Ok, Class of 1984 isn’t strictly a horror movie. It probably falls more into the “film noir” category. In many ways it is rather horrifying that a school or even society in general can get to a point as depicted in this movie. I have no doubt it would have seemed like a bleak view of the future of education when it was made back in 1982. The sad thing is that it doesn’t seem all that far out of the bounds of reality these days.
<h3>THE PLOT</h3>
The film revolves around Andy a young teacher who gets transferred to a new school. A school where gang violence and drug dealing is rife. At the centre of said violence and mayhem is gang leader “Stegman”. Stegman is a brilliant but perverted and down right evil kid who has the cornered the drug dealing market. He has the whole school trembling in fear of him and the law too afraid to do anything to a minor. The guy who plays Stegman (Timothy Van Patten) does a brilliant job of bringing the character to life. As a viewer I felt nothing but contempt for him. There is some social comentary that can be read into this film. The need for discipline, and a firm direction in dealing with juvenile crime, is central to what’s going on here.
I felt a horror in the way that Stegman manipulates a system designed to help and protect high school students. Class of 1984 is also notable as one of the first appearances by a very young Michael J Fox who plays the role of one of the kids that get victimised by the gang. Teacher Andy tries his best to sort out the school but instead the school descends into horrific violence and even a student death. Then it ramps up a notch or two as the gang target Andy for sticking his nose into their business. This of course descends into all out war.
<h3>THE VERDICT</h3>
This is quite a violent and dark film. There’s some decent gore when the shit hits the fan towards the end. If you liked films like “Clockwork Orange” or even “Soylent Green” this should be right up your alley. I’m not sure how Class of 1984 went at the box office. I’m sure it would have been refused screening in many countries as there is some high impact violence and a rape scene. I wouldn’t say its as full on as something like “A Clockwork Orange”, but still packs a punch. It is however a pretty cool watch and definitely worth any horror movie fan’s time to watch! As an added bonus it has a song by shock rocker Alice Cooper as a major part of the films soundtrack! Very cool!
Anyway we found the movie up on You tube, so check it out!
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