Splatter University (1984)
A deranged mental patient escapes his hospital, leaving bodies in his wake he ends up at a college campus and the killings begin again.
This is one hell of an odd film and could easily been simply dismissed as dross, however something about doing that would have niggled the rest of the day for me as there's a certain something that's great about Splatter University i just can't put my finger on.
The performances especially by the faculty students are dreadful, however the leading lady, Forbes Riley, is absolutely terrific, holding a basic script together and playing it straight whereas many are hamming it up for all their worth, spouting inane dialogue as if nothing ever happened on campus.
Taken as a stalk and slash film, Splatter University also fails pretty miserably. There are no terrifying set ups or suspense. We never stalk anyone like the best slasher films do, no Splatter University kind of dispatches it's victims almost matter of factly even if the killings are very much on the gruesome side which helps flesh the film out somewhat and maintain interest.
And yet there's something about the film that grabbed me, possibly it was Riley's believable performance floating atop the swill of scum and deadwood the rest of the cast are drowning in, i just don't know, it's all sort of wonky yet weirdly effective. Perhaps a third viewing will make it click in my head.
Or not!
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