Director: Ken Hughes
Writer: Ruth Avergon
Terror Eyes (also known as Night School) aside from having a very clever title, is a fairly typical slasher film. That's not to say that it's bad. It's actually quite good, there's just not a whole lot about it that stands out. The plot concerns a Boston police leuitenant on the trail of a motorcycle helmet wearing killer who chops off victims' heads with a knife (something that seems to me like it would be very difficult to do) and leaves their severed heads in water nearby. Most of the victims are students at a nearby girls' school and are connected to that school's anthropology professor. Despite the rather novel method of execution, the movie doesn't provide many graphic kills. Many of the murders are off screen or, in some cases, take place almost entirely behind a closed door. That being said, that specific kill is probably the most interesting one in the movie. Although enjoyable enough, the film is pretty predictable. Despite the numerous red herrings thrown at us, anyone who's paying attention should be able to guess who the killer is well before the reveal.
It's hard to say why this film made the list of video nasties when there are so many other gorier horror films that didn't. I've heard that it was supposedly the excessive amount of "women being threatened by knives". It could have been the kinky blood-soaked shower sex scene with the lovely Rachel Ward. Or it may simply have been the sleazy video cover. Any way, it certainly isn't extreme enough in my opinion to have been banned. Terror Eyes is not really one of the best slashers of it's time, but I would still reccommend it to anyone who, like me, is a fan of 80's slasher flicks.
Enjoyability: 8 out of 12 beers
Quality: 7 out of 10 skulls
