Student Bodies

{{for|the Canadian-produced television series|Student Bodies (TV series)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Student Bodies

| image = Student Bodies.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Mickey Rose

| producer = Michael Ritchie (as Allen Smithee)

| writer = Mickey Rose

| starring = {{plainlist|

Kristen Riter
Matt Goldsby
Cullen Chambers

}}

| music = Gene Hobson

| cinematography = Robert Ebinger

| editing = Kathryn Ruth Hope

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1981|8|7}}

| runtime = 86 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $5.2 million

}}

Student Bodies is a 1981 American parody slasher comedy film{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_5DPHOVG7YC&pg=PA71|title=A to Z of Horror Cinema|isbn=9780810870505|last1=Hutchings|first1=Peter|date=2 September 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press }} written and directed by Mickey Rose. A spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th and Prom Night, Student Bodies was the first film to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.

Plot

Student Bodies is about a serial killer who stalks students at Lamab High School, while at the same time, voyeuristically watching them. The killer calls himself "the Breather", presumably because the killer is always breathing heavily.

The Breather enjoys stalking victims over the telephone and hates seeing youngsters having sex. The Breather uses many unusual objects to kill his female victims such as a paper clip, a chalkboard eraser and a horsehead bookend.

The film itself ends with several twists: initially, it is revealed that the Principal and his elderly female assistant are working as a duo as "the Breather", even though they are shown at one point in the film in the same room as other characters when the Breather contacts the school in order to threaten to commit further murders. The film then goes to reveal that the entire film was a fevered dream, caused by the main character Toby being sick and consumed by overwhelming sexual repression. In a send-up of the film The Wizard of Oz, many characters are revealed to be much the opposite of what they appeared to be for the bulk of the film: the jock-like shop instructor is really the school's French teacher, the stuck-up would-be prom queen is actually the school nerd (who is given the crown by Toby after she wakes up, due to her kind nature), the two handicapped kids turn out to be ablebodied, and a local ROTC cadet is a hippie.

After being released from the hospital, Toby and her boyfriend are about to have sex, at which point he puts on gloves similar to the ones worn by the Breather and strangles Toby, as he has lost respect for her. However, in a homage to the nightmare-ending of the film Carrie, Toby's hands rise up from the freshly dug grave after her funeral to attack her killer.

Cast

Kristen Riter as Toby Badger
Matt Goldsby as Hardy
Cullen G. Chambers as Charles Ray
Joe Flood as Mr. Dumpkin
Joe Talarowski as Principal Harlow Hebrew Peters
Mimi Weddell as Miss Mumsley
Dario Jones as Mawamba
Carl Jacobs as Dr. Sigmund
Peggy Cooper as Ms. Van Dyke
Janice E. O'Malley as Nurse Krud
Kevin Mannis as Scott
Sara Eckhardt as Patti Priswell
Oscar James as Football Coach/Sheriff
Kay Ogden as Ms. Leclair
"The Stick" as Malvert The Janitor
Brian Batytis as Wheels
Joan Browning Jacobs as Mrs. Hummers
Angela Bressler as Julie
Keith Singleton as Charlie

Production

Student Bodies features a cast of true unknowns; most of them, including leads Riter and Goldsby, have never made another feature film. Future Travis County Judge and Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt appears in a small role.

Mickey Rose wrote and directed the film, with executive producer Jerry Belson offering additional material; however, Michael Ritchie was placed on set as an overseeing producer to guide Rose should he need it.

Release

One of a group of films directed towards teenaged audiences during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Student Bodies grossed $5.2 million at the box office.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=studentbodies.htm|title=Student Bodies|work=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2015-04-17}} It became famous as a late-night cult favorite on cable afterwards, appearing frequently on the Rhonda Shear-hosted USA Up All Night, as well as the network's USA Saturday Nightmares double feature series.{{cite web |last1=FIGUEROA |first1=DARIEL |title=Looking Back Fondly At The USA Network's Racy '90s Programming |url=https://uproxx.com/tv/looking-back-fondly-at-the-usa-networks-racy-90s-programming/ |website=Uproxx.com |date=6 March 2015 |publisher=Uproxx Media Group}} The DVD was released on June 3, 2007.{{cite web|url=http://news.moviefone.com/2008/03/23/fan-rant-student-bodies-to-hit-dvd-paramount-obscurities-unl/|title=Fan Rant: 'Student Bodies' to Hit DVD! Paramount Obscurities Unleashed!!|last=Weinberg|first=Scott|work=Moviefone|date=2008-03-23|access-date=2015-04-17}} The HD Blu-ray version was released on May 3, 2011.

Critical reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "a real disappointment", writing that it "just slowly topples over as you watch it, like a stand-up comedian in the act of failing".{{cite journal |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=October 18, 1981 |title=Film: Mickey Rose's 'Student Bodies' |journal=The New York Times |page=67}} Variety found that the jokes became "depressingly repetitive", writing that "unfortunately, once you've seen the trailer, you've seen all but one of the good gags included in the entire film, meaning that there are about three minutes of effective material over the course of the 86-minute running time".{{cite journal |date=August 12, 1981 |title=Film Reviews: Student Bodies |journal=Variety |page=18}} Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave it two stars out of four, writing that it "exposes all its comic tricks in the first reel, suggesting that the genre itself is not all that deep and that there may be less to parody than one might think".Siskel, Gene (August 11, 1981). "'Bodies' just a ghost of horror parody". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 8. Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The film has some very funny moments, but it is definitely not another Airplane!".Gross, Linda (August 11, 1981). "Comical Parts In 'Student Bodies'". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 4. Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote: "Although it frequently misfires and occasionally keeps firing away on empty satiric chambers, Student Bodies is a likeably sarcastic and knowing assault on the clichés of horror movies".{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Gary |date=August 11, 1981 |title='Bodies' Kills Clichés |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=C10}} AllMovie wrote, "Student Bodies, though occasionally very funny, is not consistent enough to recommend as a comedy or scary enough to be an effective horror film."{{cite web |url=https://allmovie.com/movie/student-bodies-v47442/review |title=Student Bodies – Review – AllMovie |last=Seibert |first=Perry |work=AllMovie |access-date=21 July 2012}}