Mar 12, 2023
Hell High (Real Trouble, 1989)
"Let's get out of here while we still can."
"No."
"You're pushing our luck. She's had enough!"
"I said I'm gonna finish it."
"It's no good, man!"
"What do you owe her?"
"Look, there are limits. There are certain laws we can't break. This is real trouble, real jail. Our future!"
#hell high#real trouble#raging fury#1989#american cinema#horror film#douglas grossman#leo evans#maureen mooney#christopher stryker#christopher cousins#millie prezioso#jason brill#kathryn rossetter#j. r. horne#daniel beer#victoria andahazy#amy beth erenrich#karen russell#webster whinery#janet attwood#another obscure 'slasher' saved from oblivion by those fools at Arrow hq. shot in 85‚ finished in 86‚ on video in Germany by 87 but not#seen in cinemas until 89 (and then under a plethora of titles in different parts of the world)‚ this seems to have suffered from being#badly handled at every point post production; not least in being insistently marketed as a slasher (even now!) when the actual slashing#element accounts for about 15 minutes of the final third. mostly this is more in the psycho thriller horror vein‚ as Mooney's unbalanced#teacher teeters on the edge of breakdown as a quartet of misfit kids give her hell. Stryker is a fascinating young lead as the head of this#strange gang (weirdly compelling and almost seductive in his nastiness) but tragically this was his only major film and he'd died by the#time it saw wide release. it's a fun and very 80s ride until it all gets kind of nasty and mean in the last act‚ but it's an interesting#exercise in presenting likeable characters and then making them do irredeemable shit to the discomfort of the viewer. if nothing else#Arrow's restoration is utterly stunning and shows why‚ even tho they can be frustrating at times‚ they lead the way in boutique film labels
