[a.k.a. Terror Eyes] 
(USA/1980)
Review By: Johan Melle
Cast: Rachel Ward, Leonard Mann, Drew Snyder, Joseph R. Sicari, Karen MacDonald, Annette Miller, Elizabeth Barnitz, Nicholas Cairis, Holly Hardman, Margo Skinner, Bill McCann 
Directed by Ken Hughes. Written by Ruth Avergon. 
Source: DVD-R of British VHS (under the title TERROR EYES) 

Boston is being terrorized by a sadistic, leather-clad killer with a motorcycle helmet who is decapitating young women. A young girl named Anne is murdered at a children’s playground, and her severed head is later discovered nearby in a bucket of water. The cop on the case, Lt. Judd Austin (Leonard Mann), learns that Anne was taking night classes at a women’s college, and decides to take a closer look at this night school. It quickly turns out that all the victims have ties to the night school, and Austin’s suspicion soon falls on anthropology professor Vincent Millett (Drew Snyder), a smug, slimy bastard who’s sleeping with most of his students (including several of the victims) - much to the chagrin of his official girlfriend, English exchange student Eleanor (Rachel Ward). As the headless corpses keep piling up, Lt. Austin desperately tries to solve the complicated case. He also ponders why the victims’ heads are always discovered submerged in water; whether it is in duck ponds, fish tanks or even toilets. 

Just one in an endless series of slasher flicks from the early 1980s, NIGHT SCHOOL may stand out from some of the others simply because it ended up on Britian’s infamous Video Nasty list but it isn’t really one of the better examples of the genre. 

While there are plenty of other slashers out there that aren’t really all that good, such as GRADUATION DAY (1981), MADHOUSE (1981) and HELL NIGHT (1981) just to mention a few, those admittedly flawed films at least still managed to be quite fun and enjoyable even if only because of their overall cheesiness or some outrageous scenes. NIGHT SCHOOL on the other hand doesn’t really have any of that. It isn’t an entertaining, fun horror film at all, as it possesses a grim, joyless feel throughout its entire running time. Not a problem in itself had this film been scary or suspenseful but unfortunately it fails to achieve much of that too. 

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong with NIGHT SCHOOL because it does have several things going for it but somehow all the elements blend together rather poorly. British filmmaker Ken Hughes, who had started his career in the early 1950s and who is known for having made the kiddie film CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1966), was an odd choice to direct, and he probably agreed to do the film because he was in a tight spot. Hughes hadn’t directed a film in two years – his previous film having been the disastrous SEXTETTE (1978), the final film of the then 85-year old sex queen Mae West. Still, Hughes does a decent job here; managing to make the film look quite good on a low budget. The Boston locations are put to good use and Hughes is able to stage a couple of memorable scenes. Unfortunately, his efforts aren’t supported by the poor and highly predictable screenplay, which was actually written by a woman – a certain Ruth Avergon. Not that you’d be able to tell, though, as the film is just as (if not more) cruel and sadistic towards its hapless female victims as every other efforts in the slasher genre. 

On the plus side, the film is quite good-looking, with some effective cinematography by Mark Irwin, who later shot David Cronenberg films like VIDEODROME (1983) and THE FLY (1986) before moving on to big mainstream Hollywood films. There’s also a somewhat kinky and rather surprising shower scene where Eleanor is smeared up with red paint that looks like blood by Millett. An odd moment that nevertheless stays with the viewers long after most of the other, less memorable scenes have faded from memory. The discoveries of the severed heads in all kinds of unexpected places is also quite effective – especially a scene in a restaurant where the owner is slowly draining his sink and to his horror spots some hair from a victim’s head. There’s also a pretty well-staged opening murder at the playground, where the helpless victim is terrorized as the motorcycle helmet-wearing killer is spinning the merry-go-round she’s sitting on round and around before finally finishing her off by whacking her head off with a curved machete. The actual beheading is not seen, though. The scene simply cuts away just before impact – right to a close-up of a bright red sweater. An effect which actually works out pretty nicely. 

It isn’t just the opening scene that omits the decapitation, though. In fact, all of the beheadings take place off-screen and the severed heads are only briefly glimpsed (usually we only get to see the hair). Yet in spite of this, NIGHT SCHOOL is a rather nasty and violent film. Not because there’s so much guts and gore (there isn’t) but there’s something quite brutal and merciless about the killings. The girls are viciously slashed several times before getting their heads cut off, and combined with the film’s mean and joyless atmosphere, this makes the killings seem quite mean-spirited and violent. 

But while the killings may be brutal, they are never very suspenseful. As mentioned, the film isn’t one of the fun slashers and its joylessness is reflected on the soundtrack as well. The opening theme is a very somber melody and the very frenetic music accompanying the stalkings and killings is annoying and rather distracting – effectively killing what little suspense there might have been. Amazingly, the composer, Brad Fiedel, would later improve and go on to score THE TERMINATOR (1984) among other things. 

Furthermore, the intriguing plot point about the killer’s penchant for putting the victims’ heads in water is never really elaborated on. Ruth Avergon’s sloppy screenplay wastes a great opportunity by coming up with a disappointing and rather uninteresting solution for why the killer is doing this. Likewise, the killer’s identity is so painfully obvious almost from the very beginning that one wonders why they even bothered to conceal his/her face in the first place. A red herring – in the form of a none too bright peeping tom – is still thrown in but this seems to have been done mostly out of plight to follow some of the genre’s conventions because this guy obviously isn’t the killer. And let’s not forget the cheap-scale gag at the end that feel extremely out of place considering the tone of the rest of the film. 

Curiously, several slasher fans have commented on how the film seems inspired by and plays very much like an Italian giallo. However, it’s hard to really agree on this because the very bleak and straightforward NIGHT SCHOOL isn’t anywhere near as flashy and colorful as most gialli are. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few similarities, though, because there are. The most noticeable being the killer’s look. The black leather outfit and the motorcycle helmet remind one of the killers from WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (1974) and STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER (1975), and really makes for a creepy-looking murderer too. Furthermore, there are some cool-looking shots of a spiral staircase and even some briefly seen J&B bottles to add some European flavor. Add to that we have familiar Italian genre actor Leonard Mann as the cop on the case. 

A more interesting aspect, however, is how NIGHT SCHOOL itself may have been a source of inspiration for Italy’s horror maestro Dario Argento. In the film’s nastiest sequence, a young, white-clad woman gets slashed by the killer’s machete – spraying lots of blood all over a white wall. A scene in Argento’s TENEBRAE (1982) where a woman in white gets her hand chopped off with an axe and sprays blood all over a white wall is actually remarkably similar to the sequence from NIGHT SCHOOL. Now, on the one hand it may seem unlikely that Argento would let himself be influenced by a low-budget American slasher of only average quality. But at the same time, the similarity is certainly great enough to notice, and NIGHT SCHOOL did play in Italy (under the title IL KILLER DELLA NOTTE) and, more importantly, it was the winner of the Fear Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, which Argento was very much familiar with. It must also be said, though, that of the two scenes, Argento’s is definitely the better executed one. Let’s not forget the point about the victims’ head, though, and how they are always found submerged in water. This seemingly compulsive act to put the heads in water seems like a precursor to another Argento film, the disappointing TRAUMA (1993), in which the killer is always decapitating his victims when it is raining. 

Cast-wise, we actually get a few name stars and good performances here. Leonard Mann is probably better known for his appearances in Italian films such as Maurizio Pradeaux’s giallo DEATH STEPS IN THE DARK (1976), Aldo Lado’s terrific Star Wars rip-off THE HUMANOID (1979) and Ruggero Deodato’s jungle adventure CUT AND RUN (1985). But Mann also had a relatively successful, though short-lived, career in American films in the 1980s – he also showed up in other horror films such as FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987) and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3 (1989). His performance here isn’t exactly great but he does a relatively good job considering how the script doesn’t give him much to work with. Other than a scene with a dull as dishwater girlfriend who bitches about him having to work too much, we really don’t get to know him much as a character, but Mann does have the right look for a cop. Drew Snyder, a good actor who was usually relegated to supporting roles in films like DEATH WISH II (1981) and FIRESTARTER (1984), gets a decently sized role for once and does a very good job as the scumbag professor. He doesn’t quite possess the right good looks for it to be convincing that all his students would fall for him but Snyder is still a believable prick. Then there’s the gorgeous British actress Rachel Ward, making her feature film debut here as Eleanor. Ward looks stunning and puts in a very good performance even though she too is given little material to work with. She really shows promise, though, and would follow up with another slasher flick, THE FINAL TERROR (1981) alongside Daryl Hannah, before making a big name for herself (for a short while anyway) by starring opposite Richard Chamberlain in the massively popular TV mini series THE THORN BIRDS in 1983. 

Supporting cast sports a few good performances too. Joseph R. Sicari is very good as Mann’s colorful, smart-talking assistant, and Karen MacDonald isn’t bad as the chatty blonde waitress who works near the night school. Many of the other characters are never really fleshed out, though. Such as Annette Miller as Miss Griffin, the school’s principal and also a predatory lesbian, who’s extremely eager to comfort the student girls after they’ve been dumped by Millett. As for the actresses playing the students… Well, better not to mention much about them at all because their so-called acting is similar to what we see in porno films before the sex starts – these girls are completely unable to emote any sort of feelings at all. 

In spite of some strong reservations, NIGHT SCHOOL isn’t a total waste of time, though. Its joyless atmosphere may be rather off-putting to many but it’s a good-looking film with some nasty kills and a couple of good performances, and many may want to check out the beautiful Rachel Ward in her film debut. Just don’t expect anything more. This is the kind of film you watch on a rainy Sunday when you don’t have too much else to do.