Reviews (39)

Very good horror film entry
Others put this film down comparing it to other less than imaginative horror films, but that is not the case at all. This is a film head and shoulders above the rest of the early 80's slasher films.Actually one of the best.The murderer in this movie is particularly vicious and cruel (that's what makes it way cool)obviously taking delight with each murder. (Notice the smile on the murderers face after one murder in particular?)Both funny and engrossing. Yes I agree with other reviews, the murders, at least some of them are imaginative , as well as clever.I liked the psychological bent of the film. A worthwhile way to spend an evening of video viewing. Give it a try.

Horror movie classic. Who is the killer? Best twists!
Here is another horror movie classic. College kids like this one. Melissa Sue Anderson (Little house on the Prarie) and a gaggle of other university students are being killed one by one. Each one of the students are a little on the crazy side, so no telling whom the killer may be. Her mom had died. Eventually her dad and herself move back into town and the family house. "Virginia" is really down and bothered. But she is making friends in school and considers herself to be in the Top Ten. Cast also includes Tracy Bregman (Days Of Our Lives, Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful) and Glenn Ford (Superman [1978]). Can you guess who the killer is? This RCA home video print is not too good. The color is faded. The film being Canadian might have something to do with that. But this is a good film worth watching and good acting from Melissa Sue Anderson.

Highly Underrated Slasher
5 out 5 stars when it comes to slashers! Clever plot twists, inventive murder scenes, and a great build up to the ending. Plus: Melissa Sue Anderson is great as our lead character, Ginny. Worth a watch!

cheesy fun
okay so it isn't the best movie ever but it's fun and funny. i liked it.

You Say It's Your Birthday
Thanks to horror classics like Halloween, The Howling, and The Exorcist, the genre saw a resurgence in the 70's and 80's, not even matched by today's standards. More often then not though, most of them were just pale imatations of, the crazed killer stalking teens with raging hormones plot. Very few of these films broke away from the pack, comming up with a new spin, an exception is the mildly clever Happy Birthday To Me.

Thanks to severe head trauma, Virginia Wainwright, (Melissa Sue Anderson, who tried to shed her past role on TV's Little House, but hasn't done much since) part of her brain is damaged, to the point where she can't remember her recent past. When she returns to school at the Crawford Academy, she is welcomed into the Top Ten, a snooty social clique. Things turn deadly, as someone starts killing off the members of the group. With her 18th birthday approaching Virginia starts to doubt her own sanity, thinking that the killer's real identity, may indeed, be linked to her own forgotton past - or that she herself may even be the killer, acting out, during one of her blackouts.

Directed by Lee J. Thompson, who worked on the original Cape Fear and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, elevates the film a bit, and makes you (almost) forget that it's really just a slasher flick. The interesting twist of the possiblity that the heroine may be the murderer is also kinda fun. The film is also given even more credability, by the prescence of the great Glenn Ford, as Dr. David Faraday. The script has all the familiar horror film cliches, of course but as I said, it's still got enough there to make it watchable and even fun.

Happy Birthday To Me is not yet available on DVD. Therefore, VHS will have to do for now. It may be hard to find a copy of it. If you do...Rent don't Buy...It's worth a look for horror enthusiasts *** and a half stars ... Read more

Description

Famous playwright Neil Simon’s story of a young power-hitting baseball player who falls in love with a rock singer. When they finally come together, his average goes up and they get married. But she’s bored and frustrated staying at home and hanging around with ballplayers; she wants to continue her own career. When she sings, he slumps and together they weather the rocky storm of marriage. Stars Michael O’Keefe (Caddyshack), Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business). ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Worst Sports Movie EVER!
I spent 2 hours of my morning watching this on HBO Signature and this is anything but good. The music in this movie is terrible, and I was cringed while I listened to it. This movie does not resemble baseball. Superstar athletes are inspired by others, but definately not to the point of this movie's main character. What bothered me the most was really a, if you think about it, an embarassment to Braves fans and baseball fans. In the last game of the season, when the player hits HR #62 you barely see the ball go over the fence. You could see empty seats all over. In addition, if the Braves won they would enter the playoffs. In real baseball, all 30 teams would have packed stadiums filled, with the probable exception of Montreal. This is the worst sports movie EVER. The romance is tolerable, but these newlyweds seem to hate each other. The wife doesn't want her own HUSBAND to see her. Doesn't sound like love to me. Don't waste your time on this piece of trash.

A Good Look at The Limelight Atlanta
While the story might be a bad excuse for an apology to Marsha Mason from Neil Simon, and the baseball scenes are incredibly inaccurate (Astros and Braves are wearing their home uniforms at the same time), this video affords the viewer a look at one of the best nightclubs ever seen. Limelight Atlanta was built in the old Harlequin Dinner Theatre and featured an extravagant light show valued some say at over a half million dollars. It's unfortunate the club is gone, but the footage inside the club is wonderful. Also filmed inside The Saint Atlanta which closed shortly after the movie was released theatrically...

Worst baseball movie ever??
The baseball scenes alone make this one of the worst hack jobs I've ever seen. At the end of the movie our hero belts home run #62 to break the all-time record, and they don't even show the ball go over the fence!!! What, did they forget to take the lens cap off for that shot or something?? Not to mention the crowd of about 100 extras (not very convincingly positioned to resemble a sellout crowd), looked and sounded about as axcited as if he had just drawn an intentional walk. Not one millisecond of the game scenes in this movie come close to the real game of baseball. My favorite is Al Hraboski, who I remember well as "Tha Mad Hungarian", hamming it up as himself - throwing a complete game. Hello, a complete game? Everyone knows the guy was a reliever!! This movie is a disgrace and an insult to even casual baseball fans...

a cute movie
I am going to have to completely disagree with the other customer review here. While The Slugger's Wife wasn't a great classic romantic comedy to come out of the 80's, it was worth the two hours I spent watching it on cable. I think this must have been one of Rebecca Demorney's earliest roles, possibly after Risky Business. She plays a singer(well, err...she tries to be a singer) that performs covers of popular rock songs in cheezy/lounge singer mode. I'm sure it was her own voice too. That part of the film was a bit cheezy, but it was the 80's! Michael O'Keefe plays a major league baseball player who falls instantly in love with her as he sees her perform at a club. He doesn't win her right away, he actually almost "strikes out" completely. Eventually they start dating and get married. He wants her to be there for the games and not work, and she wants to continue with her lame singing career. This was definitely not one of the best movies from the 80s, but it is worth a look at in my opinion. It was kind of sweet. The music however, was more of a cheeze factor than real music. I didn't feel my time had been wasted on this movie. I found it to be a cute little romantic comedy that seemed to be forgotten.

Strike out
With apologies to friends who served as extras, this is a complete waste of Celluloid. Garbage is way too elevated a description. There are too many fine baseball movies on the market - "Eight Men Out," "Pride of the Yankees" - to even consider this tripe. Avoid at all costs. Strike one, strike two, strike three. Yer out! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good, entertaining film; poor, disappointing DVD...
I guess I'm one of the hundred or so people who've had the pleasure of viewing this "cockroach classic"(as Roger Corman puts it). Saw it for the first time probably a decade ago, near the time that I was introduced to the horror genre. With a reasonable script and decent acting, the film's already ahead of the genre curve. Add to that a healthy dose of genuine suspense, a few squirm-inducing scenes, and some surprisingly good special effects during the final act, and you end up with one effective horror flick. This is not high art, but it's not the cheesy exploitation film the DVD's cover implies, either. If you go in expecting a B-movie you won't be disappointed, and you may even be impressed. However, if you go in expecting "Citizen Kane"...; well, you deserve what you get.

It would be an understatement to say the announcement of this disc caught me by surprise. Thank God for Roger Corman! If it weren't for him, "The Nest" probably would've been condemned to VHS for eternity. Sadly, this DVD is not the improvement for which one might hope. In fact, I hesitate to say that it's an improvement at all. Though my VHS copy is long gone and I've no basis for comparison, this DVD is lacking in every category. The packaging claims "Digitally Remastered", but from what source?

To start, the picture is noisy more often than not; this is especially apparent in the many darker sequences. Shadow detail is near nonexistent, making those special effects I mentioned very hard to discern. It wouldn't surprise me if this transfer was made from an old composite video master. This just doesn't look like film to me(though I'm no expert). The audio doesn't fare any better. A standard Dolby Digital 2.0 track encoded at 192kb/s, I'm not sure if it's stereo or mono, but it certainly isn't surround. Background hiss is present from beginning to end.

Extras are limited to a trio of trailers for "Humanoids", "The Unborn", and "The Terror Within". The packaging claims "Original Theatrical Trailer", but no trailer for "The Nest" is included(that I could find). Also included is a brief bio for producer Roger Corman and what amounts to filmography highlights in paragraph form for actors Robert Lansing, Lisa Langlois, Franc Luz, and Terri Treas. A commentary from Roger Corman, director Terence Winkless, and perhaps a member or two of the cast would've been nice.

In the end, all that matters in this purchase decision is whether or not you like the film. If you've never seen "The Nest" and it sounds appealing to you, the low price makes it a good candidate for a blind purchase. I recommend it for the strengths of the film. Enjoy! ... Read more

Description

Drug Dealing. Gang Beatings.Prostitution. Animal Slaughter.They're all part of a typical day for the students of Lincoln High.Into this academic abyss arrives Andy Norris (Slaughterhouse Five's Perry King), an idealistic and na=EFve music teacher who has moved into the community with his pregnant wife Diane.Appalled by the crime-infested school, Norris soon crosses sabers with its teenage kingpin, the shrewd and sadistic Peter Stegman (The White Shadow's Timothy Van Patten).With Norris setting his sights on reforming Stegman, and the young miscreant declaring war on his teacher, the duo sets a fateful showdown into motion on the night of an important school orchestra performance.Directed and co-written by Mark L. Lester (Commando, Firestarter), CLASS OF 1984 is one of the seminal cult movies of the early 1980s.While its vision of a decaying, violence-plagued inner city school seemed over-the-top in 1982, it sadly prophesized the future of American education.Lester's film-which caused a stir at Cannes and reputedly offended one of its own screenwriters-is also notable for its cast, which includes Van Patten, Roddy McDowall and a very young Michael J Fox.Alice Cooper performs the theme song, "I Am The Future".No longer are the students of Lincoln High the future, for the future has arrived! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

You said it, brother.
I couldn't agree more with Gary Young when he calls "Class of 1984" one of the greatest exploitation flicks.I've seen it many times since it's release in 1982 and I couldn't be happier to see it finally make it's debut on DVD.Hopefully, the releasing company will give it the stellar presentation this great drive-in camp fest deserves.

Made at the height of the early-'80's paranoia about school violence--which was nearly 15 years before Columbine--"Class of 1984" follows idealistic music teacher Andy Norris (Perry King) as he begins his new job at a hellacious inner-city high school that is run by a psychotic gang of punk thugs led by music prodigy Richard Stegman (Timothy Van Patten, in a terrific performance).Stegman immediately takes a disliking to Norris, who refuses to back down from his threats, and things get uglier and uglier, leading to an all-out war and a glorious, super-gory final thirty minutes that has to be seen to be believed.

All this violence is admirably directed by veteran schlock-meister Mark L. Lester ("Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw"), who builds a tremendous amount of suspense and gets excellent performances out of his entire cast, which includes a very young Michael J. Fox as an ill-fated student and Roddy MacDowell, in one of his last good film roles as a teacher who is starting to crack under the pressure.Al Waxman is a rare voice of reason as a sympathetic cop whose hands are tied, and Lester's wife Merrie Lynn Ross is effective as Norris' wife, who has "potential rape victim" written all over her.And I love the theme song "I am the Future", by rocker Alice Cooper.

A word of warning:Take the five-star rating with a grain of salt.This isn't "Million Dollar Baby" or "The Godfather".Instead, "Class of 1984" is pure camp, with muddy photography and goofs/bloopers galore.It isn't meant to be high art.What it is is an example of irresponsible, ultra-violent filmmaking at its "guilty pleasure" best.Some viewers will be appalled, and some will dismiss it as pure trash.They're probably right.But for those who are game and are in the mood for a no-holds-barred revenge melodrama, hold on to your seats.

Take it from me, one viewing and you'll never look at a buzzsaw or a blowtorch the same way again.

***** (out of *****)

One of the Greatest Exploitation Flicks Makes its DVD Debut
Well, it's about time!Mark Lester's cult classic "Class of 1984" is finally coming out on DVD.This is definitely one of the finest B-movies of the 80's(if not of all time).
The plot concerns an idealistic young teacher(Perry King) who comes to teach at possibly the roughest inner city high school ever.Initially, he tries his hardest to inspire his problem students.And, by gosh, he gets through to several of them(including a young Michael J. Fox).Unfortunately, he doesn't succeed with Timothy Van Patton and his lowlife cronies.They make life hell for the poor teacher.
Instead of trying to be an inspirational story of a teacher who struggles against the odds to produce a class of model students, "Class of 1984" develops into a revenge saga.The teacher becomes just as savage as his worst students.
This is a must have for all cult film junkies.I can't wait to get my fix. ... Read more