acidburn-10 The plot = A new student David starting at school quickly becomes a victim of nasty bullying by four of the jocks, after a near fatal accident David turns the tables and kills off the bully's through a series of violent accidents, but things don't change and the former victims quickly become the new bully's so David decides to take drastic action.What sets "Massacre At Central High" apart from other slashers, is the theme of revenge against the school theme and the methods of dispatch, rather than the usual knife or axe, we get nasty fatal accidents, which is rather a fresh idea and still holds up by todays standards. Ultimately though, while containing several murders and a near double gang-rape scene, Massacre At Central High is not a slasher film. Most of the deaths consist of off-screen moments of impact or fireball explosions. There's a minimalist amount of blood thrown around and while the near gang-rape scene is a little out of place due to its sexual violence, it's never shown graphically. But the film is still quite horrific and shocking.I also liked the fact that the gorgeous Kimberley Beck is in this movie, I loved her turn in "Friday The 13th pt 4" and I equally love her in this, she brings true beauty and elegance in the role, as the only likable character in this movie.Of course this movie does have it's bad points, like the fact that none of the cast (except for Kimberley Beck) are even remotely likable and makes it hard to root for anyone, and the pacing is off at times and this movie does tend to drag on a bit.All in all, not perfect but still a hidden gem of a movie.

BA_Harrison Transfer student David (Derrel Maury) starts a new school where he finds that an old friend, Mark (Andrew Stevens), has fallen in with a gang who use fear and intimidation to rule the roost. Being a friend of Mark's, David is given the opportunity to become a member of the group, but after seeing how they operate, decides that he would rather show the underdogs that it is possible to stand up to their persecutors.Displeased with David's decision, head bully Bruce (Ray Underwood) and his cronies decide to teach the new guy a lesson by dropping a car on his legs. Crippled, and more than a little miffed, David responds by arranging fatal accidents for his enemies, freeing the other students from their life of oppression in the process. However, with Bruce and his pals gone, a new generation of bullies comes to the fore, and so David continues his murderous activities, ultimately deciding to blow up the entire school...Bit of a strange one this: Massacre at Central High starts off with it's protagonist David as a hero, valiantly standing up for the weak, but then gradually sees him transform into a twisted murderous psycho and the real villain of the piece. For a while, this is all fairly entertaining stuff, made all the more enjoyable by the presence of gorgeous Kimberly Beck as Andrew's curvaceous babe of a girlfriend Theresa (who provides not one, but two nude scenes!); sadly, once David slips into revenge mode, matters get just a little too unbelievable, writer director Rene Daalder seeming more concerned with conveying his political message rather than telling a viable story: the accidental but suspicious deaths attract no interest from the police; the scenes involving the previously bullied pupils becoming the school's new bullies are clumsily handled and rather laughable; and the further blatant murders appear to alarm no-one in the slightest (they even go ahead and hold the school prom, despite several unexplained explosions!).

jonathan-577 Between working for Mr. Russ Meyer and directing Mr. Sid Vicious's "My Way" video, Mr. Rene Daalder contrived one of the classic drive-in films of the 70s. In gorgeous technicolor, masterfully cast from the familiar faces (and boobs!) to the utter unknowns, smothered in Marxist/nihilist commentary too vulgar to describe as 'subtext', this would have been the birth of punk rock if not for all those flutes. The new kid in town takes on the high school power elite, first with words then with highly inventive murder, only to see the underclass - peasant farmer, intellectual librarian, nerds, dyke-esques, fat kid, the gamut - form their own snooty hierarchy. What else can you do at that point but blow up the school? Very Sid Vicious, even if commerce prevented them from following things to their logical conclusion. WOW is it ever fun - the perfect mix of head and cheese.

Coventry Without having seen this movie, a righteous first impression would be that this is a vile and ordinary 80's slasher...only made in the mid-70's. Well, you'll be pleased to learn that this assumption is wrong! Even though the vicious-sounding title and the short summary on the back of the VHS imply the opposite, "Massacre at Central High" actually is an intelligent and subversive portrait about a youthful generation and the giant gaps between them. Yes, in many aspects this really is an ahead-of-its-time slasher in which numbnut school kids get slaughtered in the most inventive ways, but the basic premise leans closer to the typically 70's revenge flicks and – and this is really special – the wholesome it forms is something entirely new and unique: an ambitious and moralistic exploitation flick. Set in a Californian high school, seemly without teachers or other staff, the new kid in town David becomes the target of a trio of bullies. These three already besiege and terrorize the rest of the school population, but with David they go so far that they eventually cripple his legs in a cowardly attack. Driven by revenge, David literally pulverizes the bullies but – just when he thinks to have brought peace inside the school's walls – the former nerds become the new bullies and they all wish to be in control of the schoolyard...I sincerely doubt whether writer/director Rene Daalder fully intended it to be like this, but his film gained a solid cult reputation because it features so many effective political metaphors! Especially since there are absolutely no adults in sight (no parents, police men or teachers), "Massacre at Central High" is like the perfect allegory on society, with its corruption and typical hypocrisy. Still, this is not a great film...and that's largely due to the total lack of budget and craftsmanship. The dialogues are poorly written and the acting is far below average. Although Daalder often succeeds in creating a suspenseful atmosphere, still too many parts of the movie are tedious and lead nowhere. Most of the actual killing sequences are imaginative, but they're too bloodless and the special effects are ludicrously fake (the rock rolling off the cliff and crushing a tent!). If you purchase this film because it looks so much like fun splatter flicks like "Prom Night" or "Graduation Day", you'll feel very cheated, that's for sure. But, either way you look at it, it's a curious gem.