Horror High

source: Horror High

Considering the budget, I have to say this movie really succeeded. It had some great seat-jumper moments far above what I hoped to see in a film of this caliber. The chemistry test scene was utterly delicious. The acting was really very good -- you could tell everyone was serious about making this movie even though they really had no business doing that. The pace was good, the story was sound, the makeups and costumes were good (especially with what had to be a buck-ninety-eight effects bankroll), most of the camera work and stuff was pretty good. And so it actually worked! Unexpected in a movie that dares to take "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" into the recess yard.

Jason Atwood does'nt know what he's talking about! Lots of people would agree that this is a very good movie. (about the scenes being too dark,I could see them fine,has'nt he heard of a brightness dial!) I do admit that most of the people who like this film think of what they thought of it when they saw it as kids on late night tv. I see movies on video store shelves all the time that are totally stupid and I can't say that about this one. This was the goriest movie I could find on network tv. A guys face melting off after being dipped in acid,and a guy getting brutally stomped to death with steel baseball cleets are a few things to look for in this movie! The acting is'nt too bad either,you kind of get to feel bad for the main character,its cool to see him get his revenge. (even though he does go a little overboard) I'd like to see this movie make a comeback! If anybody else remembers this movie,write a review,I'd like to see what you think.

I am amazed so many people saw this film in the same situation (younger,late night on network tv,during the early to mid seventies,,) I thought i was the only person to have been moved by it. I am not saying i thought it was bad or good, but memorable in a sad disturbing way.... I remember feeling really bad at the end of film with the sad song played during vernon's death.....tragic....

I remember seeing this film years ago when I was about 12 on a horror show on KCOP channel 13 hosted by a guy named "Famous Morris". I could tell that it was a cheapo even back then. I'm sure a lot of people see this as a modern day Jekyll and Hyde story, but I see this as nothing more than an excuse for excessive violence. The only memorable scene from this film is when Vernon's teacher gets it with paper cutter (don't run your fingers along the edge). Thank God this garbage is rarely shown on television today and that it hasn't been released on home video.

Mild-mannered high school student Vernon Potts is a strong candidate for the Pencil Neck Geek of the Year Award. The thuggish jocks in his gym class are always ruthlessly picking on him and beating him up. His bitchy English teacher gives him mucho flack for only caring about biology and chemistry. Vernon's negligent, self-absorbed dad is so wrapped up in making a fast buck that he completely ignores the poor boy. Even the grubby, mean-spirited janitor constantly browbeats him. After being forced to drink a special liquid formula he created for a biology experiment, Vernon acquires the necessary power to violently turn the tables on his cruel tormentors. Wormy, sniveling mouse Vernon occasionally mutates into a hairy, club-footed humanoid monster which embarks on a grisly murderous rampage, brutally slaying everyone who ever treated him badly. The custodian has his face dunked in a steaming vat of sulfuric acid, the English teacher has her hand lobbed off with a paper cutter, and, best of all, the malicious blackmailing football coach gets messily hashed when Vernon stomps all over his squat body while wearing spiked running shoes! Okay, I'll admit that this shoddily made low-budget male adolescent revenge horror fantasy clunker is so incredibly bad that it's often downright gut-busting, but I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed it just the same. Larry N. Stouffer's ham-fisted direction is loaded with lots of laughably inept affectations; his maladroit use of oddly tinted camera angles in order to capture and convey a creepy mood of impending menace in particular stands out as a tremendous source of inadvertent hilarity. Erstwhile child star Pat Cardi gives a nice, personable portrayal of the pitiably meek Vernon, but the rest of the cast, which includes the ever-smooth and ingratiating Austin ("Assault on Precinct 13") Stoker as the casually assiduous cop investigating the killings and "Don't Look in the Basement" 's Rosie Holotik as the fetching heroine, deliver comically dreadful performances. (Cardi and Stoker also appeared together in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes.") Even 70's football stars Mean Joe Greene, Calvin Hill and Craig Morton have no clue why they were even invited to this celluloid nightmare. Janis P. Valtenburg's chintzy, grainy, unsightly cinematography and the mandatory ghastly ending credits theme song (a sad, haunting, unforgettably atrocious pop-slop ballad called "Vernon's Theme" sung by Jerry Coward) are likewise hilariously atrocious. However, Don Hulette's funky, groovy, syncopated score does manage to hit the correct right-on happening spot. Good, schlocky 70's drive-in horror fun.

This is one of the few horror movies that truly scared me. I saw it when I was 11 or 12. I think it was channel 9 or 13. It was an afternoon movie. I can barely remember any of it now, but the scenes I remember truly freaked me out. I know it was schlocky, but when the nerd/monster was running through the school at night, my heart was in my throat. When he found the girl behind the door, I could barely watch. I also remember a guy hanging from a rope in the gymnasium, and a taunting jock getting pulled through a window and pummeled. Some movies stay with you. This one definitely did. As a film geek screenwriter, I am still fascinated by the effect this movie had on me. I'm almost afraid to see it again, afraid it might not stand up after all these years. Maybe it should just stay a scary childhood memory. Unless someone down here has a copy I could borrow.

This appears to be another one of those obscure early 70's cult favorites that a lot of people vividly remember as one of many nostalgic late Saturday night flicks that turned them into horror fans for life. Although I'm from a different generation, I'm fascinated by tracking down these movies based solely on the enthusiast reviews of first-hour fans. Sometimes you stumble upon hidden gems like way (for example "Where have all the People Gone") and sometimes you find movies of which you don't understand the fuzz about. "Horror High" is a bit in between; not an undiscovered masterpiece but definitely not a waste of time, neither. It's a fun and light-headed little monster movie with a handful of cool gore effects and even a couple of suspenseful moments. The film is basically a high-school variation on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" – the opening sequences even openly refer to Robert Louis Stevenson's legendary horror story – with a nerdy chemistry whiz kid transforming into an aggressive monster, through drinking a self made potion, and executing bloody revenge against all those who wronged him. Vernon Potts is a typical high school loner who's continuously experimenting in the chemistry room, but further neglects all the other classes. He's the prime target of mockery in school; for the football jocks but also for the sadistic teachers and nasty janitor. When the latter forces Vernon to drink the potion that drove his Guinea Pig Mr. Mumps crazy with aggression, he becomes his vengeful alter ego. Soon the malignant English teacher Mrs. Grindstaff and the corrupt coach McCall will experience Vernon's wrath. "Horror High" is a hugely predictable and sometimes even downright boring, but it undeniably remains a charming and adorably shlocky 70's effort. The trashy low-budget make up effects are tremendously entertaining to watch (imagine yourself faces being pushed into barrels full of acid, fingers being cut off under a paper-guillotine and bodies being spiked through gym shoes) and the unknown lead player Pat Cardi does a fantastic job as the tormented nerd. Halfway through the film, there's a completely irrelevant and pointless interlude in which the film follows around Vernon's estranged father as he's arguing with his new girlfriend and making a business phone call. If anyone can explain the significance of these 10 totally unnecessary padding minutes, please email me!

Wow... Reading through these comments is giving me goose bumps! For years, no one I asked had ever seen (or heard of) this nasty little movie, but now I see that I am not alone after all! My experience of Twisted Brain is nearly identical to many others here: I was 11 years old when my best friend and I saw this movie on Pittsburgh, PA's Chiller Theater. Ever since that night, I have never looked at a paper-cutter or a pair of cleats the same way. As many of you have said, there is something about this gritty, low-budget shocker that just sticks with you. It's not that this is a good movie, but obviously it had a lasting impression on a whole generation of us. Even now, I can remember the grainy film and cheesetastic music, the vat of acid, the brutal murders. I will never forget that first viewing of this film. I can't say that I recommend it, exactly. It may be a you-had-to-be-there kind of experience for those of us who saw it back in the day, and I'm sure Twisted Brain may not hold up well after all these years. I'm just really glad to read that so many others had the same experience of it that I did.

I am so pleased to see so many people have seen this movie....of course...late night on Elvira or Grimsley. My sister and I used to laugh hysterically at this. I mean with a name like Vernon Potts..you're going to get picked on! We used to say lines from this movie...we knew it word for word! So now we are in the DVD age and I am looking to replace the really bad and really old VHS copy I made from one of our late night viewings! I need to add this one to my collection. But on to the film......Everything about it shows the start of teen horror flicks. These guys pioneered the "outcast teenager". This is Carrie, Prom Night......all the horror flicks of the eighties. I especially like the drawn out interogation of Vernon by the detective. The delays in response, as if they are reading from cue cards, is hysterical. I really am pleased, like the rest of you, to know that I am not the only one who watched this movie and remembered it all these years.