gem of cult cinema. Every now and then, your deep dive into the treasures of the past is fruitful. This is one of those oysters with a pearl in its mouth. You won’t believe your eyes. There are explosions, paragliding, Lewis from Revenge of the Nerds (1984), characters who refuse to rise to action, precursor moments to Heathers (1988), bullying, and did I mention explosions? While the acting may not be top notch, it’s more than serviceable to a story whose plot is more verbose than any teen movie of the 1970s.

David is new to Central High, but he has an old friend who goes there, Mark. Right away there’s this magnetism that occurs between the two, some serious subtextual homoeroticism. But Mark is with the cool clique in school. Boys that the entire school bows before. They pick on the smart kids, the geeks, the not-so-smart kids, and feel entitled to whatever they want. Mark doesn’t participate in the evils the bullies perpetrate, but he also lets it happen. If David plays his cards right, he can be a member of the cool kids club and ride through high school without any problems. The only issue is, David can’t f*cking stand bullies. When the entitled douchebags decide to rape two of the high school girls they believe are lesbians, David steps in and beats the sh*t out of three of them. From then on the rift between David and Mark grows.

When the rapist boys start dying off, we think the film is leading us in one direction. When there are no more rapists left and the film still has another hour to go, we realize this story goes deeper than we could have imagined. Or if we were paying attention at the beginning when a swastika is painted on a locker, we wouldn’t be so shocked when we realize there’s a whole anti-fascism message resting below the surface.

For those following along with our 31 Days Of Horror, let us know your opinion of this rare beauty.