Let's be realistic.

Am I Missing Something?

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Before the shop teachers could get a hold of me, before I was in college and my parents finally had time to be at home, this was the film that taught me "righty tighty, lefty loosey." Unfortunately that was about all it was good for at the time. Still, at least it had an effect on someone who watched it. At least it taught an unsupervised little 9-year-old boy something that he's used the rest of his life.Yeah, other than that it's a throw-away film. I mean, you have a famous actor making a movie that famous actors NEVER seem to be in and that on itself is interesting and cool......but otherwise it's a throw away film. You watch it late at night, you watch it on a rainy Sunday afternoon...and otherwise you forget all about it until you mention to your friends from the 80s that, Brad was in it and then suddenly they click on that light and are moderately shocked he'd be in a trash thriller.I can't tell you to stay away from it, because it does entertain and I can't tell you to watch it because, well, it is kinda a junker.

A killer on the loose is murdering students and teachers from a cool high school. Now it's up to the popular kids and the most ignored of them, recently released from a psychiatric hospital, to solve the mystery behind the murders. In this almost ludicrous and predictable whodunit, everything is what appears to be and our fun is to see how foolish director and writer can get while coming up with obvious devices that doesn't even try to fool and impress the viewers. Maybe some of the violence was unexpected but they sure were looking for the laughs. And this is a barrel of laughter. C'mon, it's not that bad. It's embarrassingly fun to watch a bunch of actors fully knowing they're stinking on scene, trying hard to look authentic and reliable, in this sort of parody of teen slasher flicks. A pretty good trash, now with a heavy cult following from Brad Pitt fans who are curious in seeing one of his earliest roles. And truth be told, he's the only one who worked the hardest to look good enough, in opposition to the cheesy acting from almost everyone. But Donovan Leitch steals the show in a weird way. As the troubled and lonesome Brian Woods, he's the most memorable face from this thing with his terrifying yet good looking eyes and face, a Ricky Fits kind of character - definitely not obsessed, just curious. But why does he have to dress like Frankenstein?Although heavily inspired but countless (and better) movies, this one had its original parts. High point is when the killer challenges the math teacher to solve a difficult equation and discover which door from the classroom is the safe passage. That scene had me giving some nervous laughs.It's enjoyable but only when you're in the mood to have fun and not take anything you see here in a serious way. But in the end "Cutting Class" shows us that skipping class is far more worse than killing people. Ouch. 6/10

"Cutting Class," the directorial debut of "Excalibur" screenwriter Rospo Pallenberg, receives a failing grade because it doesn't know what it wants to be: a slasher flick, a comedy, a teen drama, or a hybrid of all three. Add to that, so much potential arises within the script by Steve Slavkin for satirical jabs at the high school movie experience that you find yourself, when the movie mindlessly passes over these moments, banging your head against the wall at such wasted opportunities.It's as if the filmmakers were cutting film school class themselves. But the movie isn't all bad, with some nice production values and some gory special effects-laden deaths, it helps keep it from being a complete bore. "Cutting Class," however, still receives a failing grade in my book when you think the movie couldn't get any more tedious, when it reverts to type and descends into typical slasher/haunted house movie territory in the third act. And don't forget about some gratuitous female nudity as well (so keep your eyes peeled).The story surrounds a would-be love triangle between high school outcast Brian Woods (Donovan Leitch), cheerleader Paula Carson (Jill Schoelen), and her basketball-hunk boyfriend Dwight Ingalls (Brad Pitt). Brian and Dwight were once the best of friends, but that turned sour when Brian was accused of murdering his abusive father and as a result was sent away to a mental institution for a few years. Now that he's been released, it isn't long before a series of gruesome murders begin occurring on campus and low and behold, Brian is the main suspect."Cutting Class" does has some pretty cool deaths - a burning in a pottery kiln, an impaling here, a death-by-copy machine there, an ax to the brain - that are flawlessly executed. Most of these deaths happen to men who are apparently connected in some way to the lovely Paula Carson. Most of these men are in fact obsessed with Paula, including Principal Dante (Roddy McDowall), which is a little disturbing. The main problems arise in the tediousness of a whodunit that's all too obvious in the end. The performances are mostly below average. The worst of these is poor Donovan Leitch as Brian Woods. The film builds him up to be a sympathetic, misunderstood outsider but instead he turns out to be way too creepy, sneaking around in the dark and even once appearing in Paula's bathroom as she washes her hair."Cutting Class," perhaps if the filmmakers weren't busy cutting class themselves during their film school years, maybe they could have made a better than average teen slasher flick.3/10

Someone is bumping off the teachers of a school and it's up to the lovely innocent Paula Carson(Jill Schoelen, always a sight for sore eyes, especially when bending over in a short skirt)to find out who it is. Is it her hot-headed boyfriend Dwight(Brad Pitt)or the recently released(from a mental institution, no less)Brian Woods(Donovan Leitch), often hiding behind bushes and other objects to stare at Paula? Someone shoots an arrow that lands in the torso of Paula's district attorney father(Martin Mull)who is out hunting;he's the one responsible for putting Brian away for the murder of his abusive father. A running gag of the film has a hurt Mull trying to seek assistance, but never seeming to get it. Roddy McDowall has an amusing minor role as the high school principal, Mr. Dante, who lusts after Paula..who could blame him for that? The film follows Paula's uncertain search for the killer;as the film continues, she's not quite sure if it's Brian(who does seem like an appropriate suspect)or her beloved Dwight.CUTTING CLASS is the 80's slasher formula on it's last legs..the well has dried up and creativity is lacking. The murders are half-hearted and uninspired..the film wreaks of tired clichés. You might even say CUTTING CLASS is a performance of the last rites for the 80's slasher genre. In my opinion, the only reason to see CUTTING CLASS is for Jill, wearing only a shirt to get the paper at the beginning of the film, and in a cheerleader uniform..that is far more entertaining than this lifeless, stale exercise in tedium. I thought Leitch(..and Pitt, actually)was terrible in the lead, and not the least bit convincing.