Return to Horror High

Starring:Richard Brestoff, George Clooney, Vince Edwards, Al Fann, Panchito GÃ³mez, Brendan Hughes, Scott Jacoby, Michael Eric Kramer, Lori Lethin, Pepper Martin, Maureen McCormick, Marvin J. McIntyre, Philip McKeon, Remy O'Neill, Alex Rocco, Andy Romano, Darcy DeMoss, Will Emmich, Will Etra, George Fisher (III)
Director: Bill Froehlich
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Return to Horror High is a convoluted cheesefest that tries to be spoof and horror movie at the same time, feebly prefiguring Scream. A movie crew is filming a slasher picture at a high school where a series of murders actually occurred; the killings begin again--or are they simply staged for the production? The answer to this question is distinctly uninvolving, but it involves a lot of fake blood. Familiar faces include Vince Edwards and Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick (a uniformed cop), plus--until he becomes the first victim--George Clooney. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Call it whatever you want, it's still low grade junk.......2007-04-27

After watching this one again all I can say is, WOW at what point in making this turkey did they decide to get rid of the script. Really, this makes little or no sense. To bad to be a slasher movie, not funny enough to be a comedy, and that leaves the public holding this bag of cheese.
A film crew is shooting a horror movie at an old High School where,you guessed it,where years before several murders happened,and yeah sure enough the killings start all over again or are they just a stunt to get publicity for the movie. I dare you to care as it grows dumber with each passing scene. Save your money

return to horror high.......2006-02-05

It had some moments, but overall, if i had it to do over again, i wouldn't

"Some of the bodies were pretty torn up, sir.".......2005-08-18

Parody, spoof, satire, prank, hoax, send-up, take-off, lampoon, jest, joke...call it whatever you want, but Return to Horror High (1987) is still a dog...and not a very original one at that, as the film brought to mind the movie Happy Birthday to Me (1981), which, comparatively, was modestly better. That's not to say Return to Horror High couldn't have been more than it was, but it would have taken a whole lot of work to turn it around. The film actually lists four writers, one of them being Bill Froehlich ("Freddy's Nightmares"), who was also the director, this being his first (and only) film. Appearing is a number of actors I'm not familiar with like Brendan Hughes (Howling VI: The Freaks), Lori Lethin (Bloody Birthday), and Richard Brestoff (Car Wash), along with a few that I have heard of, like George Clooney (Welcome to Collinwood), Vince Edwards ("Ben Casey"), Alex Rocco (Detroit 9000), and Maureen McCormick, probably most known for her role as Marcia Brady on "The Brady Bunch" television series, but has had something of a career afterwards appearing in films like Dogtown (1997), The Million Dollar Kid (2000), and Title to Murder (2001), none of which I've actually seen, but they're out there.

At the outset some text is displayed on the screen stating that in 1982, a series of brutal, savage murders occurred at Crippen High School, and the homicidal maniac responsible was never caught. Flash forward to the present (I'm assuming the present being 1987, as that's when the film was released) and we learn a film crew is now occupying the since abandoned school with the intent on shooting a movie about the grisly events. The low budget production has its problems, flighty actors, creative differences between the director and producer, etc., but what no one counted on was that the killer who struck so long ago may still be around...after the disappearance of a few crew members (hardly noticed by anyone..."Say, where's that grip? What his name?"), lead actress Callie Cassidy (Lethin) and policeman/technical advisor turned lead actor (after the male lead left for a better part) Steven Blake (Hughes) become suspicious enough to suspect perhaps there is a malevolent force stalking the halls of Crippen High, an evil that's been waiting patiently these many years for some fresh blood...what gruesome secrets are stashed away within the bowels of the school? Will you care?

First of all, it should be noted this isn't really a horror movie in the conventional sense, but an attempt at a comedy poking fun at the genre. As far as what I actually liked about the film, it wasn't much...I liked Alex Rocco's portrayal of the stereotypical, slightly sleazy, manipulative, condescending, two-faced, backstabbing movie producer Harry Sleerik who was more concerned with the elements the would sell a low budget horror film, specifically buckets of blood and lots of boobage, much to the chagrin of the director who fancies himself a junior Hitchcock of sorts, constantly perturbed at thoughts of having to compromise his artistic integrity for the sake of appealing to, in his eyes, the lowest common denominator...the sequence where Sleerik actually disrupts filming of a scene of the film within the film by grabbing the lead actresses chest, claiming something to the effect of `we need more of this' was really pretty funny. Also, Vince Edwards was pretty good in his role as an actor playing the role of lecherous biology teacher named Mr. Birnbaum ("Mr. Birnbaum, why am I getting a C when I used to get A's? ", "Have you looked in the mirror lately?") And that was really about it...there were perhaps a few more humorous moments, but nothing that stands out in my mind (and I only watched the thing last night). The biggest problem with this movie, in my opinion, is something I believe someone else already brought up, specifically the convoluted nature of the story. I think the intent was to blend the material in such a way as so it would be difficult for the viewer to discern what was actually the movie, and what was the movie within the movie. The story begins sort of at the end, after most of the crew has been murderlated, and then flashes back to how the events came about. This goes on constantly, along with the mixing of realities of the story with that of story of the film within the film...sound confusing? Try watching it...throw in a dream sequence and what you have is a muddled mess, which lost my interest about halfway through. Perhaps the material and how it would go down was clear in the director's mind, but I felt he got just a little to cutesy with it, especially this being his first film. I can't really fault someone for taking a risk, trying to push the boundaries and break from the norm, but such a seemingly complex conceptualization, if not handled properly, will most certainly crash and burn, spectacularly, I might add. I went into this blindly, assuming it was a straight up horror film, but eventually realized otherwise, but it did take awhile, as the comedic aspects were often subtle enough to make me question if the characters were parodies, or just being stupid (the latter not an uncommon occurrence in a lot of the slasher flicks of the early 80s). Overall the acting was just this side of passable (other than the aforementioned performances by Rocco and Edwards), but I suppose someone would say that was also intentional due to the satirical nature of the material, but I'm not buying, as I've seen other parodies with much better performances. I guess the gist of what I'm getting at is by the time this film was released, the slasher/horror genre had grown somewhat stale, even to the point where parodies of the genre had even become tired, but then that's just my opinion.

Anchor Bay Entertainment, as usual, provides an excellent looking widescreen (1.85:1) print transfer on this DVD, along with a clear and audible Dolby Digital 2,0 Mono audio track. I was surprised at the lack of extras, as all that's included is a theatrical trailer along with a 5X7 reproduction of original poster art on a card within the DVD case, the flipside listing the chapter stops.

Cookieman108

SIGNS OF A WASTE OF TIME.......2005-04-04

There are certain guaranteed signals that a movie sucks. Look for these words and/or phrases THE RETURN OF....
BACK TO....
NOW HE IS ALL GROWN UP
GEORGE CLOONEY
RETURN TO
COSTARRING BEN AFFLEK

Please rent Scream instead of this crap.......2005-03-26

Return to Horror High is a complete waste of money and time with really bad acting,cheap special effects,and no plot or point. A director is trying to make a horror movie and then a killer is killing them also. Not good at all,not scary,not funny,and not entertaining, Just dumb and pitiful.

Alex Rocco,Maureen McCormick,and George Clooney make cameo apperances.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes / Return to Horror High

Average customer rating:

80's version of horror spoof
OH, George! WE Hardly Knew Thee...

Return of the Killer Tomatoes / Return to Horror High
Starring: John Astin , George Clooney , John De Bello , Devlin , and Costa Dillon
Director: John De Bello
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000AC8L6
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Amazon.com

You're not going to believe this, but Return of the Killer Tomatoes is a genuinely funny movie. Ten years after John DeBello made the frowzy, low-budget Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, he brought the fleshy fruit back for a murderous encore. Like the first film, it works as a parody of horror-movie conventions (and it repeatedly makes fun of itself, Mad-magazine style), but this time the budget is higher. There's a great, ongoing send-up of product placement, plus a juicy role for the oft-underutilized John Astin, as the evil genius this kind of movie needs. Just to keep everything moving, another exploitation film keeps cutting in: Big-Breasted Girls Go to the Beach and Take Their Tops Off. It ain't high art, but this movie knows its audience. A young George Clooney plays one of the heroes.

Customer Reviews:

80's version of horror spoof.......2006-03-16

If you like the "Scary Movie" spoofs of "Scream" and other horror films and are a George Clooney fan, you'll like "Return of the Killer Tomatoes." It is good for when you want to watch a movie and want to laugh out loud. The companion piece "Return to Horror High" was too campy and was not good

OH, George! WE Hardly Knew Thee..........2005-01-22

Before E.R.
Before Batman and Robin.
Before Roseanne, The Facts of Life there was:
Those pesky Killer Tomatoes, and that really bad high school reunion. Yes, Mr. Clooney cut his teeth on the lame sequel to the smash tomato movie. In Horror High he gets killed early on, but maybe he lives and gets sent to the E.R. Who knows! Who cares, just sit right back and enjoy these tales and don't take them too seriously.

Average customer rating:

Call it whatever you want, it's still low grade junk
return to horror high
"Some of the bodies were pretty torn up, sir."
SIGNS OF A WASTE OF TIME
Please rent Scream instead of this crap

Return to Horror High
Starring: Richard Brestoff , George Clooney , Vince Edwards , Al Fann , and Panchito Gómez
Director: Bill Froehlich
Manufacturer: Front Row Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005U13J
Release Date: 2001-11-27

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Call it whatever you want, it's still low grade junk.......2007-04-27

return to horror high.......2006-02-05

It had some moments, but overall, if i had it to do over again, i wouldn't

"Some of the bodies were pretty torn up, sir.".......2005-08-18

SIGNS OF A WASTE OF TIME.......2005-04-04

There are certain guaranteed signals that a movie sucks. Look for these words and/or phrases THE RETURN OF....
BACK TO....
NOW HE IS ALL GROWN UP
GEORGE CLOONEY
RETURN TO
COSTARRING BEN AFFLEK

Please rent Scream instead of this crap.......2005-03-26

American Drive in / Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)

Average customer rating:

American Drive in / Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)

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Binding: DVD

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