Before I start this review, allow me to clarify two things:
1. This is not the 1987 Mark Harmon film directed by Carl Reiner, and featuring the characters of Chainsaw and Dave. This is an independent horror film of 2006, written and directed by Lance Hendrickson.
2. Lance Hendrickson is not to be confused with Lance Henriksen.
The movie opens with Charles (Simon Wallace) roller blading into a classroom and taking a nap. It turns out that it is the first day of summer school, and he has been up all night watching a b-horror movie marathon to review on his website.
His two best friends are Steve (Tony D. Czech) and Dennis (Lance Hendrickson), two stoner losers with no ambition. Officer Klein (Ty Richardson) patrols the halls, making sure that students have their hall pass. There's Lindsey (Amy Cocchiarella), a blonde who may or may not know Charles exists.
When Charles wakes from his nap, he is thrust right in the middle of what seems to be a horror movie, with disastrous results. He awakens again, only to find that he is in yet another, with full memory of what happened in the last one. The result is a horror anthology (think Creepshow, but with many more stories) with different flavors, yet sharing the same theme. There's vampires, Nazis, and even murderous hillbillies. This, on top of not knowing when he will really wake up, yet looking forward to the next horror cliché truly make this an enjoyable little film.
As far as acting goes, it is decent enough as far as indies go. The main character of Charles is very likeable. Wallace does a very good job conveying the uncertainty. Richardson chews the scenery with the gusto that Bill Clinton does a Big Mac. Director Hendrickson, however, steals the show, and I would have liked to see more of him in the film.
The gore was again decent enough for what budget they had. A decapitated body looked pretty good, as did a scene with an actor's guts falling out. However, the monster costume used was laughably bad.
The cinematography was very well-done, and I had to re-watch a scene where Charles looks out a window, and the camera seamlessly went from the side of the wall to outside the window. Also, whatever was used for a dolly did remarkably well. You can tell these guys watched a lot of horror films, and I did notice some Sam Raimi-ish camera angles.
Summer School is definitely worth an hour and a half of your time, especially if you support independent filmmakers. You will not find anything groundbreaking or new, but it is a fun ride, and you will have a very good time along the way.
I rate this film three stars.
The trailer can be found HERE.
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