‘Cutting Class’ 4K Review: A Great Reminder to Stay in School
Anthony Arrigo
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Cutting Class (1989) is one of the emblematic films that served, to some, as a marker of the death of the 80s slasher. Though it can be easy to be impressed by its pedigree on paper—starring newcomer Brad Pitt, minor scream queen Jill Schoelen, and then-mildly hot Donovan Leitch—the film itself is a tonal and total mess. The biggest issue is the movie can’t decide whether to lean into the absurdity of slasher tropes and go full-on dark comedy or go heavy on horror and make something psychologically disturbing. Instead, it vacillates between the two and is unsuccessful in either arena.
The central performances are generally decent, though Pitt and Leitch are a bit too over the top in their respective roles. Martin Mull does play the one glaringly awful character who seems to be in an entirely different film. The kills feel fairly tame (one woman is literally Xeroxed to death) and the entire affair comes across as disjointed and frequently lost. There’s also an extremely bizarre geography issue I’m amazed made it past the pre-production meeting, assuming one was ever held.
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As a newspaper exclaims in the opening, a boy who killed his father has been released from a mental hospital in… well, they never say where this takes place. But, it is very clearly the valley in Los Angeles. Paula Carson (Jill Schoelen) kisses her dad (Martin Mull) goodbye before he heads out to the swamp for a solo hunting trip. Of course, she promises not to have any boys over and that she won’t cut class. Paula’s boyfriend, the cocky pretty boy Dwight (Brad Pitt), picks her up for school.
There they meet up with Brian’s friend/enemy (I refuse to use the term “frenemy”) Brian (Donovan Leitch), the aforementioned boy who murdered dear old dad. Someone begins killing various faculty members at the high school and all fingers seem to be pointing at the most obvious culprit: Brian. But he’s so sweet, and he has a fairly solid alibi, right?
So, that geography issue. Martin Mull’s character goes away on a hunting trip, where he’s promptly shot in the chest with an arrow by an unseen assailant. This would kill any person. Instead, he lives and spends the entire film trying to crawl his way back to civilization. Yet at one point the science class kids—including his own daughter—go on a field trip and are literally right on top of him. But he’s in the weeds and conveniently unable to cry out for help. If the high school is so close to this “swamp” then why does he spend days trying to get home? And if you think all of this is bad wait until you see how it wraps up. Woof.
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Roddy McDowall gets a prominent billing position, playing the school principal. He’s got a couple of scenes and is one of those actors who can instantly add some class and gravitas to a production. However, his role just peters out and he’s eventually forgotten. I consider him lucky.
Rospo Pallenberg never directed another film after this one, which is quite telling and likely a bit of an indictment of how the making of this feature took its toll on him.
Cutting Class comes to 4K Ultra HD as part of MVD Visual’s LaserVision Collection line. But viewers ought to temper any expectations. The 1.85:1 2160p HDR image is swimming in film grain. I thought the picture would significantly improve once it moved past the optical opening credits but not quite; it drowns in a grainy soup for much of the running time.
On the plus side the print used here—which comes from a 2018 4K scan of the original camera negative used by Vinegar Syndrome for their Blu-ray—is clean and free from blemishes and damage. If you can look past the grain you’ll find favorable detailing and color density. I did not view the included Blu-ray but in some instances, 4K can exacerbate film grain, which seems to be the case here. The heavy grain primarily affects the opening and any scenes taking place in the dark, though, with everything else cast in decent lighting looking much healthier.
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English LPCM 2.0 mono and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo tracks are included. Both tracks sounded a little thin to my ears though that can likely be chalked up to inherent limitations. The source music cuts are a bit deafening by comparison, overpowering the track. Jill Fraser’s score runs the gamut from deep synth to ‘80s rock and is one of the better aspects of the film. One odd issue I encountered was anytime the audio track was switched it went mute, requiring me to hit the menu button and select the desired option before it kicked in. Subtitles are available in English.
Is it odd I found the bonus material more enjoyable than the feature?
The 4K disc contains only a trailer (HD, 2:35), while on the Blu-ray viewers can find the R-rated cut of the film (SD, 1:30:52), which features a handful of extra gory moments. Interviews are available with Jill Schoelen (HD, 20:26), who did not want to do this movie, and Donovan Leitch (HD, 16:25), who did want to do it but soon realized it wasn’t what he expected.
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My favorite extra is a VHS artifact: “Find the Killer VHS Contest” (SD, 4:11) which was run by Republic Pictures. The quality on this is extremely rough but seeing this time capsule contest brought back some real nostalgia for those days. “Kill Comparisons” (SD, 3:53) showcases the differences between the two versions of the film.
Trailers (HD) are also included for Cutting Class, Ghoulies, Vampire’s Kiss, Swamp Thing, Witch Trap, and Jack Frost.
Special Features:
DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
- TWO-DISC SET (4K BLU-RAY DISC/BLU-RAY DISC)
- 4K RESTORATION BY VINEGAR SYNDROME (2018)
- Audio: LPCM 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
- Optional English Subtitles
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:33, HD)
- Collectible LaserVision Mini-Poster
- Reversible artwork (reverse side features MVD Rewind Collection Artwork and Rewind number sequence)
- Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)(with Rewind number sequence on right spine)
DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
- TWO-DISC SET (4K BLU-RAY DISC/BLU-RAY DISC)
- Audio: LPCM 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
- Optional English and Spanish Subtitles
- Interview with star Jill Schoelen (20:26, HD)
- Interview with star Donovan Leitch (16:25, HD)
- “Kill Comparisons” featurette (3:53, HD)
- “Find The Killer and Win” VHS Video Store Retailer Promo (4:04, SD)
- R-Rated / Edited Version of “Cutting Class” (91 mins, SD)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:33, HD)
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Cutting Class
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Special Features
Summary
Slasher fan completists will no doubt want this one in their lineup but I just could not engage with any of the characters or the insipid plot. Still, MVD Visual’s LaserVision line offers attractive packaging, solid extra features, and is clearly geared toward collectors.
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