Hell High aka Raging Fury is a 1987 American slasher horror film directed by Douglas Grossman from a screenplay co-written with Leo Evans. The film was made in 1986 and was originally titled What Do You Want to Do Tonight?
The movie stars Christopher Stryker, Maureen Mooney, Christopher Cousins (Earth vs. the Spider; The Vampire Diaries), Millie Prezioso and Jason Brill (Office Killer).
A teacher still haunted by the death of two teens that she accidentally caused as a young girl goes berserk when four teens start harassing her and then attack her in her home…
Our review:
It film kicks off showing a little girl who is out in the swamp, playing with her doll. She watches in horror while two teenage lovers get killed as a result of a macabre motorcycle accident. It’s a pretty disturbing sight, especially since one of the lovers ends up getting impaled and spitting blood all over the place. Bleh!
Anyway, the girl grows up to be a high school science teacher, Brooke Storm (Maureen Mooney). She’s a good teacher, but she’s also extremely repressed and haunted by the image of that impaled girl spitting up blood.
Unfortunately, one of Ms Storm’s students is a sociopath named Dickens (Christopher Stryker). Dickens is the type of student who goes to football games just so he can threaten the injured players with a gigantic switchblade. Oddly, no one seems to notice Dickens standing on the sidelines, holding a gigantic knife over a helpless jock. At first, I thought that this meant that Dickens was meant to be either a ghost or a figment of someone’s imagination, but no, Dickens is real. I guess people are just so used to being threatened by Dickens that no one even notices anymore.
Anyway, Dickens has three friends. Queenie (Millie Prezioso) is the tough girl who bares her breasts to anyone who stops by her house. Smiler (Jason Brill) is the fat guy who is always smiling, no matter how upset he is. Smiler continually says things like, “What’s gotten into that Dickens?” and “My mamma said there’d be days like this.” And then there’s Jon-Jon (Christopher Cousins), who is Dickens’s newest friend. Jon-Jon’s essentially a good kid, but a little weak-willed. He’s got a crush on Queenie, and Dickens seems to have a crush on him.
Anyway, Dickens and his friends decide to play a prank on Miss Storm but, in the process of doing so, they cause her to have flashbacks to that day in the swamp. And soon, Miss Storm is stalking all four of them. How dangerous is Miss Storm? Well, she’s dangerous enough that she can kill you with a number two pencil. You thought Liam Neeson was a creative and relentless killing machine in Taken? He’s got nothing on Brooke Storm!
Anyway, Hell High is kind of an oddity. On the one hand, it’s pretty much a standard slasher film. On the other hand, the film has just enough strange moments to distinguish it. Yes, there’s Dickens with the knife on the football field. But there’s also Smiler with his nonstop grin. And Queenie with her relentless mood swings. And there’s the strangely off-kilter dialogue, which is full of random song lyrics. And then there’s the film’s twist ending, which makes little sense, but it is still satisfying in its own over-the-top way. Overall, Hell High is a thoroughly odd but undeniably effective 80s horror film.
A lot of the credit has to go to the film’s cast, all of whom give far better performances than the material really deserves. Maureen Mooney is both scary and sympathetic as poor Miss Storm, while Christopher Cousins is likeable as the somewhat weak-willed Jon-Jon.
The film, however, is truly dominated by Christopher Stryker. Stryker goes all out as the crazy Dickens, and, unfortunately, he died shortly after Hell High was released. Had he lived, he’d probably now be a Sid Haig-style character actor, popping up in indie horror movies and Quentin Tarantino films.
So, watch Hell High if you get a chance.
Lisa Marie Bowman, check out more of Lisa’s reviews at Through the Shattered Lens
Hell High aka Raging Fury was released by Arrow Video as a Special Edition Blu-ray in the US, UK and Canada on July 19, 2022. Features include:
Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative approved by cinematographer Steven Fierberg
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with director/producer/co-writer Douglas Grossman and cinematographer Steven Fierberg
Archival audio commentary with director/producer/co-writer Douglas Grossman
Archival introduction and audio commentary with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
School’s Out! – a newly-filmed interview with director/producer/co-writer Douglas Grossman
A Beautiful Nightmare – a newly-filmed interview with cinematographer Steven Fierberg
Jon-Jon’s Journey – a newly filmed interview with actor Christopher Cousins
The More the Better – a newly-filmed interview with actress Maureen Mooney
Music is Not Sound – a newly-filmed interview with composers Rich Macar and Christopher Hyams-Hart
Back to Schools: The Locations of Hell High – a tour of the original Hell High filming sites with author/filmmaker Michael Gingold
Archival video interviews with director/producer/co-writer Douglas Grossman and co-writer Leo Evans
Deleted Scene
Alternate Opening Titles
Trailers and TV Spots
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Ralf Krause
Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com
For the trailer and the film itself on YouTube, plus more movie info, please visit page 2
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