A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

If you like slasher films then this one may take your fancy - it has an added bonus of having a decent mystery interwoven into it.However, this movie suffers from what I call "The Fugitive" syndrome. I was looking forward to the film due to loving the series, however, in the first section, they introduce a character at a party. It's at this point I thought "He" did it... and he had. It's best, in a mystery, to not flag the villain in such an obvious way and that's what happens here, though they do try to muddy the water to confuse the audience.The other stumbling block is that there's no real tension. The director, Ken Hughes, goes for the thrill route, which isn't a bad thing as it gives the audience the adrenalin rush, it could have been better had there been a build up to the rush.This starts in the first sequence when a teacher's aid is tormented by a helmeted attacker. This is done by having the aid spun around on a round-a-bout while her assailant brandishes a knife, making stabs each time she passes.In the morning, the aid is found decapitated in the school playground and the police investigation gets underway. There are plenty of suspects ranging from the lascivious male lecturer at the "women's only" night school, Vincent Millett (played by Drew Snyder) to the Dean of the school, Helene Griffin (played by Annette Miller), who is aware of Millett's extracurricular activities; however, she's more annoyed that he's getting more "bed" action than she is.For the most part, the acting is of a high calibre, though it's Rachel Ward as Elenor who lets the film down. This is the main drawback of the film. Since she's one of the main characters her wooden acting, that makes her character two-dimensional and unbelievable, really hampers the flow and feel of the film.If you didn't figure out The Fugitive then you might like this film as the mystery is pretty well handled and the twist at the end is a brilliantly thought out one, which follows matters mentioned in the film. If the Ruth Avergon story were in book form I'd be hunting it down right now as the story is the thing which makes this film.

Although it is now lost in the annals of 1980's slasher movies, Terror Eyes, or Night School, has at least one claim to fame. The tale of a motorcycle helmet-wearing killer armed with a kukri blade and a distaste for co-eds was deemed so vile that it was placed on Britain's notorious 'Video Nasty' list and banned. Such is the irony of the video nasty list, Terror Eyes will never be totally forgotten now thanks to Mary Whitehouse and her crusade. And arguably, it shouldn't, as although the film manages to tick off every cliché in the slasher handbook, it delivers a few effectively-staged set- pieces more in common with the giallo genre.The basic premise is that Boston is under attack from a serial killer dressed head-to-toe in black leather, whose identity is permanently disguised by a motorcycle helmet. The first murder we witness sees a young teacher's aide get her head lopped off after being forced into a rather twisted merry-go-round ride. Educated cop Lt. Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) is the detective assigned to the case, along with his trusted, wise-cracking partner Taj (Joseph R. Sicari). Their investigations lead them to a local college and to the classroom of anthropology professor Vincent Millett (Drew Snyder). Millett is an expert on tribal rituals in Borneo, where the skulls of defeated enemies are often worn as trophies. Austin spots a similarity to the way the victims heads are being removed and left submerged in water, and so investigates Millet and his relationship to his young assistant Eleanor (Rachel Ward) further.Possibly the most alarming thing about Terror Eyes is not the dodgy effects or lack of plot, but the fact that it was directed by the same guy who gave us Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Ken Hughes. You would never guess it though, there's no sickly sets or questionable Cockney accents here, but Hughes' experience in mainstream Hollywood may be the reason that Terror Eyes feels a slight step above the usual slasher fare. The build-up to the moments of routine butchery are patient and manage to generate a little tension, more akin to Argento than, say, anything found in the Friday the 13th series. But for the most part, this is standard slasher fare, chocked full of awkward cop banter, wooden acting, annoying comic relief, and a bizarre erotic shower scene during which Millet rubs a sort of berry paste all over a moaning Eleanor.

Someone is killing off the female students who are taking night classes at a local college.Each victim is decapitated and has her head thrown into the nearest body of water for some unknown reason.The detectives working the case discover a connection between the victims and a certain professor at the college, which makes him their prime suspect in the killings.Is the professor really responsible for the murders or is someone else to blame.........Regarded as one of the notorious video nasties here in the U.K. for a number of years, Night School isn't just your average run of the mill stalk n' slasher set in a school, it's actually quite a compelling whodunnit.It's only weak link is the fact that the red herring may as well be wearing a jacket saying 'hey audience!! it's not me!!'.Anyone with a knowledge of horror, especially the wonderful eighties horror movement will know that the prime suspect in this is certainly not the antagonist, even more so when he appears to be less than bothered when his students are literally losing their heads.But then there's no one else whom really appears suspect, until one of the characters starts to act just that little bit too strange. And the makers must have thought we would have been duped with the Professer hook, line, and sinker at this time.Most of the characters have some sort of ulterior motive against someone else, and for some reason, the Dean decides to take a huge offence to the professor just when she becomes more amorous toward another student.There are moments of great tension though. The opening kill where the killer teases their victim is pretty sadistic, and another scene, set in a kitchen with just the owner looking for something, is really nerve wracking, and it's obvious that the Final Destination franchise borrowed this particular scene on many occasion.The final act lets the film down a little, as it's pretty clear during one scene earlier who the killer is, and what their motivation is.So all in all, if your a fan of the eighties slasher movement, it's a must, there are some pretty tense moments in the film, and it's very well acted, especially from Ward and that bloke who gets shot at the beginning of Commando putting his bins out.But it's the final scene, where the detectives partner dresses up as the killer and hides in the back of his car, that just gives the film the cult following it has today.It's hilarious, and just mocks the previous ninety minutes.Classy...

"Night School" has the female students of a Boston night college quite literally losing their heads at the hands of a psychopath in a biker helmet, with an anthropology graduate student (Rachel Ward) caught in the middle of it all.Overlooked and underexposed are two key words that come to mind after seeing this film; it's been bashed by critics and hasn't exactly gotten the love that other slashers of the period have amassed, but I knew I was in for a treat from the film's opening scene. I won't claim that the film is wildly original, because it obviously isn't— but it does have unique touches to it and some of the most savage murder scenes of its era. Directed by Ken Hughes— who, strangely enough, directed "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" a childhood memory of my own— the film opens with a horrific slashing scene involving a merry-go-round that sets the stage for what's to come. The cinematography here is moody and dark, and the photography of Boston's cobblestone streets and foggy evenings are effectively creepy. The attention to the city itself and its old-world architecture gives the film an almost British feel.What I found perhaps most impressive about the movie is its understated yet absolutely macabre murder scenes. The body count is relatively low compared to many of its peers, but each kill here counts. The method is the same in each scene, and yet it doesn't become any less unsettling as the bodies begin to pile up. There is little in the way in of extreme gore (in fact, Hughes sort of teases the audience by rarely giving in and showing us all), but the horrendous sound effects that come with each slashing, paired with the jarring score and killer's POV shots make the scenes unexpectedly disturbing.Off-setting the film's gritty edge is the slightly comedic relationship between the determined lieutenant and his bumbling assistant. Unconventional thematic elements are also at play here, including a blatant anthropological bent to the entire murder plot, an examination of the sexual politics of academia, and a surprising lesbian subplot between a female professor and her student. Rachel Ward plays Eleanor Adjai, the cool and levelheaded graduate student, and the film is ostensibly most known for being her film debut. Drew Snyder plays her smarmy professor, and we also have Leonard Mann as the headstrong "Harvard" police officer.Some have said the conclusion to the film is predictable, which I suppose is true, but given the context, this was a fairly original approach for 1981 (albeit a bit of a self-conscious riff on Hitchcock and the Italian giallo). There is a well-shot motorcycle chase sequence through Boston's narrow streets that concludes the film, as well as a nice graveyard denouement. A final "gotcha!" moment closes the proceedings, that appeared to me to have been directly lifted four years later in Paramount's "April Fool's Day." In fact, there were several moments throughout that were reminiscent of other films of the era, including a bathroom scene that may or may not have been re-created in "Curtains," as well as a culinary disaster in the vein of a particularly grim moment in "My Bloody Valentine." The connections are difficult to make and it's hard to say who did what first given that many of these films were shot around the same time, but there are striking similarities nonetheless. "Night School," also distributed by Paramount, does seem to have the signature Paramount feel that many of these films had.Overall, "Night School" is an underrated slasher film that somehow was unjustly glossed over in horror history books. It is a smarter slasher film than most, and also successfully incorporates elements of the psychothriller to bolster its effect. It is effectively shot, and its confrontational yet tightfisted approach to violence make for some of the most jarring murder scenes of any eighties slasher. Highlights: the aquarium scene, and a wicked "Friday the 13th"-esque after hours diner attack. 8/10.