Obscure and underrated 80’s horror satire ZOMBIE HIGH comes to Blu-ray.
I avoided ZOMBIE HIGH for years as it was clear from the (mostly terrible) reviews at the time that it was not really a proper zombie movie at all. No virus. No apocalypse. No flesh-eating. No thanks. And since, circa 1987, horror fans wanted these kind of normal zombie films, I wasnt the only one who balked and the movie remained either unseen and unloved for decades.
But recent history has seen enough shambling Romero-riffs to last 10 lifetimes and now, ZOMBIE HIGH seems downright revolutionary. Its a satirical amalgam of dead teenager flick, BODY SNATCHERS-esque paranoia parable and mad science melodrama, with rich production values, a decent score, a crackerjack script and a slew of solid performances. If it had been released a decade later, it would have been a minor classic.
But now, thanks to Scream Factory, you can rediscover (or, like I just did this morning, discover) ZOMBIE HIGHs ample charms. The imprint will release a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on December 15th and despite being bereft of extras of any kind save for a brief trailer, it’s a typically handsome SF presentation of a picture that was, until now, orbiting almost total obscurity.
Filmed under the more appropriate title THE SCHOOL THAT ATE MY BRAIN, ZOMBIE HIGH sees the bright-eyed Virginia Madsen (already a star but soon the achieve cult infamy with her role in CANDYMAN 5 years later) starring as Andrea, a brainy and beautiful student who is accepted into now-coed, previously all-male, elite prep school (NOT a high school, incidentally), much to her edgy boyfriends initially jealousy-steered dismay. As she and her newfound friends (including a pre-TWO MOON JUNCTION and pre-pre TWIN PEAKS Sherilyn Fenn and future FREAKS AND GEEKS creator and BRIDESMAIDS director Paul Feig) roll their eyes at their stiff classmates and weirdly ritual-obsessed teachers, Andrea begins to suspect all is not right at the school. She is, of course, correct. Turns out the faculty is actually a sect of youth-addicted quasi-vampires, that have been extracting parts of students brains for decades to consume and maintain their vitality while the kids are rendered pie-eyed, emotionless drones.
Shot in brightly lit rooms and exteriors, ZOMBIE HIGH isnt particularly scary but it is ample weird, stylish and entertaining with many asides that would be more at home in a European drama rather than a lowbrow 80s horror film. The satirical jabs at the education system are obvious, but never heavy-handed and never once do they overtake the thrust of the often surprisingly serious narrative. Credit director Ron Link for focusing not only on the arch tone of the picture but allowing his actors to, yknow, act (Madsen is really, really good here). Link (who passed away in 1999) was in fact an experimental theater director who worked with a slew of heavy hitting performers in his prime, including Robert De Niro. ZOMBIE HIGH was his only film and its a shame it wasnt marketed better and didnt find its audience upon release. With this classy new Blu-ray edition, lets hope it finally does.
