The Redeemer: Son of Satan!

source: The Redeemer: Son of Satan!

5 minutes in and I'm done. Scary music and nothing happened. Some creepy kid walks out of the water. BORING!!!!

source: The Redeemer: Son of Satan!

This offbeat little curiosity happens to be one of my absolute favorite slasher films. In fact, only 1974's "Black Christmas" (which is also my pick for best of the horror genre in general) beats it. Released mere months before Carpenter's "Halloween" would kick start the core slasher movement, it's an extremely eerie picture. There's a sense of the foreboding here that is more prevalent than you'd expect. It focuses on a mysterious morality killer who tricks a group of "undesirables" into attending a fake high school reunion, only to begin picking them off once they arrive. If you think this sounds a bit like "Slaughter High", you'd be right. This came first and is the infinitely better of the two. It's religious subtext alone makes it far more intriguing than that popular, but ultimately quite bland effort. The six so-called degenerates include a lawyer, a gay actor, a lesbian, a cute girl who takes pride in her appearance, a rich snob and a cocky former football jock with gluttonous tendencies. Despite negative comments about the acting on this site and in a horror reference guide of mine, the six main characters are perfectly believable people. In fact, all but the glutton wind up being rather likable, particularly Cindy, played with a free-spirited innocence by the lovely Jeannetta Arnette. The Redeemer himself comes off as over the top at times, which actually works in the character's favor, really making him seem like an absolute lunatic. His Shakespearean rant in the auditorium is a highlight. Props to T.G. Finkbinder for going all in with the role and, in turn, bringing to life one of the most memorable psychos on film. Indeed, the Redeemer is a very creepy individual. Throughout, he dons many different costumes (as "Terror Train"'s killer did a few years later), each one representing an aspect specific to his victims' lives. It's an unsettling touch that really adds to the overall tone. Perhaps the creepiest scene in the entire movie is when one of the girls is yelling for someone in the distance to let her out of the locked down school. Said individual turns out to be the Redeemer, dressed as the Grim Reaper, who proceeds to pound on the barred window with his scythe. This film is an exercise in the surreal, the above mentioned sequence being positively nightmarish in execution. The film's ambiguous opening and closing segments revolving around a sinister child reinforce this feeling tenfold. The school itself is an atmospheric setting, imprisoning our characters like a tomb. The rural area surrounding it certainly lends to the feeling of hopeless isolation. Having originally seen this via the big box "Class Reunion Massacre" VHS at my local video store, I was instantly taken with it. Not easy to forget, it's a bleak, dread-inducing slasher with a unique utilization of religious themes and well worth rediscovering. It should be regarded much more highly. It truly is one of a kind.

I rented this a while back, being the fan of slashers films that I was (and still am, I guess). Seemed like an interesting premise, and hopefully, it would do better with it than the awful "Slaughter High" did. (Saw "Slaughter High" twice--first time, I was young and terrified, second time, older and bored. I don't recommend it.) Anyhoo, I took a chance on this, and actually, it's a very good movie, at its core. Some of the evil doings surrounding the pudgy boy from the lake, if I can recall, were sort of confusing, though. I won't go on to describe the plot, you must know it by now. It's not a new plot, but what's done with it is what's unique. I don't remember all the characters too well, but the lesbian takes near-center stage as the leading lady, which I found to be a surprise, since the lesbian is usually just that. All the characters are utterly likeable, even the promiscuous girl. She may have been one of the sweetest characters, and her demise is heartbreaking. (C'mon, you knew it would happen.) From the murders in the film I remember (one of which I can't remember at all, God, my memory sucks), the one involving the killer dressed as a hunter and the character trying to escape outside was probably the scariest. You actually think she's going to make it, seeing how long the scene went on (once again, if I remember correctly). Add to that the stark daylight which is far scarier than the scene may have been at night. (Why don't more filmmakers realize this? Daytime can be extremely scary. See the climax to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." An early-morning nightmare.) Anyway, I must be giving the worst review right now, but I thought I'd let people know that this is actually a very tense movie, with a merciless atmosphere of doom. It's not obvious who will live and who will die, and overall, you want everyone to survive, even the "bad girl" (who isn't bad at all!). The killer dons a couple creepy costumes--the hunter and the clown were pretty freaky (need I add--if I can remember). And while some of the peripheral plotlines concerning this killer are somewhat perplexing, don't let that turn you off to this movie. It's worth seeing, if you can find it. If I can remember : ).

When THE REDEEMER: SON OF Satan was released back in 1978, the ad campaign made it look like another THE OMEN. I remember seeing the ad campaign but I never saw the movie because I was too young back then. I've wanted to see the movie ever since. I finally got hold of a very cheap video, renamed as CLASS REUNION MASSACRE, and watched it for the first time. Boy, what a letdown. The original OMEN angle was extremely deceptive. The film is more like a standard Agatha Christie kind of movie (and no, it's not even close to being a giallo), sorta like a crude version of TEN LITTLE INDIANS, were people are locked up in some big mansion, in this case it's a rundown High School (it doesn't look like a school) and the stupid people are killed one by one by a maniac. The whole thing is soooo lame. I expected Jessica Fletcher to pop in at any moment and try to solve the killings. If you look at the cast list at the IMDb page for this movie, the killer, or the REDEEMER, is played by T.G. Finkbinder, a doughy guy who overacts shamelessly in a theatrical manner and looks like he ate too many twinkies. Now how scary is that for a murderer? There's NO supernatural element in this film, or no one is killed with supernatural means. The boring killer uses a flamethrower, death by drowning or a standard shotgun to off his victims. Again, where's the originality? I suspect the producers of this film had original intended the film to be a standard TEN LITTLE INDIANS kind of movie but decided to make a few superficial changes to the film in order to sell it as an OMEN kind of film, which were popular back in those days and were making a lot of money at the box office. The core of the movie is the Agatha Christie part. The superficial additions I suspect were added at the last minute to bookend the movie: they happen at the beginning and at the very end, with a little boy (sorta like Damien from THE OMEN) walking out of a lake(!) and heading for the school, and ends with the kid going back into the lake. If you cut those two pointless scenes, it wouldn't make any difference to the bulk of the movie. In fact, the scenes with the kids don't have anything to do with the group of six adults locked up in the mansion. The whole thing is obvious and remarkably tacky and transparent. Imagine, back in the 1970s, the producers tried to sell this turkey as an OMEN kind of film. When the film was released on video in the 1980s, the producers retitled the film in order to sell it as a slasher, which were all the rage thanks to the success of HALLOWEEN and Friday THE 13TH. I wonder what title they'll come up with when they release the film on DVD today. SCREAM AND MORE SCREAMING ?!?! Having said that, is the core of the movie good? Nope. It's lame. Acting, dialogue, cinematography. Practically everything about the TEN LITTLE INDIANS portion of the film sucks. The only good thing in the movie is the main theme of the soundtrack. It's actually good and effective. If you expect an OMEN or DAMIEN kind of film with THE REDEEMER, well, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you expect to see a slasher kind of film under its second title, CLASS REUNION MASSACRE, well, you'll be disappointed by it as well. And if you expect a good movie of any kind, well, you won't find it with this sad excuse of a horror film.

The epitome of slasher films, "The Redeemer/Class Reunion Massacre" actually introduces characters for the sole purpose of killing them off. There's no development, just a body count. Seven graduates, representing the seven deadly sins, are invited to their old high school for a reunion. Then the killer bumps them off creatively one by one. Ta-da, the plot. The "Redeemer" is a child who comes out of a lake in the opening scene for the sole purpose of sneaking into a sleeping priest's house to give him a second thumb, which signifies that the priest has been selected to kill the graduates. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds, but actually well worth the rental. There's nothing that can be taken seriously about this film, so it's a good comedic romp through mayhem and fake blood. It's hard to tell if the humor was accidental, but it's great for parties, so I recommend it for anyone who enjoys cheesy films. It has a good stable of slasher movie stereotypes too: the humorous fat guy, the good-looking Italian guy, the slutty girl, the evil priest and, of course, the lesbian. Is it just me or do these same character types appear in most every horror film ever made? These roles, the pompous preachyness, the creative yet pointless murders and laughable logic make this film a treat, and if you can find a copy, don't pass the rental up.

I saw this movie quite recently, I've read a lot of negative reviews about it but I never let bad reviews lower my expectations for when I actually see the movie myself. This movie does have a lot in common with "Slaughter High" both having more or less the same story line, only this one is much better. Now then this is one uniquely strange horror film, creepy and unsettling, plus I had no idea what the hell was going on. Why did that kid just rise out of the water Is this a fully-functioning Catholic boys school or a deserted old high school? Two thumbs?! Are the filmmakers really trying to say that if you're a dirty sinner, Satan will send "The Redeemer" from the depths of the California desert to even the score? Or was it just an easy set-up for a slasher. After a truly baffling prologue involving said water-kid, a sermon, and a janitor murder, Class Reunion Massacre (aka The Redeemer) sets the scene. The robot music kicks in. Six stereotypical former high-schoolers are introduced through presentback (you know, like a flashback...but now). We've got the heartless lawyer, the town drunk, the ex-quarterback, the rich bitch, the flamboyant gay actor, and the good-hearted lesbian. All total sinners, right? Anyway, the super-six arrive at their ten year high school reunion, only to find that they're the only ones invited. Ignoring the obvious clues, the old kids partake of the catering and live it up. Until they find out that all the doors are locked. From the outside. Soon enough, a disguise-changing, bible-quoting killer picks off our cast one by one. After the carnage, the film wraps up just where it started, only with an accompanying on-screen biblical blurb to help us out. Wow. All in all Class Reunion Massacre succeeds, it may be light on gore but it's effective and filled with interesting shots. The killer himself was really creepy and the idea he changes costume for each murder was a really great idea. Naturally, when you add the religious subtext to all of this, things get even stranger. I find it a little far-fetched to buy into the idea of selling anything (are these filmmakers anti or pro Christian?) through the "art" form of trashy horror, but whatever. Just the idea of someone trying to get their message out through the use of "The Redeemer" is both hilarious and scary.

A Few years ago, I found this at a Flea Market, after catching the trailer on the VHS of The Wizard Of Gore years earlier. All I remembered was that it seemed like something worth the three dollars the guy was asking, but after years of being burned in my search for decent-bad cinema, I wasn't all that shocked to discover that Class Reunion Massacre is, in fact, not worth the three dollars I paid. I like old B-horror because it's different, because it's outlandish and rebellious, because it can be refreshing compared to all the big-budget, super-hero garbage of today. But none of that means anything if it puts you to sleep. Typical Horror plot. Some kid walks out of a lake, gets on a bus, and goes to Church, where we find a rather loud Priest doing his thing... and I'm sure all of this has something to do with the six "sinners" the story now revolves around. Four People I barely noticed, Mr. metro- fem, and a lesbian are headed to their 10 year high school reunion where they can sit around and eat, and "act", and wonder where the hell everyone's at. With the doors now locked, one by one, everyone is taken out by the redeemer, some guy who probably fancys himself some kind of righteous/sadistic chameleon, hence the killing in the name of God, and constant wardrobe changes. Feeling tired yet? Class Reunion Massacre is mostly made up of endless conversations and ironic killings meant to punish sins such as gluttony, and drinking too much. This film manages to be blasphemous against Christianity, as well as B-cinema. I expected very little, yet was somehow still disappointed. What I find most irritating about Class Reunion Massacre is I can almost detect a hint of potential somewhere in there. The atmosphere is all it has going for it. Ultimately, this is not a good horror movie, not a good B-movie, Class Reunion Massacre, for the lack of a better word, is a failure. Actually, I wouldn't mind a DVD release, with some audio commentary, which might shed a little light, because I just know I missed something. I don't get it. There's way too many positive reviews for this... come to think of it, I'm wasting my time here. I could be reviewing something worthwhile, like Nightmare In A Damaged Brain...

This thing is a low budget clunker that could have been a serviceable slasher flick. The characters are unlikable, and we don't get any time to like them anyways. The confusing beginning and ending don't seem to fit with the meat of the film, which is standard one-by-one death fest. I will never understand why anyone would make a slasher flick with no nudity. This script has some good spots for exploitation, especially in the bathroom scene between the harlot and lesbian, but no deal. The kills are not imaginative, with no less than three getting offed by guns. GUNS? Come on people. The villain's motives are never really revealed, except for some convoluted 7 deadly sins idea that is never really fleshed out. Maybe it's trying to be arty, maybe the filmmaker just sucks at horror. Either way just avoid this one.