It has that 80s horror charm, and the climax with her runing down the trash bag filled halls and everyone chasing her was borderline sCaRy! Coulda done without all the HORRIBLE "comedy"...it was on par with Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans on nearly "forced" funny that simply DOESN'T work!!!!
-- I'm your average ordinary everyday, jorgeegeetooo!
As a straight up horror film it would be no different than a hundred others.
It would've been different enough since it used the milieu of a high school, which hadn't been done yet in a slasher since the flick was shot in 1980. Sure, "Carrie" had this setting five years earlier, but it wasn't a slasher.
reply share
Honestly, I don't consider the millieu as a distinction worth mentioning. Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street are all variations of the slasher theme. That the first takes place in a summer camp, the second in a small town, and third partly in a high school as irrelevant. They are all slasher films and the films all follow roughly the same plot; as do most slasher films.
I still maintain that Student Bodies works because it is a spoof on slashers. If it wasn't, it would be a forgettable entry into the Slasher genre and completely forgotten today.
Author of the Sodality Universe
The Road from Antioch
In the Markets of Tyre
Flight to Lystra
The Theater at Ephesus
The Council on Jerusalem (coming 2023)
But it is the setting that distinguishes the gazillion slasher flicks and, secondly, the nature of the killer(s). Since no slasher had yet taken place in a high school setting -- again, disregarding "Carrie" (which isn't technically a slasher) -- "Student Bodies" would've worked as a serious slasher due to the fresh milieu.
Like I said, this was shot in 1980 when there there were still only a relatively small number of slashers released. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" wouldn't go into production for three more years.
We will have to agree to disagree. I don't find the setting the distinguishing factor. I find the the origin of the killer, his or her's MO, and how the kills are accomplished as the differential. Your mileage, obviously, varies. That's fine. We all think differently.
Author of the Sodality Universe
The Road from Antioch
In the Markets of Tyre
Flight to Lystra
The Theater at Ephesus
The Council on Jerusalem (coming 2023)
It's all good. I just agree with the OP that "Student Bodies" wasted a good setting/cast for an effective slasher on a throwaway spoof. I understand that satirizing the genre was the point; I just think the flick would've worked better and been more memorable if the creators took the material and made a real slasher rather than a forgettable and tasteless spoof.
It starts out amusing enough in its goofy way, but -- for me -- it started to go downhill by the second act. Still, there are enough highlights to make it worth checkin' out for those interested.