Someone is decapitating beautiful young women.
And all the victims are connected to Wendall College.
It falls to young cop Lt. Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) to unpack the mystery.
In so doing, he finds himself circling back to one of the college’s staff members, Vincent Millett (Drew Snyder).
Millett is famous for two things: his work in indigenous cultures, and his inability to not sleep with every young woman in his proximity.
“Is the ceremony over?”
“Yes”
“I hope so”
For most of its runtime, Night School stands as a great, stock example of a slasher movie circa-1981. ‘81 is the year associated with the subgenre really taking off, and there are plenty of great examples of slashers released this year which are considered highlights: My Bloody Valentine, The Burning, Friday the 13th Part 2, The Prowler…
Night School may not be as good as the movies listed, but it is a solid example of the genre.
Night School is short, only follows a few characters, and does not complicate itself in any way. None of the set pieces are that interesting. But it has a good vibe, and the acting ensemble are solid.
Joseph R. Sicari is a standout as Judd’s partner. Unlike the blander performances of the leads, he comes off as completely natural, funny and specific.
The killer - in black leathers with a motorbike helmet - is striking. He looks exactly like the killer from What Have They Done To Your Daughters?, and that is no bad thing. It is a menacing look for a villain, and fits the context of a slasher in a big city environment.
Night School is pretty straightforward, ‘meat and potatoes’ slasher movie. Right up until the ending.
Maybe I would have had different feelings if I had see Night School without knowing the twist of the killer’s identity.
If you do not want to know then stop reading:
It turns out that Millett’s unhappy lover and assistant Eleanor (Rachel Ward) is the killer.
It is contrived, but I found myself more engaged every time the film cut back from the investigation to Eleanor.
One can see the filmmakers’ intention, setting her up as a potential final girl or future victim.
But retroactively, the reveal plays differently. Every scene of Eleanor is about her being demeaned in some way - walking home from work while being followed by a creep; learning her lover has cheated again.
One gets the sense that she is being used. And the ending makes it clear she is sick of it.
The killer, by contrast, is all powerful. It is also faceless and insulated from the world by its helmet and leather.
Eleanor is constantly the object of the gaze. The killer is hidden from the gaze, and - as a product of the genre - gets to control the camera’s gaze.
As the killer, Eleanor is the opposite of her public persona. She teases and torments her victims. The faceless killer is her Id, powerful and unstoppable.
Despite her violence and the macabre tableaux she creates, there is something almost thought-out about Eleanor’s killings.
Unlike the more improvised and random approaches of familiar slasher villains, she is more organised and ritualised - she only uses one weapon, and leaves heads in a similar position at each scene.
The killer is also the inversion of her lover. Throughout the movie, we see Millett riding a bike, in lighter colours than the killer. The killer almost feels like his dark twin, a doppelgänger with a big phallic knife.
Knowing the twist gives the violence a different charge from other slasher villains. It plays differently knowing the violence and sadistic humour come from a jealous woman. Even when she is alone with her victims, she cannot confront them as herself - she needs the persona.
I watched this movie after Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace, and it was interesting to see how the Villain’s relationship impacts their killing spree. Like the female killer of that film, Eleanor is motivated by a twisted kind of love.
And unlike that film, the roles are reversed: Millett is dressed as the killer to keep the cops away from his murderous girlfriend.
Millett’s demise feels like the film restoring balance - his death an act of proving himself to Eleanor, while also getting her off the hook.
In a movie that is fairly cookie cutter, Eleanor’s final scene conveys a perverse pathos. She gets away with it, but at what cost?
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