#27 - Student Bodies (1981)

Student Bodies (1981)

(dir. Mickey Rose)

This claims to be "the world's first comedy horror movie", which is entirely untrue.  Just off the top of my head, there's The Comedy of Terrors from 1963, or Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein from 1948... comedy and horror have been mixing in film since at least as far back as the 20's.  Poking around Wikipedia, I found a 1925 film starring Stan Laurel called Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde, which I haven't seen but kind of want to now.  This movie is significant, however, as the world's first slasher parody, and it came at a time when the 80's horror boom was in full swing.

As far as parodies go, I thought this was pretty decent.  The humor is really silly, and the jokes occasionally fall flat, but in general I thought it was very funny.  The plot is a condensed version of a generic slasher film, where a high school has their homecoming parade, big football game, and prom all on the same day (due to budget cuts).  The film reminds us of the body count with a running tally on the screen, and also helpfully points out important plot points like unlocked doors with big flashing messages and arrows.  The killer, known as "The Breather", has a running monologue every time we share his point of view, which gets a little annoying, but does set up some pretty funny bits.

If you like late 70's/early 80's slashers, and enjoy very silly Airplane-style humor, I recommend this one.  It's not exactly a great film, but there is enough funny material here to make it worthwhile.