Girls School Screamers
(Review by Andrew Lines)
This is the first TROMA, released, movie I had the pleasure of watching. Released in 1986, but made back in 1982, this different little slasher number sat on a shelf for a while probably because it is quite different. But does different necessarily mean goodness...
This movie begins without an opening murder, but a rather freaky thing happening. A young boy (9 or 10 yrs) is made by his friends to go into the Wells mansion, the home of a deceased millionaire. As he slowly makes it up some stairs, leading to an attic, the door opens, there stands a women, with a rotting, maggot filled face, in a wedding dress. the boy runs away screaming.
After the titles, we are then introduced to a class of rowdy girls, at a Catholic Finishing School, seven girls to be precise. We find that the seven girls, along with Sister Mary, are to spend the weekend at the millionaires estate, who was very close with the school, and left his entire art collection to the it. So off the girls and the Sister go to the estate to catalogue all of the art at the house. (note here we are not given any indication who the final girl would be, but it makes you think it could be the podgy girl)
Upon arrival the girls explore the house, and eat dinner. Afterwards a Doctor (?) pops by to see the Sister, and the girls discover a Ouija Board, which they set up in the parlour. After a weird message is sent through the board, the girls pack it up and go off to bed. During the night, one of the girls Jackie, is woken, and goes downstairs. In the main room of the house, she pulls the cover off one of the large paintings, to reveal a portrait of herself, or Wells' wife, who mysteriously died, who was named Jennifer, what a coincidence. Freaked out by this, and a false scare later, Jackie makes her way back to bed.
The next day the girls do some planning, for some of there boyfriends to some around that night, when Sister Mary is in bed. Before dinner, two girls are messing with a dumb-waiter when the podgy girl, Karen, decides to go down to the basement in it. Upon arrival she is suddenly stabbed in the mouth (I think)... unbeknownst to the other girls. then the Sister falls ill, the Doctor comes and tells her to rest, leaving the girls free for a party that night. But someone is in the house with them, someone who knows a terrible secret, someone who starts to murder the girls one by one...
After viewing this movie, you can see why it sat on the shelf for about four years. Yes the film is different, as it has a strong supernatural element to it, and if it had continued that way then it would be better. But instead, very early on it starts to bring in slasher clichés and elements, which don't totally lift off for nearly an hour.. which brings me to another point, as this is supposed to be a slasher you have to wait 1 hour for the first kill, then 8 more deaths are rushed in, in about 15 minutes, then there is the main ending, and the film ends, a running time of just 80mins. The movie is slow, but not to slow to begin with, then it starts to go even slower, until the ultra fast last 20mins. But not everything is bad.
There is an unhealthy dose of cheese in the film, which adds quite alot of humour to the proceedings, especially Sister Mary. She is a very weird character, who is played totally straight by the actress, Colleen Harrity, yet what the character does, makes her seem like a comic relief. Also the gore is quite good, especially a nice electicution, a cool stabbing on a rowing boat, a running over, and as mentioned a stabbing in a dumb-waiter, but the lighting isn't very good in this scene, so you see the gore, but not where it's coming from.
Also some of the scares/jump scenes work well throughout the film. The first invoving Jackie and another girl doesn't, but after you are never sure when they will come, as the atmosphere of the movie seems positively cheesy. The dumb-waiter murder worked as you didn't expect it, as does a false scare involving a boy's hand, and Jackie. The murders are done quite quick, so there is no long, lingering shots of the damage done, just a quick cut away.
The main girl Jackie, is played superbly by Mollie O'Mara, the same goes for Karen, played by Beth O'Malley, yet none of the other girls are worth a mention.
If you are a TROMA fan then hunt this movie down, same if you like your movies stinking with cheese (all you Graduation Day fans). But this movie hardly stands out in a crowd, amongst the other slashers of the time, yet it is quite a surprise (a crappy one) when you watch it, as it is quite good.
NOTE also for once in a slasher, as well as the final girl surviving, the bitchy tart also survives, and helps save the day.
