Brief Thoughts -STUDENT BODIES (1981)

Truth to tell I should not have liked this film at all. I'm not the biggest slasher film fan in the world although I have learned to enjoy the genre over the past decade and a half. Plus, I am the most persnickety comedy viewer you've probably ever run across. It does not take much for a piece of cinematic comedy to push me away and once it has we're done - I'm not going to be won over.

So how did I end up liking this much-maligned slasher comedy? I'll have to tell the truth and admit that a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm fascinated by films shot on real locations in the 1970's and 1980's. STUDENT BODIES has the look of an independent production shot mostly on real locations and for that reason alone the film always kept me interested. It's not the only thing I found of interest but it was something that constantly kept my eye moving around the screen looking at places and things the way they were almost 40 years ago. Of course this entertaining little window into the past isn't the only reason I enjoyed the film. Believe it or not I actually did find it pretty amusing. Not every joke hits its Target but enough did that I was constantly amused. It wasn't too silly it wasn't too stupid and it played things in a way that - while it is winking at the audience - it's never being insulting.

I can easily understand why this film has such a bad reputation, especially among slasher aficionados. It's a very irreverent take on the tropes of the genre made all the more amazing by the fact that it was made even before those tropes had become set in concrete. STUDENT BODIES isn't a great film but I have to say I really did enjoy it. It's not great but it kept my attention and made me laugh.