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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : Timothy O'Rawe
Nancy Sirianni (Psycho Sisters)
William Friedman
Scott Gordon
Paul Venier
Supplied By : Camp Motion Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Feb. 8, 2007
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| PLOT When two criminals accidentally release toxic chemicals into a school's water supply, those who come in contact with the lethal brew become flesh-hungry members of the walking dead. The only hope for survival for this high school gone to hell is a pair of bookish nerds and a talent-challenged heavy metal band, but they might not make it out of lunch period in one piece. |
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| THE REVIEW With this film, Camp Motion Pictures follow up the releases of CANNIBAL CAMPOUT and WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE, with their third release being 1990's GHOUL SCHOOL. GHOUL SCHOOL tells the story of just what would happen if a school's water supply suddenly become contaminated with a deadly toxin - in true B-Movie fashion! For the teens and staff at one High School in New York, trouble begins to boil, when two criminals whom are up to no good, accidentally contaminate the school's surrounding water supply - no water fountain nor swimming pool is safe. When students unknowingly drink or come in contact with the rancid water, they suddenly become blood sucking ghouls whom eat anything in their paths including fellow students and teachers. With the school taken over by the evil blue horde, the on;y ones left are two film geeks and a rock band appropriately named 'The Blood Sucking Ghouls" who were scheduled to play the school dance. The remaining survivors find themselves barricaded in the auditorium, the only place that seems safe from harm. But when the monstrous beings begin to make their way in, the group of unlikely teammates, must find a way out. From the very beginning of GHOUL SCHOOL the low budget of the film is very apparent. But one thing good to say about that is that the production is a step up from Camp Motion Pictures' previous 2 inaugural releases. The release is credited as being 1990, but since that was the beginning of the new decade, yes it still feels very much 80's. The plot for GHOUL SCHOOL is very simple in fact the filmmakers waste no time in proceeding to the heart of the splatter story - that being the flesh eating ghouls of course. As we know, the water becomes contaminated, and in 80's shot on video scenario(and more than likely because of budget), it doesn't show the water becoming tainted - instead the director pans across the school water line, with the sequence ending with water coming out of the faucets/ another shot showing water draining into the pool. The next thing we know, everyone who has came in contact with the said water are now blue, sporting fang-like teeth and running after staff and ripping and eating at their flesh. As they turn, it's not like the budget allowed high-end make-up effects so they had to make due with what it did allow - the creatures are actually the actors painted blue. Instead of a solid blue as the newly shot cover art would suggest(there are also no cheerleaders in this flick), the actors really only look as if they've been battered and bruised - but believe me it's kind of fun! Another thing that immediately let's you know that this film's budget was a limited one is that various actors throughout wear t-shirt's advertising Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling's (of the Howard Stern Radio Show) comedy act, there are also stickers that are strategically placed in select scenes doing the same. Martling does make a cameo appearance, and at the time of production he seems to have been very popular, and I am guessing the filmmakers allowed his product placement as a way to possibly pay for the appearance. The acting is really bad, but for some reason, if you are a fan of this kind of low budget cinema, more times than not, you find it adds to it's endearing charm. Perhaps the most annoying performance was the cameo appearance of TV show host Joe Franklin, he seemed as if he were reading his lines, and it was totally unnatural. The same can be said for Principal Kaplan, portrayed by Richard Bright. And also I have to mention, that one of the nerds(I forget his character's name) while talking drawls one side of his lip up - I couldn't help but notice how similar Erika Smith's character in THE SEXY ADVENTURES OF VAN HELSING resembled him as her character was also nerdy - but of course Erika Smith(whom is coincidently on the new cover art for GHOUL SCHOOL) was a lot sexier. GHOUL SCHOOL, I admit is nothing special indeed, but when it comes to a film that is so bad it's good so to speak, it comes close to other 80's classics like SLAUGHTER HIGH and THE MAJORETTES, when speaking of just how fun they are to watch - I actually enjoyed it! | ||||
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| GORE
METER 5/10 Lots of trashy gore at it's best, and god knows what it was made of! Limbs are ripped from bodies and then eaten along with other parts pf the anatomy. Also when shot, the ghouls spill mysterious green blood. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5/10 Typical 80's synthesizer tracks, with some looped rock music. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM This film has a flesh eating swim team, nerds who fight back and possibly the worst band of all time, who obviously only know one song.....and supposedly they won the Battle Of The Bands(they must've been the ONLY band in the competition), and is a completely off the wall film all together....but for some reason, I liked it! I don't know how many people will like GHOUL SCHOOL as much as I did, but I can only speak for myself. I have reviewed all that Camp Motion Pictures has released to date, and I believe GHOUL SCHOOL jut may be the best so far, I can't wait for future releases.... I recommend this film, if you happen to be a fan of low budget filmmaking! This DVD will be released on March 13, 2007 |
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