Massacre at Central High is a rarely screened gem from the golden age of Grindhouse Cinema that has developed quite a cult following over the years, and with this new Blu-ray Steelbook edition from Synapse Films, the film that influenced Heathers is finally rescued from obscurity and given the deluxe treatment it deserves.
Shot and originally released in 1976, Massacre at Central High predates both, the high-school slasher films that became a cottage industry after John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1979, and the teen sex comedies that Porky’s inspired from 1981 onward. And to be honest, it doesn’t fit succinctly in either camp. Despite the title, it’s not a horror movie so much as an action-thriller, and the film's ratings-defying nudity has a sensual, European aesthetic rather than a played-for-laughs American feel. This decidedly different approach is due in no small part to a Dutch creative team that included future COPS producer, Bertram van Munster. So it should come as no surprise that it was a series of re-releases in 1980 and 1985 that established its reputation, leading to the rabid audience the film enjoys today. I can only imagine the joy of discovering this on a double feature with Texas Chainsaw Massacre or experiencing first-hand the shock and bewilderment of an audience who’d read the tagline “The GREASE of the 70s” in newspaper ads only to discover that this was really a bullied-kid-revenge flick with a sizable body count.
The cast is a dream team in retrospect. Robert Carradine would soon be headlining the Revenge of the Nerds franchise. Andrew Stevens was about to become one of the most visible young actors in the USA with films like The Fury, The Boys in Company C (which garnered a Golden Globe nomination), and on TV’s Dallas and Emerald Point. Lani O’Grady was already starring as Mary Bradford on the hit TV Show, Eight Is Enough, making her on-screen nudity here quite shocking–along with Kimberly Beck who would become a regular genre star with Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith, who had already assembled a full resume of nude scenes in classics like Caged Heat and Swinging Cheerleaders, was all over the newsstand from the August 1975 issue of Club to the May 1976 issue of Penthouse, and would go on to play drums briefly for the seminal, all-girl rock band, The Runaways.
An important influence in the contextual pop-culture timeline for Massacre at Central High is the success of the burgeoning young adult market, spearheaded by the publication of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders in 1967. Now considered a classic of American literature, the book has become part of the English curriculum in many public schools while simultaneously being banned in numerous conservative districts because of its frank depiction of juvenile delinquency that highlights the socio-economic rift between wealthy and impoverished teens. Director Renée Daalder (recommended to the film’s producers by cult auteur Russ Meyer) implemented a similar subplot of class division while adding political and anti-fascist overtones which lent the film’s dialogue an almost otherworldly, off-Broadway quality that precedes the films of Long Island filmmaker Hal Hartley by a decade and a half.
Teens killing teens on film has always been controversial, and critical response to Massacre at Central High was split, with some dismissing it as “exploitative,” while Vincent Canby praised it as “an original, fascinating work,” and Roger Ebert hailed it as “intelligent and uncompromising.” Seeing the film now in 2020 it is impossible to not view it as a kind of prophetic anomaly that predicted the Columbine tragedy ahead of other teens-on-the-fringe films like Over the Edge and Heathers.
The film's first incident of mayhem involves a hallway locker explosion, produced with practical 1970s special effects (i.e. T.N.T.) which is incredibly disconcerting to see now when most movie magic is digital. It's hard to imagine a contemporary principal not getting fired for allowing such a child-endangering film shoot on their premises these days. And that is by no means an isolated incident. Nearly the entire film takes place in an adult-free environment, and all of the stunts and action set-ups are so over-the-top that they provide a pyrotechnical antecedent to the Cannon Films of the 1980s that made blockbuster stars of Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone.
An unfortunate side effect of breaking new ground is that novelty requires timing. Just as Massacre at Central High had hit theaters a bit too early, it was quite late to VHS–and a film with a 1976 copyright offered little competition to the dozens of new films hitting video stores every week in the 1980s and 90s. The difficulty of untangling the chain of title on films from the pre-cable, pre-video era contributed to the scarcity of the film, and for decades, the only way to see it was on a bootlegged DVD sourced from an out-of-print, pan-and-scanned videotape. Official releases in some territories looked even worse than bootlegs.
Here's a link to the trailer on Youtube:
This gorgeous new blu-ray from Synapse Films utilizes a director-supervised hi-def 1080p transfer of the original 35mm film elements that had to undergo nearly a decade of additional restoration, culling together elements from several video and audio sources. This film has surely never looked or sounded better. There is a fascinating documentary featurette with interviews of cast and crew (including the last footage of director Renée Daalder, who passed away in 2019), and there are two optional audio commentary tracks that are each filled with incredible behind-the-scenes information and recollections. This long-awaited release is currently only being sold as a two-disc, limited to 4000 steelbook DVD/Blu-ray combo available directly from www.synapse-films.com for $39.95 (plus S&H) which is likely to be sold out soon.
Massacre at Central High is a surprisingly astute and relevant film that manages to entertain in ways that might not be entirely appropriate by today's standards while showcasing a kind of social commentary that may be needed more now than ever.
FEATURES INCLUDE:
- High-definition 1080p remaster scanned, transferred and supervised by director, Renée Daalder
- Audio interviews by Mike White (“The Projection Booth” Podcast), featuring interviews with cast members Andrew Stevens, Robert Carradine, Derrel Maury and Rex Steven Sikes
- Audio interview with director Renée Daalder, conducted by writer/horror historian Michael Gingold
- HELL IN THE HALLWAYS: The Making of “Massacre at Central High” – New “making of” documentary
- DTS HD and Dolby Digital remastered sound
- Theatrical trailer, TV spot and radio spot
- Still gallery
- Collectible booklet featuring liner notes by Michael Gingold and production notes by Don May Jr.
- Newly translated removable English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Steelbook© combo-pack which includes both DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film
1976 88 Mins. Color 1.78:1 Rated R
Matt Kennedy is the owner of Gallery 30 South in Pasadena, CA, and founder of Pop Sequentialism. His contributions to cult film releases on home video span Argento to Zatoichi.
