Class Reunion Massacre (1978)

If you've been unfortunate enough to bear witness to 1984's dismal "Slaughter High", the plot to this one will seem awful familiar, even though it was made eight years prior. I can't really call this one a straight out slasher (though that's what it pretty much is), as the story tries to add a bit of a supernatural angle to everything. The film opens up with what has to be the longest opening credit shot ever. We're treated to a five minute still shot of a calm and serene lake when in red lettering, a phrase pops up saying something about a redeemer who will return to kill sinners, or something like that. We then watch in amazement as a fist comes up from the lake, and a rather weird looking kid emerges, heads to a nearby church and casts a spell on the priest, giving him two thumbs on one hand...to which I have no fucking clue why. The priest then rambles on in a speech to his congregation about sinners, and how they must be punished and stuff, the usual Catholic guilt trip crap. While he's talking we're introduced to our six main characters that are all getting ready for their big tenth year high school reunion. I guess they are all supposed to be sinners or something, because we soon learn that ones a lesbian, another chick is a bit of a party girl, one dudes a stuck up jock, while another is a snobby actor...you get the picture. Nothing really that sinful, but our said redeemer is none too picky I guess. So, our "sinful six" show up at their Alma Mater and are amazed that they are the only ones there. They are also amazed when they find the caretaker dead, and all exits to be blocked off by iron bars. Soon everyone starts dying in various laughable ways, be it by blowtorch from a dummy, spike falling on head from ceiling, or the dreaded fatal dunking in bathroom sink...Zzzzzz.

While the kill scenes were boring, they were sort of funny in a corny way. What was interesting to me was that for some reason the killer changed his costume for just about every murder. He goes from dressing up as a grim-reaper, to a clown, to a hillbilly hunter, and one or two other disguises. Not sure why this was, but it was somewhat different. I do recall getting my hopes up in one scene, in which our lesbian and party girl are in a bathroom together. The lesbian broad tells the other chick to wash up so she'll feel better, and just for one second, as they were wiping each others hair out of their eyes, I thought we'd get some truly sinful stuff going on. But alas, this was not to be. Anyway, everyone dies, the killer is exactly who you thought it would be, and our Redeemer returns to the lake at the end, while you sit there and realize you just wasted 90 minutes of your life. Sucks huh? On an interesting note, this one was actually made before "Halloween" and the slasher craze of the early eighties. The original title was "The Redeemer", only to be renamed and released as the above to catch onto the latter slasher craze. Like you care.