Woodyanders Six folks gather together for a ten year high school reunion at their old alma mater located in the remote countryside. The motley bunch are knocked off by a mysterious moralistic psychopath (a gloriously hammy, stylized, and theatrical performance by T.G. Finkbinder, who went on to become an English teacher after he quit acting!) for their various "sinful" indiscretions. Director Constantine S. Gochis, working from an unflinchingly dark and grim script by William Vernick, does a sound job of building a considerable amount of gut-wrenching suspense and delivers a potently brooding atmosphere of pure dread and absolute hopeless gloom. Moreover, the murder set pieces are quite brutal and upsetting: one guy gets set ablaze with a flamethrower, another fellow has a dagger dropped on his head, a woman is drowned in a bathroom sink, and so on. The solid acting by the capable no-name cast helps a lot, with praiseworthy work from Damien Knight as greedy, cynical shyster lawyer John Sinclair, fetching future 80's "Head of the Class" sitcom regular Jeanetta Arnette as sweet, but promiscuous harlot Cindy, Nikki Carter as stuck-up rich snob Jane, Michael Hollingsworth as vain, preening actor Roger, Nick Carter as gross, lazy glutton Terry, and Gyr Patterson as lovely lesbian Kirsten. Moreover, the main characters are surprisingly well-drawn and even pretty sympathetic individual beings who aren't totally deserving of their ugly untimely fates. In addition, there's a striking ambiguity evident throughout which gives this picture an additional profoundly unsettling flesh-crawling creepiness: Whether this singularly sick and mean-spirited film is a savage condemnation of a rigid puritanical ultra-conservative morality run viciously amok or a stark endorsement of the same warped religious values is certainly open for the viewer to decide. Harsh and unpleasant for sure, with some perplexing oddball touches (what's that vague wrap-around stuff about an extra possessed thumb all about?), but undeniably effective and often genuinely harrowing just the same.

Cujo108 This offbeat little curiosity happens to be one of my absolute favorite slasher films. In fact, only 1974's "Black Christmas" (which is also my pick for best of the horror genre in general) beats it. Released mere months before Carpenter's "Halloween" would kick start the core slasher movement, it's an extremely eerie picture. There's a sense of the foreboding here that is more prevalent than you'd expect. It focuses on a mysterious morality killer who tricks a group of "undesirables" into attending a fake high school reunion, only to begin picking them off once they arrive. If you think this sounds a bit like "Slaughter High", you'd be right. This came first and is the infinitely better of the two. It's religious subtext alone makes it far more intriguing than that popular, but ultimately quite bland effort.The six so-called degenerates include a lawyer, a gay actor, a lesbian, a cute girl who takes pride in her appearance, a rich snob and a cocky former football jock with gluttonous tendencies. Despite negative comments about the acting on this site and in a horror reference guide of mine, the six main characters are perfectly believable people. In fact, all but the glutton wind up being rather likable, particularly Cindy, played with a free-spirited innocence by the lovely Jeannetta Arnette. The Redeemer himself comes off as over the top at times, which actually works in the character's favor, really making him seem like an absolute lunatic. His Shakespearean rant in the auditorium is a highlight. Props to T.G. Finkbinder for going all in with the role and, in turn, bringing to life one of the most memorable psychos on film.Indeed, the Redeemer is a very creepy individual. Throughout, he dons many different costumes (as "Terror Train"'s killer did a few years later), each one representing an aspect specific to his victims' lives. It's an unsettling touch that really adds to the overall tone. Perhaps the creepiest scene in the entire movie is when one of the girls is yelling for someone in the distance to let her out of the locked down school. Said individual turns out to be the Redeemer, dressed as the Grim Reaper, who proceeds to pound on the barred window with his scythe.This film is an exercise in the surreal, the above mentioned sequence being positively nightmarish in execution. The film's ambiguous opening and closing segments revolving around a sinister child reinforce this feeling tenfold. The school itself is an atmospheric setting, imprisoning our characters like a tomb. The rural area surrounding it certainly lends to the feeling of hopeless isolation.Having originally seen this via the big box "Class Reunion Massacre" VHS at my local video store, I was instantly taken with it. Not easy to forget, it's a bleak, dread-inducing slasher with a unique utilization of religious themes and well worth rediscovering. It should be regarded much more highly. It truly is one of a kind.

Tromafreak A Few years ago, I found this at a Flea Market, after catching the trailer on the VHS of The Wizard Of Gore years earlier. All I remembered was that it seemed like something worth the three dollars the guy was asking, but after years of being burned in my search for decent-bad cinema, I wasn't all that shocked to discover that Class Reunion Massacre is, in fact, not worth the three dollars I paid. I like old B-horror because it's different, because it's outlandish and rebellious, because it can be refreshing compared to all the big-budget, super-hero garbage of today. But none of that means anything if it puts you to sleep.Typical Horror plot. Some kid walks out of a lake, gets on a bus, and goes to Church, where we find a rather loud Priest doing his thing...and I'm sure all of this has something to do with the six "sinners" the story now revolves around. Four People I barely noticed, Mr. metro- fem, and a lesbian are headed to their 10 year high school reunion where they can sit around and eat, and "act", and wonder where the hell everyone's at. With the doors now locked, one by one, everyone is taken out by the redeemer, some guy who probably fancys himself some kind of righteous/sadistic chameleon, hence the killing in the name of God, and constant wardrobe changes. Feeling tired yet? Class Reunion Massacre is mostly made up of endless conversations and ironic killings meant to punish sins such as gluttony, and drinking too much. This film manages to be blasphemous against Christianity, as well as B-cinema. I expected very little, yet was somehow still disappointed. What I find most irritating about Class Reunion Massacre is I can almost detect a hint of potential somewhere in there. The atmosphere is all it has going for it. Ultimately, this is not a good horror movie, not a good B-movie, Class Reunion Massacre, for the lack of a better word, is a failure. Actually, I wouldn't mind a DVD release, with some audio commentary, which might shed a little light, because I just know I missed something. I don't get it. There's way too many positive reviews for this... come to think of it, I'm wasting my time here. I could be reviewing something worthwhile, like Nightmare In A Damaged Brain...

cmoore0013 I went into this film not knowing what to expect. I had heard that it was one weird movie, but to my surprise, I ended up enjoying it very much. The plot is simple, besides a truly bizarre prologue and epilogue. The acting and characters are likable, certainly more so than the ones normally found in these types of movies.I must say that this film has a cruel and disturbing edge to it. A few scenes do provoke a few goosebumps, such as the theatre scene and the locker room scene.A must see for rare slasher enthusiasts and those who love retro horror movies.