Student Bodies
5.8 /10 1 Votes
Initial DVD release June 3, 2008 Duration Country United States | 5.8/10 IMDb Genre Comedy, Horror Music director Gene Hobson Writer Mickey Rose Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Director Mickey Rose
Michael Ritchie (uncredited) Release date August 7, 1981 (1981-08-07) Directors Mickey Rose, Michael Ritchie Cast Kristen Riter (Toby), Matthew Goldsby (Hardy (as Matt Goldsby)), Jerry Belson (The Breather (as Richard Brando)), Joe Flood (Mr. Dumpkin), Mimi Weddell (Miss Mumsley), Joe Talarowski (Principal Peters)Similar movies The Collector , The Final Girls , Halloween , Shocker , Terror Train , Bloody Moon Tagline 13½ Murders + 1423 Laughs = Student Bodies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Student bodies trailer
Student Bodies is a 1981 comedy horror film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. Student Bodies was the first film to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.
Contents
- Student bodies trailer
- Student bodies 1981 best scene ever
- Plot
- Cast
- Release
- Critical reception
- References
Student bodies 1981 best scene ever
Plot
Student Bodies is about a serial killer who stalks female students at Lamab High School, while at the same time, voyeuristically watching them. The killer calls himself "The Breather," presumably because the killer is always breathing heavily.
The Breather enjoys stalking victims over the telephone and much like Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th films, he hates seeing youngsters having sex. The Breather uses many unusual objects to kill his female victims such as a paper clip, a chalkboard eraser, and a horse-head bookend. He kills his male victims by placing them in trash bags alive.
The film itself ends with several twists: initially, it is revealed that the Principal and his elderly female assistant are working as a duo as "The Breather", even though they are shown at one point in the film in the same room as other characters when the Breather contacts the school to threaten to commit further murders. The film then goes to reveal that the entire film was a fevered dream, caused by the main character Toby being sick and consumed by overwhelming sexual repression. In a send-up of The Wizard of Oz, many characters are revealed to be much the opposite of what they appeared to be for the bulk of the film: the jock-like shop instructor is really the school's French teacher, the stuck-up would-be prom queen is actually the school nerd (who is given the crown by Toby after she wakes up, due to her kind nature), the two handicapped kids turn out to be able-bodied, and a local ROTC cadet is a hippie.
After being released from the hospital, Toby and her boyfriend are about to have sex, at which point he puts on gloves similar to the ones worn by the Breather and strangles Toby, as he has lost respect for her. However, in a homage to the nightmare-ending of Carrie, Toby's hands rise up from the freshly dug grave after her funeral to attack her killer.
Cast
Release
One of a group of films directed towards teenaged audiences during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Student Bodies grossed $5.2 million its release. It became famous as a late-night cult favorite on cable afterwards. The DVD was released on June 3, 2007. The HD Blu-ray version was released May 3, 2011.
Critical reception
AllMovie wrote, "Student Bodies, though occasionally very funny, is not consistent enough to recommend as a comedy or scary enough to be an effective horror film."
References
Student Bodies WikipediaStudent Bodies IMDb Student Bodies themoviedb.org