6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A teacher still haunted by the death of two teens that she accidentally caused as a young girl goes beserk when four teens start harassing her and then attack her in her home.
Starring: Christopher Cousins, Maureen Mooney, Kathryn Rossetter, Jason Brill, Daniel BeerHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 2% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The back cover of this release compares Hell High to a kind of combo platter of elements from both Class of 1984 and I Spit on Your Grave, which is certainly a heady recipe, so to speak. The Class of 1984 aspects come into play courtesy of a whole coterie of what used to be called juvenile delinquents, and one of the perhaps unintentionally comic subtexts to this particular film is that there seem to be relatively benign "bad kids", along with those who probably deserved incarceration some time ago. The I Spit on Your Grave side of things comes courtesy of a revenge scenario that plays out once the kids decide to play a prank on an already emotionally unhinged teacher, a decision which of course turns out to have devastating and (to them, anyway) unforeseen consequences. Joe Bob Briggs is featured in the rather bounteous supplements on this disc proclaiming the film as an unheralded masterpiece, and while my hunch is few will probably be willing to go that far, Hell High does have some interesting twists on a frankly too familiar underpinning, which can at least give it occasional moments of connection.
Hell High is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:
Hell High is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with stereo audio. ,br>This is another impressive effort from Arrow of a cult release that many will probably never even heard of. There's an appealing vivacity to the palette starting with the incredibly bright pink dress that little Brooke wears in the opening vignette, but throughout the film, things really pop very well almost all of the time, even in some of the most dimly lit material. Detail levels are largely commendable, and as mentioned above in the main body of the review, some of the graphic gore effects that show up late in the film may actually cause a bit of squeamishness due to the precision of fine detail. There are some rough moments to be seen where the image noticeably degrades both in terms of palette and clarity, as evidenced in screenshot 19, which I'm therefore wondering if they may have been composited from another source, since at least this particular scene, which involved the supposed nudity of the teacher, may have been excised from some versions. There's also some noticeable roughness in a lot of the dark swamp material late in the film. In terms of versions, this particular version carries the Real Trouble name in the credits sequence.
The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3, Los Angeles. The film was graded and restored at R3Store Studios in London. The audio conform was completed at AGFA.
The original materials were made available for this restoration by director Douglas Grossman.
Hell High features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 track. The score actually weirdly reminded me of Doctor Who at times, at least with regard to a synth ostinato bass for one cue, but all of the score sounds nicely full bodied and well imaged. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. A few of the sound effects don't really reverberate with much force, but I didn't notice any actual damage. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Audio Commentary with Director Douglas Grossman and Cinematographer Steven Fierberg
- Audio Commentary with Director Douglas Grossman
- Audio Commentary with Joe Bob Briggs
- Interview with Director Douglas Grossman (HD; 19:30)
- Interview with Co-Writer Leo Evans (HD; 11:41)
- Raging Fury Trailer (HD; 1:36)
- Hell High Trailer (HD; 1:37)
- Hell High TV Spot 1 (HD; 00:30)
- Hell High TV Spot 2 (HD; 00:31)
Somewhat hilariously, two films in my recent review queue featured things going pretty seriously awry at a high school, and both feature climaxes with a focal character looking out of a classroom window to see police activity outside. Otherwise, Monday Morning and Hell High may share a few other things in common, including titles that were evidently changed, and a kind of lo-fi ambience that still has some technical finesse to offer. Technical merits are solid, and as usual Arrow has provided a really excellent array of supplements, for those who may be considering making a purchase.
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