Class Of 1984
When released in 1982, this unsung classic painted quite the apocalyptic vision of the future of American public education, unheard of at the time, where schools would soon become inundated with gang violence and drug dealing, along with the now de facto standard of metal detectors for the incoming students. Director Mark L. Lester would never achieve these heights again as a filmmaker (despite making a sequel in name only many years later), but here he presents a hyper-exaggerated reality that would sadly come true in many ways in the years to come. Perry King (a b-level actor best known for starring on the TV series Riptide) plays a newly transplanted high school music teacher (replacing one who âfell down the stairsâ) and almost immediately clashes with a drug-dealing gang led by Peter Stegman (Timothy Van Patten, who went to become an acclaimed director of The Sopranos and other HBO series). Stegman carries himself as a neo-Fascist type who rules the school and fights to control the drug trade within against the other gangs, but amazingly he also happens to be a musical genius who composes his own piano concertos and in many ways wants to be accepted as such. This in actuality is the big hook of the story, that such an ultraevil Antichrist type of kid is in reality a tortured, near suicidal teen himself (complete with a single mom who blindly defends him no matter what), estranged from the fact that King wonât let him play in the high school orchestra until he cleans up his act which leads him to his final rampage which can be seen as either a desperate cry for help or a sick master plan to take as many people with him as possible, all played beautifully to the hilt by Van Patten, and accompanied by his gang (played by Stefan Arngrim, Keith âFinklestein From Meatballsâ Knight, Neil Clifford, and the superhot Lisa Langlois) who all have their own distinct characteristics yet blend together smoothly to form their twisted unit. But thatâs not the only pleasure on display actingwise, as the cast also features the legendary Roddy McDowell as Kingâs friend and fellow teacher who agonizes over the fact that he is unable to reach these kids until he finally snaps and holds an entire classroom at gunpoint, compelling them to answer questions about biology with the threat of execution if they get it wrong, truly a turn that deserved some Supporting Actor awards consideration; plus there is a (very young) Michael J. Fox as one of Kingâs students suspected of being a âsnitch bitchâ by Stegman over a drug deal he witnessed and must fight for his life as well. Many complained at the time of release that the film was excessively violent, but unlike many modern movies, the violence is used to drive home a point about the fact that the law protects and even favors the interests of juvenile criminals who can get away with anything if they know how to work the system, such as when Stegman brutally assaults HIMSELF in front of King in a scene that was later shamelessly ripped off by Fight Club (to much lesser effect). It all comes down to the point where King, virtually stripped of his humanity by the horrors of the gang, is reduced to almost a primal state when Stegman and Co. choose ultimately not to go after him but rather his innocent pregnant wife (executive producer Merrie Lynn Ross) and he must run the gauntlet in order to save her. Lester keeps it all together by maintaining a crisp pace and utilizing a tense music score by Lalo Schifrin to keep the pressure on the viewer up until the rocking climax. Overall, perhaps the greatest exploitation b-movie of all time that still holds up today and is right up there among the best movies ever, periodâŚ
10/10