Forgotten Favorites: Cutting Class
Cutting Class
By Jessica Dwyer
To get into the Halloween spirit we’re heading back the vaults for this aged slice of 80’s cheese which is getting ready to be released on DVD later this month for the first time in…ever. Cutting Class was one of those flicks that popped up all over VHS in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Rip offs of earlier slasher films, it was in the vein of April Fool’s Day, Prom Night, and Return to Horror High. It’s sometimes whispered about and vaguely remembered by those chosen few who actually watched it when it was first released, before being lost to the ether. Some would say they wish it had stayed lost.
It starred Jill Schoelen, she of Step-Father fame. Schoelen made the rounds in low budget horror flicks back then, but the big draw to this film for a lot of people will be Brad Pitt. That’s right, the male half of Hollywood’s sexiest couple made one of his first film appearances in this movie as a pretty boy boyfriend to Scholelen’s character Paula. Brad plays Dwight, her bad boy beau. Paula seems to be lusted after by all the guys at her high school, and that includes the principal (played by Roddy McDowell!!!…Wow, Cornelius you naughty monkey!)
And this trend continues when Brian (played by Donovan Leitch with wide eyed creepiness), a guy who’s been in a mental institution for killing his father comes back to the school. Brian is cute and a seemingly innocent dude, who gets teased for having murdered his daddy (High School can be so cruel.) Brian likes Paula, but Paula is slightly creeped out by the wide eyed weirdo. And that’s when people start dying. Who’s the killer? Who’s next? And when did Roddy McDowell start looking up girls skirts?
Cutting Class is an epic old school so bad its good slasher flick. The acting at times can be painful, but that’s just part of the fun. And at some points there are flashes of true genius. Brad Pitt’s acting is not the tour de force we are now used to from him either…so just prepare yourself for that shock. This is before we got the epic range he showed to us in Cool World (See that?…That there’s sarcasm.) Thankfully though, Brad grew as an actor but we’ve all got to start somewhere.
Schoelen and Donovan Leitch who plays Brian are two of the best actors in the film, along with Roddy McDowell who I just love in anything…but especially when he’s trying to be a pervy principal, it’s so gleefully wrong.
Okay, so now on to the trivia tidbits:
Schoelen and Pitt were actually ENGAGGED around the time Cutting Class was filmed.
Both Brad Pitt and Jill Schoelen both have worked with Robert Englund. One of Brad’s first roles was in an episode of the short lived horror series Freddy’s Nightmares back in 1989 (which if you keep your eyes peeled you can catch the episode on The Chiller Channel). Jill worked with Englund in The Phantom of the Opera, the same year.
Writer Steve Slavkin went on to write many different family friendly TV shows, including Power Rangers, Even Stevens, and Salute Your Shorts. Not surprisingly, Cutting Class was his ONLY film venture.
Cutting Class will be released on DVD Oct 23rd. Not surprisingly you’ll find it with a GIANT picture of Brad Pitt on the cover. What’s funny though, is on the box list of credits as well as in the film he’s only got 3rd billing. The DVD is being plugged as the Unrated Version, but who knows what that really means. Don’t look for any sort of commentaries or goodies, no extras are included.
