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Student Bodies
Written and Directed by Mickey Rose
Released: 1981
Starring: Kristen Riter, Matthew Goldsby and Richard Brando
Running Time: 86 minutes
A relic from the post-Halloween, “splatter flick” era, Student Bodies is a low budget gem that is worth hunting down. While it lampoons
Prom Night, Halloween, Carrie and Friday the
13th, Student Bodies stands on its own as a really funny movie.
As Lamab High School’s year is ending, a killer called the Breather (voiced by Richard Brando) is on the loose. Of course, he strikes when teenagers try to have sex. Everyone in charge at the school suspects Toby Badger (Kristen Riter), the sexually repressed virgin, even though she is innocent. As Toby and her friend Hardy (Matthew Goldsby) try to find the real killer, more of their friends drop dead.
What works in favor for Student Bodies is the cast and the script. Regardless of the fact that the cast consists of “no-name” actors, all of the actors give depth to rather one-note characters. From a schizophrenic psychiatrist to a man-hating biology teacher, everyone in the cast has their own zingers. Some of best lines are delivered in a deadpan, matter-of-fact way. A line like “I’ll get it – I’m farthest from the phone” tickles the sweet spot on the funny bone.
Since this is a parody of other films, the easy way out would be to recycle other movie scenes and add stupid jokes. Luckily,
Student Bodies doesn’t stall in those regards like other parodies. Taking scenes from a number of other films, the number of timeless gags (like ones you would find in a Marx Brothers movie or a Zucker/Abrahams movie) outnumber silly jokes. From guys saying they got off
on a variety of non-sexual things (funerals, hollow bulls, garbage) to the Breather using a rubber chicken to disguise his voice on the phone, these gags don’t technically make sense, but they are hilarious. Adding to the fun is the numerical counter of dead bodies that flashes up on the screen as the movie progresses. These gags simply make fun of the ridiculous situations presented as serious in other slasher flicks.
Student Bodies is a smart and intelligent spoof of the major movie studios’ responses to
Halloween’s box office success. You may find yourself watching Student Bodies more times than you will with other horror movie spoofs and its “serious” knockoffs.
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