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 Class
Reunion Massacre is one odd duck.
Featuring a man with two thumbs on one hand, a kid who apparently
lives in a lake and a life size marionette who carries a blow
torch, you'll be hard pressed to find a film like this in today's
horror world.
Originally
titled The Redeemer: Son of Satan, this film contains
two separate stories. The main story, taking up the bulk of
the running time, holds the not-very-unique premise of
six old high school chums meeting up at their old school
under the guise there is a reunion taking place.
Guess what? It's all been a clever rouse to get these folks
in one place so "The Redeemer" can punish them for their sins.
Class Reunion Massacre might have just become just another
low-budget (albeit competently made), slasher, but the story
that bookends the main plot is something of a mystery itself.
In
the beginning we see a boy come out of a lake (fully clothed!)
and head to the nearest church. It is here that he bestows a
second thumb onto a fire and brimstone priest while he sleeps.
Later, some choir kids taunt the boy as we hear the priest's
god-fearing speech about the seven deadly sins. While he lets
us know that a woman shall not lay with another woman and debauchery
is bad, we're given a glimpse into the world of the victims-to-be
(yup, each
one
represents a sin - You're following this well). In a flashforward,
our killer arrives at the school, murders the janitor
and makes a mask of his face. Why? Well, that's probably
somewhere on the list of endless questions you're bound to have
while watching.
Class
Reunion Massacre is a difficult movie to classify. Made
by first-time filmmakers starring first-time actors, quite a
bit of it falls flat on its face. But an unrelenting sense of
doom permeates the film from beginning to end, enhancing
it greatly. There are some effective deaths including a really
creepy scene involving the life size arionette and our
killer overacting his way through a grizzly version of
Phantom of the Opera. Not so surprisingly, Jeanetta Arnette
was the only actor able to eke out a film career for themselves.
She's good in her part as the requisite floozy and has since
proved her worth in Hollywood (most notably in the haunting
Boys Don't Cry).
In
the end, what doesn't come up short really works and ultimately
makes the film something horror fans should check out. Class
Reunion Massacre probably won't become your favorite horror
film, but it may give you a few goosebumps. And it's guaranteed
to leave the viewer with a gaggle of questions to discuss in
their favorite webgroups. Recommended for fans of the genre
looking for something different.
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