CUTTING CLASS

Donovan Leitch Jr. 

CUTTING CLASS (1989). Director: Rospo Pallenberg.

High schooler Brian Woods (Donovan Leitch Jr.) went "away" for a while after his apparent murder of his father. Now his former best friend, Dwight (Brad Pitt), wants nothing to do with him. Adding tension is the fact that Brian and Dwight's girlfriend, Paula (Jill Schoelen of When a Stranger Calls Back), may be attracted to one another. An unknown person then goes about murdering teachers and students alike in various creative ways. The first apparent victim is Paula's father, William (Martin Mull), the district attorney who had Brian institutionalized. 

Robert Glaudini and Scholen try to help Brad Pitt

Cutting Class got mostly negative reviews, but it holds the attention and has various points of interest, including the cast. In this early role Brad Pitt is competent and nice-looking but one would not have necessarily imagined that he'd emerge a sex symbol and major star. Leitch, who is also a producer, musician, and former model, is the son of pop singer Donovan; he's good-looking and intense in this but his performance is a bit off at times. Schoelen is cute and competent, but Roddy McDowall (of Midnight Lace) is just awful in his over-the-top, campy turn as the principal who has an obvious yen for Paula. Martin Mull somehow survives an arrow in the chest early in the picture and we see scenes throughout of him struggling to get home in moments of black comedy. Brenda James is vivid as the bitchy Colleen, who becomes a victim of the killer. Robert Glaudini (of Parasite) is Shultz, the high school janitor.

Cutting Class isn't overly bloody, but it does have some creative "kills:" Colleen and her boyfriend pulled under the bleaches during a basketball game where the cries of the crowd drown out their screams as their throats are cut; vice principal Mrs. Knott (Nancy Fish) getting repeatedly clobbered at the photocopy machine (an idea used in other slasher films); and the coach (Dirk Blocker) getting punctured while bouncing on the trampoline. An art teacher getting cooked in a kiln is also a little different, although nowadays it would be much more graphic. Math teacher Mr. Glynn (Eric Boles) has a more conventional axe-to-the-head demise, but a bit of business involving a message left on the blackboard by the killer which Glynn rushes to solve is inexplicable. 

The biggest problem with Cutting Class is that it doesn't make much of an attempt to create suspense over the identity of the killer, who will come as no surprise to anyone in the audience. On the plus side is the climax, which takes place in a large workshop full of deadly instruments and is quite exciting. This was the only full movie directed by Rospo Pallenberg. 

Verdict: Not nearly as terrible as most people think, but despite good moments it still doesn't add up to that much. **1/2.