Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

GroovyDoom Logic be damned, "Horror High" has a story to tell, and it's going to get there by any means necessary. It takes place in a high school where the resident outcast, Vernon, is a science geek who would probably even be picked on by Carrie White. His mother's dead, his father's completely absent, and every single person Vernon comes into contact with abuses him verbally and often physically. His teachers berate him, even though he is clearly gifted. The school janitor is a shambling, mumbling alcoholic constantly on the verge of a violent outburst--you know, just like in real life--and not only does he seem to actually LIVE in the high school, he keeps a pet cat in the school, too--you know, just like in that same real life.Vernon's determined to prove that people can be changed physically by drugs. No, really! Who ever thought that could happen? Anyway, he injects his guinea pig, Mr. Mumps, with a formula that causes it to turn into a feral monster with much darker fur than normal. It kills the janitor's bully of a cat, and the janitor freaks on Vernon, forcing him to drink the Jekyll/Hyde potion. Yeah. So suddenly Vernon convulses and transforms into killer-Vernon, hurling the janitor around and finally dunking his face in a giant barrel of sulfuric acid that just happens to be sitting in the lab as a means of disposal. And that's just the beginning.Rosie Holotik from "Don't Look In the Basement!" plays a classmate of Vernon's, the only person in the whole school that likes him. She's there to be alternately romanced and threatened by killer-Vernon. Austin Stoker, he of "Abby" and "Assault on Precinct 13", is a detective investigating the sudden "rash of killings" at Vernon's high school. I mean think about that for a second...a janitor is killed, then a teacher, and yet the school dismisses it as a "rash of killings" and remains open and functioning? This is the charm of "Horror High"; it is an outrageous adolescent fantasy, where a nerd is picked on and suddenly becomes a monster that can not only take revenge on his bullies, but KILL them. When reality attempts to disrupt the fantasy, it is immediately brushed aside and never given a second thought. WHY does the school stay open after a janitor's skull is found floating in a barrel of acid? For that matter, why is a giant barrel of acid sitting in a classroom? Why does the janitor not only seem to live on the premises of the school, but keeps a pet cat there? Why would a teacher threatened in her classroom run from her desk, be chased through the hallways, then return to her classroom, and her desk, trailing her fingers along the edge of a paper cutter as if tempting fate? The answer to all of these questions and more is: "It was in the script." Vicious cruelty to animals, a melted human face, football bullies, and mean teachers. These are the things that would give any young school kid nightmares, after which "Horror High" has accomplished what it clearly set out to do.** for even more fun, take into consideration an unrelated passage of the film that was awkwardly inserted into the television version entitled "Twisted Brain". The narrative suddenly shifts from Vernon's world to demonstrate the romantic relationship between his father and the woman he's currently living with as a traveling salesman. Then, when sufficient padding has been accomplished, the film goes back to Vernon's plight, never to mention the father or his girlfriend again.

MartinHafer Wow. I am amazed I went beyond the opening song with this film. After all, the song was just horrible in every possible way--whiny, bad and dreadful. Was this a portent of more awfulness to come or was this low-budget film actually worth seeing?The star of this film is a nerdy high school student (who, incidentally was 23 when the film was made). He's mistreated by his teachers, the janitor and his classmates. Like such to be Vernon Potts and you know that based on the title of this film that eventually all these people will have a major butt-kicking coming by the end of the film. But, in the meantime, we are treated to scene after scene of the most ridiculously nasty treatment of poor Vernon. Subtle this isn't.Later, a deranged (and horribly acted) janitor freaks out and forces poor Vernon to drink some formula he's been working on in the lab. And, not at all unexpectedly, Vernon is now a crazed killer beast. I love how incredibly stupid and cheesy the first act of retribution is--when he shoves the janitor's head in a conveniently placed bucket of sulfuric acid (I always have a few sitting around the house for just such emergencies). When Vernon has recovered, he's covered in blood and hides the evidence of his atrocity. Is this the last killing by good ol' Vern? Well, considering it's only the 25 minute mark, I doubt it.By the way, speaking of sulfuric acid in this murder scene, I noticed that the label on the drum was MISSPELLED!! Talk about sloppy!! Surely a chemical supply house can spell sulfuric!!The next day, the police come to the school to investigate the killing. This apparently was prompted when one of the kids in chemistry class opened the giant drum of 'sulphuric acid' and bits and pieces of the janitor and his cat were floating in it.There's more to it than this, but frankly it's all so dull and pointless I'll just wrap it up now. Overall, the acting, writing, special effects and direction totally suck. There really is nothing of interest or value in the film other than small parts played by Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Craig Morton and linebacker D.D. Lewis, as well as Pittsburg Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene and Chuck Beatty. It's interesting for anyone who watched football back in the 1970s--otherwise I have no idea why anyone would want to see this stinking film. Also, I hope I didn't miss any other players who were in the film--I'm trying my best considering that I was pretty young back then and my crazy old man memory isn't perfect!Worthless--a complete waste of time.

secragt Add me to the list of 10-year-olds scared simple by catching this one late night on free TV back in the 70s. My exposure to it was during a sleepover where we all decided to watch the midnight horror movie. Even as a 10 year old, I knew this was a bad movie. Poor acting, a mindless and mean-spirited script, bad grainy cinematography, amateurish direction. AND YET... it did absolutely scare my young self and has stayed with me through the years. The scene where the "manster" does in his coach with cleats accompanied by a blaring rock guitar solo so disturbed me, I avoided listening to loud rock music for a couple years. Definitely one of the more disturbing images seared into my braincells as a child. 3.5 / 10

Woodyanders Mild-mannered high school student Vernon Potts is a strong candidate for the Pencil Neck Geek of the Year Award. The thuggish jocks in his gym class are always ruthlessly picking on him and beating him up. His bitchy English teacher gives him mucho flack for only caring about biology and chemistry. Vernon's negligent, self-absorbed dad is so wrapped up in making a fast buck that he completely ignores the poor boy. Even the grubby, mean-spirited janitor constantly browbeats him. After being forced to drink a special liquid formula he created for a biology experiment, Vernon acquires the necessary power to violently turn the tables on his cruel tormentors. Wormy, sniveling mouse Vernon occasionally mutates into a hairy, club-footed humanoid monster which embarks on a grisly murderous rampage, brutally slaying everyone who ever treated him badly. The custodian has his face dunked in a steaming vat of sulfuric acid, the English teacher has her hand lobbed off with a paper cutter, and, best of all, the malicious blackmailing football coach gets messily hashed when Vernon stomps all over his squat body while wearing spiked running shoes! Okay, I'll admit that this shoddily made low-budget male adolescent revenge horror fantasy clunker is so incredibly bad that it's often downright gut-busting, but I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed it just the same. Larry N. Stouffer's ham-fisted direction is loaded with lots of laughably inept affectations; his maladroit use of oddly tinted camera angles in order to capture and convey a creepy mood of impending menace in particular stands out as a tremendous source of inadvertent hilarity. Erstwhile child star Pat Cardi gives a nice, personable portrayal of the pitiably meek Vernon, but the rest of the cast, which includes the ever-smooth and ingratiating Austin ("Assault on Precinct 13") Stoker as the casually assiduous cop investigating the killings and "Don't Look in the Basement" 's Rosie Holotik as the fetching heroine, deliver comically dreadful performances. (Cardi and Stoker also appeared together in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes.") Even 70's football stars Mean Joe Greene, Calvin Hill and Craig Morton have no clue why they were even invited to this celluloid nightmare. Janis P. Valtenburg's chintzy, grainy, unsightly cinematography and the mandatory ghastly ending credits theme song (a sad, haunting, unforgettably atrocious pop-slop ballad called "Vernon's Theme" sung by Jerry Coward) are likewise hilariously atrocious. However, Don Hulette's funky, groovy, syncopated score does manage to hit the correct right-on happening spot. Good, schlocky 70's drive-in horror fun.