Overrated and overhyped

Fresh and Exciting

Don't Believe the Hype

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Night School is an excellent, stylish American giallo with terrific set pieces and great use of Boston locations.Several coeds are being murdered with their severed heads found in submerged in water and the detectives believe a sleazy professor is behind it. Add in a jealous lover, a predatory lesbian headmistress, and a whole lot of slashing and we have ourselves a grand ol' time.Night School might just be a perfect mix of sleaze and class. It's hard to believe the same man made Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Brad Fidel's spooky, somber score sets the mood perfectly and helps it stand out among the pack.

Night School (1981)* 1/2 (out of 4)A woman is sitting alone with a stranger dressed in a black motorcycle helmet and black outfit comes up and decapitates her. Soon Lt. Austin (Leonard Mann) is investigating the murder and before long more women from a local school turn up with their head cut off. Suspect quickly falls on a professor (Drew Snyder) who has had an affair with many women and his current love (Rachel Ward) begins to wonder what's going on.NIGHT SCHOOL is a pretty forgettable slasher that tries to mix that genre with that of a police thriller but it pretty much fails on both levels. After watching something like this it makes me appreciate something like 10 TO MIDNIGHT even more. There are all sorts of problems with this film but the biggest is the fact that the horror elements are weak and the thriller aspects are even weaker. If you've seen at least three films like this in your life then I'm going to be willing to bet you'll have no problem figuring out who the killer is.When you're watching a film like this and discover who the killer is so early on you really know you're in trouble. What's worse is that the horror elements are pretty bland as well as the majority of the death scenes happen either off camera or they're covered so that no actual money had to be spent on special effects. I'm going to guess Tom Savini was busy at the time but the producers of this should have waited to get him.Another issue is the fact that there's really nothing that happens as we get a murder then we hear the police talk, another murder and more police talk. This just happens over and over again and after a while it gets boring.I did think Mann was good in the lead and I also enjoyed Joseph R. Sicari and Nicholas Cairis. Ward is also good here and she's also involved in a somewhat neat wink to PSYCHO, which also has her in the nude. That scene alone is almost worth sitting through the whole film. With that said, NIGHT SCHOOL is certainly one of the weaker entries in the 80s slasher boom.

The girls that study in a night school are being killed and decapitated. A police lieutenant and his partner (comic relief?) start to investigate the murders."Night School" takes place in Boston. The film begins with a brief view of the night skyline of Boston. We hear a melancholic and beautiful soundtrack that serves to enhance the poetry of city (and its people) and night. Soon after the camera becomes more intimate and we see old lamp posts, dark streets and small houses. The beautiful soundtrack goes on... and Boston looks quite pretty."Night School" is in some ways almost a giallo. There are some connection points: 1) Leonard Mann, an Italo-American actor that worked mainly in Italian films, including gialli like "Death Steps in the Dark" and "The Monster of Florence". In "Night School" he's the police lieutenant that investigates the murders but he's different from those policemen that we usually find in many thrillers. He's not trigger-happy and he hasn't trembling fists dying to punch a bad guy's nose. He's intelligent, sensitive and ready to follow his intuition.2) The killing scenes are stylish and imaginative. The killer dresses all in black, black helmet and black gloves. But "Night School" is very discreet in what concerns nudity. In one scene Rachel Ward takes a shower. Not much is shown, but many Italian gialli would not shy away from FFN. Anyway "Night School" is quite engaging, charming and different from the normal fare.3) There are many pretty girls (and some of them will be ruthlessly killed by the decapitator).The highlights in "Night School" are Rachel Ward (her beauty illuminates the screen) and Leonard Mann. In short, I think that "Night School" is a very enjoyable film. Those that want a non-stop action film with lots of bullets and fists breaking bones (fast! fast! fast!), should look elsewhere.

Leonard Mann and Rachel Ward star in this beautifully paced 1980s slasher. Beautiful night school students are systematically slaughtered. The serial killer is a homicidal maniac wearing a motorcycle helmet and the various unwary victims are decapitated and killed in mysterious ways. Excellent dialogue, acting, direction and cleverly written taut plot. Leonard Mann an Italian superstar originally Leonardo Manzella plays the Police detective who is hot on the trail of the elusive, sadistic killer. Leonard Mann was prolific and very popular in Europe and USA with numerous high quality cult spaghetti westerns and Giallos. Among Leonard Mann's best work is "Ciak Mull the man of revenge" 1969 and "Pistolero dell'Ave Maria" 1968. This wonderful, memorable horror thriller Night School 1981 is recommended.