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| Images courtesy of MVD Rewind Collection |
The MVD Rewind Collection, as of recent, has started making
their foray into 4K UHD disc releases as evidenced by their limited Laservision
Collection series starting with Swamp Thing and continuing with Ghoulies. Another curious development in the unfolding
MVD Rewind Collection are the acquisition of previously released Vinegar
Syndrome titles including but not limited to Jack Frost, Action
U.S.A. and today’s latest Laservision Collection 4K release of John Boorman
screenwriter Rospo Pallenberg’s 1989 directorial debut Cutting Class. The author behind such fare as Exorcist
II: The Heretic and Excalibur, the film became his only official
directorial effort to date and though it was met with tepid critical reception
it became a cult favorite over time and sits nicely in the upper echelon of
regional high school slashers.
A low budget horror-comedy featuring The Stepfather and
Popcorn scream queen Jill Schoelen, an early Brad Pitt before
superstardom, Roddy McDowall in a glorified bit part and Donovan Leitch from
the remake of The Blob, the film originally went straight to video in
censored R rated form before Vinegar Syndrome rescued the film from VHS oblivion
in a newly minted 4K scan of the unrated cut from the original 35mm camera
negative. Since their edition sold out
and the rights reverted over to MVD they have given the film an HDR pass for
UHD disc, ported over most of the extras from the VS release and packaged the
set in a slipcover with reversible art and a mini poster designed to look like
a CED Videodisc cartridge.
Class president Paula Carson (Jill Schoelen) is hitting her
stride being the girlfriend of high-school basketball star Dwight (Brad Pitt’s screen
debut) and having a group of hooky playing friends. However, things get complicated by the
arrival of formerly incarcerated killer Brian Wood (Donovan Leitch) who
previously murdered his father years prior.
The former best friend of Dwight, bodies of friends and colleagues begin
dropping right and left with Dwight convinced his buddy Brian is at it
again. However, Paula is not so sure and
thinks Brian might just be a patsy for someone else’s scheming including but
not limited to trying to kill her father, played to really peculiar effect as a
recurring running gag with Martin Mull from Mr. Mom perpetually begging
for help even as people on class field trips are stepping over his body.
With its tongue firmly planted in cheek, going for juicily
over the top horror kills with enough red herrings thrown about to keep you
guessing who the killer might be, Cutting Class is a solid little indie
horror number with some surprisingly overqualified talents involved. Pallenberg was a stalwart of John Boorman for
a long time including but not limited to doing uncredited directing on Exorcist
II: The Heretic and while that film was poorly received it was nevertheless
a major Hollywood production the filmmaker was involved in, giving him just
enough creative flair to churn this high-school video meanie out. A loose unofficial reimagining of Roger Vadim’s
Pretty Maids All in a Row, it’s a gleefully violent slasher replete with
enough ample nudity to get slasher fans who can’t get enough of their teen sex
and violence cocktails. With a plucky heroine
at its epicenter and two suspicious main male suitors our protagonist finds
herself fraught between, the film plays up to Brad Pitt’s then-untapped larger
than life screen presence and Donovan Leitch’s lurking mercurial former pal
exudes an appropriate amount of screen menace.
Filmed in 1987 before appearing on tape and laserdisc in
1989 without much warning, Cutting Class came out to indie horror
filmgoers in a censored R rated cut with European and Asian releases handling
the more violent and gorier unrated cut including a trampoline kill and a
finale that has to be seen to be believed.
Reportedly much of the cast signed onto the project due to director
Pallenberg’s affiliation with John Boorman including but not limited to props
from Excalibur being used on set in Cutting Class, making it a
quasi-slasher/Boorman crossover of sorts.
While fans who forked over a bunch of cash for the Vinegar Syndrome
limited variants will be inclined to hang onto their sets, newcomers like
myself who previously missed the boat will most certainly want to add this new
4K UHD from MVD Rewind Collection to their horror collection featuring not one
but three of the subgenre’s most familiar faces.
--Andrew Kotwicki
