Student Bodies brags that it was the "First Horror Comedy", which is technically true, if you aren't counting something like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but I don't know how good that distinction makes the movie. Just because you got there first doesn't mean the movie's necessarily going to be great, even if it's sporadically funny.
And I'll give Student Bodies that; it is sporadically funny. Jokes are thrown out so rapidly that something has to connect, although the further the film goes, the less gags arrive and the less funny it gets. The writer/director seems to blow his wad in the first 20 minutes or so, front loading tons of sight gags, non sequiturs, and throwaway lines to elicit at least a chuckle. My personal favorite is a running gag in the first few sequences about unlocked doors and windows, or the line "besides, you can't wash away herpes."
The movie is essentially a Zucker Brothers-esque take on slasher films, although as the film progresses it moves more and more into just slasher movie territory. Oh sure, there are still jokes about the high school doing a non-musical version of Grease (because they "couldn't afford the rights to the song") and a Wizard of Oz joke near the end that takes the time to invert all of the stereotypes set up during the movie proper, but it's never as wild as the film gets during the first act.
If you've never heard of Student Bodies, it's for a pretty good reason: the movie isn't really worth you time. Slasher fans are better served enjoying late-era films which self-consciously poke fun at conventions than watching this more-miss-than-hit film from the height of 80s horror mania. It played on USA Up All Night for a long time but has deservedly slipped back into the muck of obscure lower-tier 80s films.
5 comments:
The trick is to watch with friends. Popular at slumber parties. In that atmosphere one tends to enjoy each other's reactions, cutting loose. When viewed alone, one has to really not take themselves too seriously, or they;ll get impatient. With friends, you take your thinking cap off, it should be seen in that Rocky Horror fan club context.
I completely agree with your position, and Summer Fest selections in particular are programmed with that in mind. Student Bodies, however, was one that fell flat with a crowd. It was earlier in the day and before the time everybody settled in.
Troll 2 killed later that night and Hillbillys in a Haunted House was... pretty successful, but over the years I've worked to find a balance between bad movies that "try too hard" and bad movies that suit a party atmosphere.
The "Summer Fest" tag should give you some idea of what normally plays during these weekend-long events, and it's pretty indicative of how we approach watching them. (Also, as time went on, I devoted more time to writing the recaps - this was likely written between Student Bodies and Uncle Same).
Thanks, by the way, for weighing in. I followed the link (which might have helped the first time), and I didn't realize you were in the film. Sorry it didn't play as well - my first memory of seeing Student Bodies was on television when I was entirely too young (probably on HBO) and I hadn't seen it in years when Summer Fest programming started.
Slumber party atmosphere works for Bodies.
Slumber party atmosphere works extremely well f for Student Bodies. Reports worldwide of screaming laughter, leading to crying fits of hysteria among friends together, in that context. "Individually, the audience is an idiot. Collectively, they are a genius. " -- Samuel Goldwyn
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