Rish's Reviews
This was another film I saw at my Irish friend's place, during the month or so we actually made an effort to see a flick together every week. He called this one Dead Kids, which I suppose was the inferior international title, though someone told me this flick was also called Small Town Massacre, which is even worse.
Shot with no budget, with New Zealand subbing for the United States, Strange Behavior tells the story of a small town sheriff attempting to get to the bottom of a series of seemingly-random murders. Could they all have been committed by the same killer? Might it have anything to do with the experimental procedures being tested on the local student body? Could his own son be connected in some way?
The answers? No, Yes, and Yes.
This cheapy still had a couple of semi-recognizable faces in it, like Michael Murphy as the sheriff, Superman's Mark McClure, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Louise Fletcher. Co-writer Bill Condon went on to get an Oscar for Gods and Monsters and a nomination for Chicago. But something tells me this one isn't placed as high on his resume.
My Irish friend hates everything (after seeing Star Wars: Episode II, he told me, "George Lucas should be taken out into the middle of the street and shot"), but he liked this one more than I did. I found it boring, with lots of long takes and dialogue scenes that went nowhere. Most of it was quite senseless and badly exectuted, and character motivation is completely nill. I don't recommend it.
Even so, one killer did wear a Tor Johnson mask, so it gets points there. The one nice moment in the movie is when a closed door subtly, slowly opens (which wasn't really scary, but was pretty effective). Oh yeah, I almost forgot: the main character pees a stream of blood and also gets an eight inch syringe in his eye. That doesn't happen everyday.
With a score by Tangerine Dream (which is apparently a big deal, according to a couple friends of mine), the best thing about this flick is that it was made in the early 80's, the bygone heyday of Slasher films.
It was an extraordinarily sloppy film with a terrible ending. The idea was a good one, but it was ruined by the film itself. Worst of all, one inexplicable musical scene where the characters face the camera and dance was so horrible, it made the Holocaust look like a fender bender.
Note: This basic story was retold a few years later in the not-great-but-still-superior Disturbing Behavior, which even has a similar title.