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!
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!