Massacre at Central High

Plot synopsis

David (Derrel Maury), a new student at Central High, meets Mark (Andrew Stevens), an old friend whom he once helped out of a jam at their previous school. Mark tells David that the school can be like a country club for him if he befriends Bruce (Ray Underwood), Craig (Steve Bond), and Paul (Damon Douglas), the bullies who rule the school student body; Mark has become their somewhat reluctant accomplice.

Over the next few days, David witnesses Bruce, Craig, and Paul torment the other students, including the scrawny Spoony; the overweight Oscar; Arthur, the school's hearing-impaired librarian; and Rodney, who drives a rundown car that is vandalized by the bullies. After David forcibly thwarts the trio's attempt to rape two female students, Mary and Jane, in an empty classroom, the bullies approach Mark and tell him he only has one more chance to talk David into minding his own business. When this fails, the three bullies decide to take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, David has taken a liking to Mark's girlfriend, Theresa.

One evening, David is repairing Rodney's car in his garage when the bullies appear and kick the jack out from under the vehicle. One of the wheels crushes David's left leg, crippling him. After being discharged from hospital, David takes revenge on the trio by arranging fatal "accidents": he sabotages Bruce's hang-glider, tricks Craig into high-diving into a drained swimming pool in the dark, and pushes Paul's van off a cliff; all three fall (literally and symbolically) to their deaths.

The school changes after the bullies' deaths. At first the students support each other, but soon the formerly tormented students become bullies themselves, and try to form alliances with David to control the school. In due course more deaths occur: Arthur is killed when his hearing-aid malfunctions, Oscar's locker explodes when he opens it, and Rodney's car blows up when he starts the engine. While camping under a cliff, Spoony, Mary, and Jane find a box of dynamite but ignore it; when they return to their tent for a threesome, an explosion causes a rockslide, killing them also.

The police blame Spoony, Mary, and Jane for the carnage, but Mark is aware that David is responsible. He tells Theresa they must prevent David from killing more people at the school dance with a bomb he has planted in the school basement. Realizing the only way to stop David is by playing on the last sympathies he has towards them, Mark and Theresa enter the gym where the dance is being held and tell David that if he really wants to kill everyone then he will have to kill them too. David rushes to the basement and retrieves the bomb, and as he tries to defuse it, he takes it outside where it explodes, killing him. To save David's reputation, Mark and Theresa agree to tell the police that Spoony, Mary, and Jane had planted the bomb, and that David had given his life to save everyone.

Cast

Production

Alternative version

The Italian version of this film, called Sexy Jeans, was edited with pornographic inserts.

Reception

The film attracted little attention when first released, but when reissued in 1980, New York Times critic Vincent Canby praised it as "an original, fascinating work", and named it as one of his 20 favorite films of the year. Roger Ebert also discussed the film favorably on his television show Sneak Previews, describing it as "intelligent and uncompromising". By contrast, John Ross Bowie, in comparing the film with the more comedic Heathers, dismissed Massacre at Central High as "exploitative" and "devoid of technique", and criticised its technical flaws and "wooden acting".

On review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a 67% 'Fresh' rating.