Hell High

Very positive feelings about Hell High, a seemingly-forgotten little gem from 1989. Sure, it’s a bit dumb, even laughably bad at times, but all the other bits fall into place – the cinematography, the score, the acting – to the point where…ya know what? We don’t even care.

We talk about its odd production history (including star Christopher Stryker’s tragic death before release), the bizarrely charming opening trauma, and how the film mashes together slasher tropes with “teens cause a death” and light Last House/I Spit On Your Grave vibes.

From Dickens and his outcast crew to the incoherent football-game detours, swamp “slime” gathering, and a prank that turns into an unsettling assault, we break down the movie’s tonal whiplash and why the inciting incident arrives way too late.

We also cover the rushed revenge ending, the goofy cover-up plan, and the final twist, plus call out Christopher Cousins (Breaking Bad) and Daniel Beer (Creepshow 2).

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Hell High (1989)

Episode 499, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: Today was my turn to pick, and, uh, this week I found something that kind of dug out from the l- long list I have of ’80s movies that I’ve touched on or heard about somewhere. Somebody might have recommended along the way.

I don’t believe anybody I know has ever recommended this movie to me. Looking at it, I was kind of surprised that I hadn’t really heard of it or seen it, but it’s a 1987… Well, 1989 was when it was finally released, but it was filmed years before that. If you look in Wikipedia, it says 1989. If you look on IMDb, it says 1987.

But actually, it was shot in 1985. So I don’t know, I guess they were splitting the difference somewhere in there because the, one of the stars had died shortly after the movie was completed, I suppose. Anyway, this is Hell High, and, uh, yeah, I had never seen this before. I don’t even think I’d ever seen it on the video store shelves.

How about you, Craig? Did, did this ever cross your path?

Craig: No, I don’t think I’d ever even heard of it before. And, and I don’t know what else to say about it beyond that. It, it was entirely n- I knew nothing about it going in. I mean, it was unfamiliar. I didn’t really recognize any of the people in it or anything.

So I’m always surprised when we come across these ’cause I- Yeah … I always kinda feel like we’ve seen everything at this point.

Todd: We sure do, and yet

Craig: And it’s, right, and yet, and especially something, you know, this is kinda right up our alley. And I’m less surprised when the movies are really, really bad. Like, that doesn’t surprise me so much.

Like, yeah, people don’t really talk about it ’cause it’s so bad, but this movie’s not bad.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: I would say it’s, uh, competent and fairly par for the course for the time period. In terms of, like, how well-made it is, I think it’s pretty well-made.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: By comparison, pretty darn good for the time. So I’m, yeah, I was surprised that I had never heard of it before.

Todd: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if I would ultimately call this movie good, but I think I know what you mean in the sense that, like, we see a lot of trash.

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: We see a lot of cheaply shot, amateur kinda stuff, and this movie is… It actually is well-filmed and well-lit and has a story of s- interesting story. You can tell that they’re going for something, uh, pretty typical for the time.

To me, it was almost a combination. I wasn’t sure if they were going for I Spit On Your Grave light. Oh, I wouldn’t say rape revenge, right? Because that’s really not exactly what happens here, but-

Craig: Yeah, but sexual violence type stuff, yeah.

Todd: Exactly.

Craig: Last House on the Left light, huh? Right. Kind of.

Todd: But very light.

But also you kinda cross that with, like, Teaching Mrs. Tingle or, oh, I think of the House on Sorority Row where-

Craig: Yeah …

Todd: you know, or even I Know What You Did Last Summer, where some teens are responsible for a death and then end up paying for it in some way. So it’s kinda got both of those elements in it. I just kept getting flashes to those things as we went.

I think the thing that surprised me the most is that this is the director’s… Well, so the, it’s written and directed by the same guy, David Grossman. There’s another writer credited, but he didn’t really do anything else, and David Grossman really didn’t do anything else either, like wrote one other movie, and that was it.

So, like, it’s a one and done for this guy’s directing career as far as we know, and more or less writing career as well. And most of the people in here, acting wise, this is either the only movie they did or the only thing of note that they really did, with a couple exceptions There are a couple people in this cast who went on to very successful careers, and, and one of the stars who’s a little bit older was a, a television actress.

So we’ll talk about them as we come across. It’s just weird because usually with these older movies, a- and we’ve been doing a lot of them lately, it’s like, oh, w- look, you’re seeing this guy before he went on to do all these things, and oh, this director was kinda like their first shot at it, and then they went on to do a few more things.

And this movie isn’t really like that at all, even though it’s a pretty good movie all things considered.

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: You know, there’s no reason why probably they couldn’t have used some of this movie to, uh, you know, as part of their resume. I was kind of surprised, but not really, ’cause it’s kinda typical for these movies too.

The shooting was all completed in 18- 1985. I think it took 18 days. The whole movie was edited and everything i- by ’86, but it wasn’t even released until 1989.

Craig: Do we know why? I don’t remember reading why it was delayed so long.

Todd: I wish I could have figured it out, but I couldn’t find any information on that at all.

Craig: I mean, I, I… These things happen. I mean, it, you know, it, it still happens today. Of course. Sometimes movies just get shelved for whatever reason. But like as you mentioned, you know, one of the main guys, I don’t know his name ’cause I didn’t recognize any of these people, uh, the guy who plays Dickens in this movie, a guy named Christopher Stryker.

Todd: Christopher Stryker. What a badass name, by the way. Stryker. Christopher Stryker. What if Curtains… Didn’t Curtains have like a main character’s name was Stryker? I don’t remember. Oh, God. Uh, but this movie remi- no, I, I g-

Craig: I get this movie mixed up with, not mixed up with, but it reminds me of several things. I feel like Curtains may be one of them, Pieces because-

Todd: Oh, yeah …

Craig: it’s one of those, it’s one of those typical movies where some traumatic childhood thing is going to lead to trouble later on. But- Yeah … anyway, this young actor, Christopher Stryker, who plays a despicable character, uh, in the movie- Oh,

Todd: yeah

Craig: but, uh, it was kinda tragic because he filmed this and then before its release, uh, so he never even saw it, but before its release he passed away of AIDS. And I, I guess that he was a, a stage actor, and he had, I don’t know if it was on Broadway or, or where, but he had been in a production of Torch Song Trilogy, which is a great gay play.

But yeah, it’s, he, he passed away before it came out, which is too bad.

Todd: That’s awful. 27 years old, right? Like-

Craig: 27, I know …

Todd: Jesus.

Craig: Yeah, it’s sad.

Todd: That was a time.

Craig: I actually found this open- this opening to be really charming.

Todd: It is-

Craig: I thought it w- … in its own way … well, first of all there, you know, the, the title that came up on …