Massacre at Central High

When you conquer the bullies, then what?

A handful of wannabe toughs reign in terror at a SoCal high school. When a new kid shows up (Derrel Maury) he decides not to take their sheet. You would think this would be a good thing for the other students.

“Massacre at Central High” (1976) is a high school drama/thriller with slight horror bits that has developed a cult following and influenced future flicks, like “Heathers” (1989). It came out at the same time as the similar “Carrie” and pales by comparison, but not just because of the much lower budget. I enjoyed the first half for the most part, but then it increasingly went off the rails with implausibilities. If the film took a more low-key route it would've worked, but it went over-the-top and became both eye-rolling and uninteresting by the last act.

Someone argued that I took it too literally since it’s really a political allegory. Okay, it has deeper meaning, so what? (Most movies do). Being allegorical isn't an excuse for lousy writing with glaringly unbelievable bits. As far as the underlying theme goes, I’m not going to give it away because it’s obvious (think “Lord of the Flies” set in a school).

I suggest sticking with better examples of the genre, like “Carrie,” “Christine” (1983), "Disturbing Behavior" (1998) and "The Rage: Carrie 2" (1999). For a quality micro-budget example, check out the more recent "Love Everlasting" (2016).

Still, it has its points of interest, such as the coastal locations in the L.A. area, the bold Jan-Michael Vincent-looking protagonist (Jan, by the way, was considered for the role), and a few lovely females, headed by Kimberly Beck, who went on to appear in the Buck Rogers episode “Cruise Ship to the Stars” (1979) and, more notably, “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” (1984). Also on hand are Lani O'Grady (Jane) and Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith (Mary).

Writer/director Rene Daalder was so upset with the unfitting theme song & score that producers strapped his film with that he refused to watch it in its entirety for three decades.

The movie runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles and Malibu with Pomona College standing in for the exterior high school and Villa Cabrini High School in Burbank being used for interiors.

GRADE: C+