Class Of 1984 — Class Of 1984( Blu Ray & DVD)
Class Of 1984 appeared in 1982, it was a Canadian production, and was the 8th film directed by Mark L. Lester- who later onto helm the likes of Commando & Firestarter- as well as thirty plus other features. The film was scripted by Tom Holland- who wrote Psycho II, and wrote/ directed both Fright Night & Childs Play- so there was a good directing/ writing team behind the film.
It’s set in inner-city school Lincoln High- a dangerous & graffiti slashed institution- that has a walk through metal detector at its doors. The film focuses in on largely mild-mannered, but no-nonsense bearded music teacher Andrew Norris(Perry King)- who's just started working at the school. Fairly soon he comes across the punk gang, whom basically run the school, as he has a run-in with talented- yet-unbalanced gang leader Peter Stegman( Timothy Van Patten), and his group of deranged henchmen & women. Things escalate fairly quickly with Norris pushing against the gang- first trying to stop them ruining his classes, harassing his students, and later drug dealing. Along the way we get a tripped-out student falling from a flag pole, brutal retaliation from gang who slaughter & decoration the scientists masters class with his pets, car flamed & blown up, and later ridicule & rape. The film nicely amps up its tension over its one hour & thirty-eight minute, building towards a brutal kill laden finale.
For the most part the film is well cast & acted- which of course helps the whole thing feel tenser & relatable. King is very believable as the good & moral lead, who gets pushed further & further out of his depth as things escalate. Roddy McDowall plays the nervy & drinking scientist teacher, and he’s given some great emotionally fraught moments along the way. Michael J Fox plays a rather geeky-yet-likable member of the school band, and again he gets some great & powerful moments- and really the film around him is a lot more edgy & gritty than his normal fairly safe & family-focused work. Timothy Van Patten does great work as the gang leader- and he’s given chance to fill out & give more depth/ layers to his character. The only slight fly-in-the- ointment acting-wise is Merrie Lynn Ross, who plays Norris’s wife Diane- she is just so bland & unemotional- so sadly her few key scenes impact are very much lessened in there impact due to her lack of acting ability.
I do vaguely recalling seeing Class Of 1984 on the VHS shelves back in the day, but this is the first time I’ve got to see the film- and I must say it still carries a real punch & thrill, looking largely un-dated & still relevant today. It’s worth mentioning Mark L. Lester did a follow-up/ semi-sequel to the film in 1990 entitled Class Of 1999- this was a lot campier, tongue-in-cheek, though still fairly brutal & violent picture- it got a great Blu Ray release last year on Lionsgate's Vestron reissue series, and it’s well worth checking this out.
Moving onto this new Blu Ray( Region B)/ DVD( Region 2) set and the whole set comes presented in a card slipcase. It features a thirty-page perfect bound booklet- this takes in two new written pieces- first, there are the four pages of Future Retro: The Punk Culture & 1980’s Sci-Fi by Scott Harrison- this is a general article about 80 genre pictures that used the punk tropes, and Class Of 1984, of course, is mentioned. Next, we get a new six-page interview with the director conducted by Philip Escott- the remainder of the booklet is taken up by stills & neat poster art.
Moving onto the discs themselves, and only new extra on the discs is a thirty-five-minute interview with the films writer Tom Holland- and this is most worthy, as he talks about his whole career not just the film to hand- so he talks about Psycho II, Childs Play, Fright Night & a few others- he comes across well & done to earth, and it’s a real good & informative interview. The other extras on the discs are either from the Shout Factory or Anchor Bay previous releases of the film- and if you’ve not seen either of these you get a lot of neat/ worthy extras- there’s a forty-five-minute interview/ career overview with lead actor Perry King. A twenty-minute interview with director Mark L Lester & the films composer Lalo Schifrin. An around a thirty-minute interview with various cast & crew. Stand-alone interviews with two of the female cast, trailers & TV spots, gallery, oh and last but hardly least a directors commentary- so a good & generous selection of stuff on offer here.
Put simply Class Of 1984 is one of the best high school-set films, as it mangers to be both gritty & violent, yet also emotional & impactful. And this new double-disc release of the film from 101 films is most certainly the definitive release of this classic- but if you fancy scoring a copy I wouldn’t hang around too long, as it’s only a ltd pressing- head here to secure a copy for your self.