Student Bodies
| Student Bodies | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Mickey Rose Michael Ritchie (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Michael Ritchie Jerry Belson Harvey Miller credited as: Allen Smithee |
| Written by | Mickey Rose |
| Starring | Kristen Riter Matt Goldsby Cullen Chambers |
| Music by | Gene Hobson |
| Cinematography | Robert Ebinger |
| Editing by | Kathryn Ruth Hope |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 7, 1981 |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,165,432 |
Student Bodies is a 1981 comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. The film stars Kristen Ritter, Matthew Goldsby, and Cullen Chambers.
It is a spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. Student Bodies was the first movie-spoof to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.
Aside from Jerry Belson, Joe Flood, Keith Singleton, and Cullen Chambers, many of the cast have only appeared in this film.
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[edit] Plot
Student Bodies is about a serial killer who stalks female students at Lamab High School, while at the same time, voyeuristically watching them. The killer calls himself "The Breather," presumably because the killer is always breathing heavily.
The Breather enjoys stalking victims over the telephone and much like Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th movies, he hates seeing youngsters having sex. The Breather uses many unusual objects to kill his female victims such as a paper clip, a chalkboard eraser, and a horse-head bookend. He kills his male victims by placing them in trash bags alive.
The film itself ends with several twists: initially, it is revealed that the Principal and his elderly female assistant are working as a duo as "The Breather", even though they are shown at one point in the film in the same room as other characters when the Breather contacts the school to threaten to commit further murders. The film then goes to reveal that the entire film was a fevered dream, caused by the main character Toby being sick and consumed by overwhelming sexual repression. The film then reveals that many characters are really the opposite of what they appeared to be for the bulk of the film: the jock-like shop teacher is really the school's French teacher, the stuck-up would-be prom queen is actually the school nerd (who is given the crown by Toby after she wakes up, due to her kind nature), the two handicapped kids turn out to be non-crippled, and a local ROTC cadet is a hippie.
After being released from the hospital, Toby and her boyfriend have sex at which point he puts on gloves similar to the ones worn by the Breather and murders Toby, due to her having sex with him. However, in a homage to the nightmare-ending of Carrie, Toby's hands rise up from the freshly dug grave after her funeral to attack her killer.
[edit] Production notes
[edit] Director and writers
Michael Ritchie produced and directed the film, but because it was filmed during a strike he had to use the well-worn pseudonym Allen Smithee instead. Mickey Rose was given writing and directing credit, but actually co-wrote and co-directed the film. Jerry Belson was the actual head writer (everyone had to ghost write and direct except for Rose because of their prominence in the film guilds. They couldn't use their actual names.)
[edit] Parodies
The film parodies a handful of previous slasher films and horror films, including Carnival of Souls, Black Christmas, Carrie, Halloween, When a Stranger Calls, The Shining, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night.
[edit] Patrick Varnel aka "The Stick"
One of the film's oddest aspects is a character called Malvert, a creepy-looking janitor (itself a familiar trope in slasher movies), who never really talks but does bizarre things like move about in a herky-jerky fashion. Malvert is played by a tall, double-jointed comedian known only as "The Stick,"[1] who made no other films and only did an appearance on the 1984 TV series Out Of Control. Several online reviews give the film itself a mixed reaction but praise The Stick's performance.[2][3][4]
[edit] Filming locations
Lamar Consolidated High School in Richmond, Texas — called Lamab in the film (not to be confused with Lamar High School in Houston, TX which is known for its use in the film Rushmore). Taylor High School in Katy, Texas was used for the film's football stadium, exterior and some interior scenes.
[edit] Cast
- Kristen Riter as Toby Badger
- Matt Goldsby as Hardy
- Cullen Chambers as Charles Ray
- Richard Belzer as The Breather
- Joe Flood as Mr. Dumpkin
- Joe Talarowski as Principal Harlow Hebrew Peters
- Mimi Weddell as Miss Mumsley
- Carl Jacobs as Dr. Sigmund
- Peggy Cooper as Ms. Van Dyke
- Janice E. O'Malley as Nurse Krud
- Kevin Mannis as Scott
- Sara Eckhardt as Patti Priswell
- Oscar James as Football Coach/Sheriff
- Kay Ogden as Ms. Leclair
- Patrick "The Stick" Varnel as Malvert the Janitor
- Brian Batytis as Wheels
- Joan Browning Jacobs as Mrs. Hummers
- Angela Bressler as Julie
- Keith Singleton as Charlie
[edit] Release
One of a group of movies directed towards teenaged audiences during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Student Bodies had little box office success when it was originally released. It became famous as a late-night cult favorite on cable afterwards. The DVD was released on June 3, 2007. The HD Blu-ray version was released May 3, 2011.
[edit] References
- ^ The Stick at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Student Bodies review from KnobbyGirl.com
- ^ Student Bodies review from Fatally-Yours.com
- ^ Misunderstood Masterpieces: Student Bodies from 411mania.com
[edit] External links
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