Excellent adaptation.

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

"Massacre at Central High" is perhaps misleading in its title, which evokes a gore-filled splatterfest, which this film is not. The premise surrounds David, a teenager who transfers to a new high school where the students run wild, and a group of male bullies torment their peers without consequence. The unhinged David begins to murder each of the bullies, but his plan to cleanse the school backfires when those on the bottom of the social ladder take on the same traits as their former dead oppressors.A weird but memorable entry in the horror genre, "Massacre at Central" high feels like it occurs in a dreamscape or an alternate world. This is largely due to the fact that the film features no "adult" figures to speak of; the bullies torment the students to extreme lengths, and even attempted gang rapes are left unreported and largely up to the students themselves to sort out. "Lord of the Flies" comes to mind, as well as some elements of "Carrie," minus the supernatural edge. This off-kilter universe in which the film orbits lends it a unique and memorable feel.It's not what I'd classify as a conventionally "scary" film by any stretch of the imagination. It is a horror film, but only in the sense that there are savage murders occurring throughout and that the subject matter is generally dark. The film itself is aesthetically quite bright, boasting a distinctive Los Angeles atmosphere that is laid on thick. Malibu's beaches set the stage for several scenes, and the film feels every bit a "California" production.Performances from Robert Carradine and Kimberly Beck (who would later become a genre favorite for her role in "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter") are some notable highlights, while Derrel Maury plays the outsider/deranged avenger with an appropriate distance. None of the performances are particularly provoking and are by and large rather bland, but serviceable given the material.All in all, "Massacre at Central High" is a unique and thoroughly strange film that toes the line between exploitation slasher and thoughtful allegory. It is not a great film and at times feels extremely choppy, but it's a certain oddity and a respectable example of a filmmaker attempting something different. The fact that it predates the slasher by a significant amount of time also makes it an intriguing film on the historical timeline that is worth examining. 7/10.

Boy, this movie is terrible. The quality, storyline, characters, you name it were so poorly done. I think they should've restarted this all over again and change the storyline so that it would make total sense.I couldn't honestly understand what the rest of the characters were saying, it's as if they were murmuring some words that were gibberish.I have nothing more to say but the worst mid 70's movie I have ever watched!I hope if they are ever gonna reboot this movie, they will do it better and easier to understand more!

School's out forever for a brutish and reprehensible gang of snobby stuck-up preppie bullies who maim rebellious iconoclastic new kid Derrel Maury (who gives a superbly intense and subdued performance). Maury bumps off the vile troublemakers in assorted clever ways only to see the other previously oppressed adolescents rise up and take their place. The vicious cycle never seems to stop.Writer/director Rene Daalder offers a provocative social allegory on the failure of revolution, the abuse of power, and how violence basically begets more violence with no real end or change in sight. Furthermore, Daalder ingeniously shows how easily victims can become victimizers if given the opportunity to do so. The high school setting in this sublimely sharp, smart and subversive winner is nothing less than an insightful microcosm of society at large with its rigid caste system and power plays and exploitation of one group by another group being brutally played out by teenagers sans adult supervision (the grown-ups are conspicuous by their glaring absence throughout most of the picture, thereby suggesting how unimportant they are to kids trying to figure out what they are going to do with the rest of their lives after high school ends). This downbeat and shocking 70's exploitation masterpiece further benefits from its stand-out B-movie cast: the ubiquitous Andrew Stevens, the star and producer of countless cheesy 80's and 90's direct-to-video trash features, Robert Carradine, the ever-lovely and charming angelic blonde goddess Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, future daytime soap opera star Steve Bond, "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" heroine Kimberly Beck, and "Eight Is Enough" sitcom regular Lani O'Grady. The late 80's cult black comedy "Heathers" ripped this movie off a lot, right down to the main story and literally explosive ending. Still, the original remains untouched and unequaled to this very day. And the incredibly mawkish theme song really must be heard to be believed!

This movie might have been somewhat decent, if it hadn't been for the terrible filming, lighting and sound recording. Half the time you couldn't recognise the characters or understand their conversations. You had to guess who they were and what they were saying (which, I have to admit, was pretty fun!).I also noticed that all the actors were at least in their thirties while their characters were high school kids. They kept on talking about "old friends" (how old could they be, if they were not older than 18???) and their time in jail!! This seems pretty impossible for someone attending grade 12. The story itself was not even too bad, but all the efforts were in vain due to the amateurish way in which the film was shot.