Return to list
Cutting Class
Slasher flicks were all
the rage in the 80’s, thanks to the likes of the “Friday the
13th” saga. It was a simple formula; pick a setting,
introduce a bunch of teenage characters, start picking them off
one-by-one, all the while never fully revealing the killers identity
until the end. So in 1989, “Cutting Class” was released; a
run-of-the mill slasher film starring a then little-known Brad Pitt
in his first major role. Pitt had popped up in a handful of films
before this, but only as an extra or in small speaking parts, with
his name never making it onto the poster. Back then, he was the
blue-eyed, blonde-haired pretty boy who blended into the background
of films starring then big named actors like Charlie Sheen and Robert
Downey Jnr.
Despite the low-budget
production of Cutting Class, its simple premise and shoddy acting
from the rest of the cast, Pitt acquits himself fairly well. He plays
Dwight; you’re typical high school jock dating the head cheerleader
Paula. When they do go to school, they’re not often in class. Who
could blame them? The school is terrible, run by a perverted
principal who has a thing for Paula, cleaned by a janitor who sneaks
around creeping out the students and your clichéd angry gym teacher
who makes Dwight’s life hell. Also attending this school is Brian
(no, not me)… a former student who’s just been released from a
mental hospital. Hmmm… could anyone else possibly be the killer who
soon shows up to start disposing of teachers and students? You’d
think so, but then Dwight convincingly becomes a suspect himself, and
you’re suspicions are shifted. Not that you’ll care though.
The victims are killed
using the schools various implements and instruments; the art teacher
is pushed into the kiln from behind, roasting him alive. The gym
teacher is bouncing on the trampoline alone, when the killer
approaches from behind with a flag pole extended out. Hopping
underneath the trampoline, the killer pierces the mat with the pointy
end of the flag pole, impaling the gym teacher. During a sold-out
basketball game, two students are dragged underneath the seats and
murdered, her screams drowned out by the noise of the game. It goes
on like this for a while, with the subplot of Brian trying to
befriend Dwight again after years of being locked away.
Do you need to watch
Cutting Class? No. Will you find it at your local video store?
Unlikely. Is it worth watching just to see a young Brad Pitt strut
his stuff? That depends on you, but two years after this performance
he popped up in “Thelma and Louise” which as we know, launched
his career and the rest was history. Start there and give Cutting
Class a miss.
No comments:
Post a Comment