Memorable, crazy movie

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

When I first watched this film I was quite amazed at the level of disobedience and violence in the film. But upon finishing it I realized that this film was a masterpiece. Perry King does a great job as Mr.Norris while Timothy Van Patten does his role great as stegman. The film captures the early 80s atmosphere quite well.The beginning intro done by Alice cooper gives a glimpse into the darkness of the punk scene that is present in the film. I have to say that the scene where Mr.Norris wreckes Stegamans car never gets old as it shows a man willing to go to extremes to even out with his enemies despite putting his and his wife's life on the line. When Mr.Norris finally gets rid of stegman and his crew it was one of the moments I cheered for him as he had enough of their control over the school. I would highly recommend to anyone who has the time to spare for this masterpiece.

Despite being made on a low budget with a relatively no-name cast, CLASS OF 1984 has become something of a classic when it comes to cult cinema. Not since DEATH WISH have we had such a realistic, gritty low-down slice of urban exploitation, and here the violence is played out brutally and inevitably within the walls of a run-down school terrorised by a gang of malicious, victimising punks. This powerful film is miles ahead of something like 187 in its depiction of classroom violence and although the subject matter is offensive, the film is still gripping to watch. It's one of the rare instances where I was hooked to the screen and couldn't possibly stop watching until the credits rolled.Despite being made thirty years ago, the film hasn't really dated and in fact seems perhaps even more important today: certainly in the age of classroom shootings and ghetto violence it's not difficult to believe that somewhere in the world stuff like this is really going on. Director Mark Lester (known for making violent movies - take COMMANDO for example) charts the action well with his matter-of-fact direction which really puts the action "in your face". However, it's not just about the action; although there is a lot of it, the characterisation and storyline are just as important if not more so. Music by the veteran Lalo Shifrin keeps things moving along and an opening song by Alice Cooper seems appropriate. There's a nice sense of pacing which means those ninety minutes just seem to fly by.Lester's cast is mainly packed with unfamiliar faces (which is a plus in a realistic film like this), although a couple of famous actors do show up. In the lead role, Perry King (THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY) is excellent as the victimised teacher who is finally pushed to the edge by the terrorising punks when his pregnant wife is raped. His ordinary, even kind teacher makes for a sympathetic hero and we're behind him all the way. Merrie Lynn Ross is okay as his loving wife but her role is a very minor one, seemingly there for plot purposes only. Timothy Van Patten shines as the leader of the punk gang, Stegman, an intelligent lad who has dedicated his life to evil pursuits. The other gang members are fine too even though their roles are one-dimensional.Famous faces to look out for include Michael J Fox in his debut as an extremely young-looking victim of the school bullies and Al Waxman playing a detective (but then didn't he always?). However, most memorable is the scene-stealing Roddy McDowall (FRIGHT NIGHT) who plays fellow teacher Corrigan who is forced to turn to drink to forget about the problems of the class. McDowall has some excellent scenes, the finest of which is when he holds up his class with a gun and asks them life-or-death questions. There's also an excellent tragic moment where he goes gunning for the bad guys in his car, causing it to crash and explode in an impressive display of special effects.The best part of the film is the gripping conclusion, set on the night of the prom. Here, King's wife has been kidnapped by the thugs who are leading King through the dark corridors of the school, beating him up. Then he decides to fight back, leading to some cool scenes of him killing the gang in various ways which will have you cheering. This is audience manipulation at its finest and it doesn't disappoint on the violence front. Although not a film for all tastes, I would recommend CLASS OF 1984 to exploitation fans looking for more than just violence and gore, as this is also a well-made, well-acted film besides which uses the violence in context instead of just having it for violence's sake. Great, disturbing stuff.

Class of 1984 (1982): Dir: Mark L. Lester: Cast: Perry King, Timothy Van Patten, Roddy McDowell, Merrie Lynn Ross, Michael J. Fox: Extremely violent yet provocative thriller that predicted the future of school violence. Perry King stars as music teacher Andrew Norris who arrives for his first day at a school only to become entangled in a war against a gang, led by Peter Stegman, played by Timothy Van Patten. Directed by Mark L. Lester who made Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw and the flop Roller Boogie. Here he creates an effective social commentary marred only by the excessive use of violence. King plays Norris as a teacher willing to educate but is pushed to the limits when Stegman and his gang constantly avoid any convictions. Van Patten as Stegman proves his talent as a pianist but his willingness to override the school with drugs and gang intimidation hinder any forward. Roddy McDowell steals scenes as Terry Corrigan, an animal loving biology teacher whose lab is vandalized opening up the film's greatest moment when he uses a firearm to instruct his class. Merrie Lynn Ross plays Norris's wife who eventually becomes a target of the gang, which leads to a violent climax. Micheal J. Fox plays fellow student Arthur who is targeted after his friend falls from the flagpole resulting from a drug high. School violence highlighted effectively in a film where education is left outside the classroom. Score: 9 / 10

This movie seems to have fallen into the ranks of the forgotten '80s semi-classics. I haven't seen it mentioned by anybody in a long time. It was momentarily popular in its day because of the Orwellian connotations of the year 1984 which was just around the corner at the time.Perry King plays a new teacher who goes to work at an inner city high school run by ruthless punks led by Timothy Van Patten, who does a good, over the top job as the psychotic Stegman. It's pure action movie exploitation from an era that was full of that sort of thing. If you get a chance to see it, you'll see that it was really just a 1950s teen gang movie with the action amped up for a 1980s audience. It was quickly forgotten, although I do remember renting it on VHS once or twice in the 1980s.