Some films are unquestionably ‘of the moment’. They reflect the time, place, atmosphere, and views and options of the period during which they’re made. Stronger movies allow you to overlook such details because you’re engaged with the story and performances, others less so. Case in point, CLASS OF 1984 – a movie so indelibly rooted in its time that it’s frequently cringeworthy and cliched, one that feels implausible almost to the point of parody. So why write about it here? Because I love a good ‘bad’ film, and this one has been rattling around my head for days since I watched it.
A new teacher at a troubled inner-city high school soon ends up clashing with a delinquent punk posse who run the institute with an iron fist.
Where do I start with this one? I don’t feel like I can completely recommend it, but at the same time it definitely left an impression. It feels like a film about rebellion and violence, made by people who’ve never experienced either. I didn’t know where to categorise it on my RECOMMENDATIONS page, so I rechristened the ‘NOT RECOMMENDED’ section to include films ‘OF QUESTIONABLE MERIT’.
I’m old enough to remember the film coming out in 1982, but I seem to also remember it having very little impact here in the UK. I’d written it off as just another no-budget B movie, so was surprised 40+ years later when I finally caught it streaming to discover that there was a lot of A-list talent involved. The film stars PERRY KING (who kids of my age knew as the voice of HAN SOLO in the radio adaptations of the STAR WARS films – he actually auditioned for the part in the movies but lost out to HARRISON FORD), and PLANET OF THE APES stalwart, RODDY MCDOWELL. Also of note is an early appearance by MICHAEL FOX, before he adopted the J, and just a couple of years before BACK TO THE FUTURE catapulted him to superstardom. The music is by Academy Award winner LALO SCHIFRIN, and there’s a theme song performed by ALICE COOPER that’s just about the worst thing you’ll ever hear. The story is by TOM HOLLAND (FRIGHT NIGHT, CHILD’S PLAY), and the film was directed by MARK L LESTER who within a few years had helmed COMMANDO and FIRESTARTER among others.
So why so bad?
CLASS OF 1984 feels like a heavily sanitised vision of urban decay as seen by people who’ve never had it particularly tough. Cliches abound as a tribe of tough, misfit kids with perfect teeth and immaculately coiffured 1980s hair make the lives of their nerdy classmates and well-meaning teachers hell. There’s an enormous disconnect between how I think these rebels would behave, and how they act in the film. It’s frustrating. For example, they’re willing to sell drugs and commit murder, but they still turn up for class? Go figure.
But it’s the final act where the film earns its reputation and crosses into recommendation territory. When the wife of our hero teacher Andrew Norris (KING) is repeatedly sexually assaulted by the villainous bad kids, one of the gang presents him with photographic evidence of their crimes just as he’s about to conduct the school orchestra in a competition (he’s coached/encouraged them to professional standard in the space of a couple of lessons, apparently). Understandably, he flips out, hunts the gang down, and burns, saws, crushes, and hangs them all in a concentrated burst of violence and gore. It’s unexpectedly brutal after the frequently sanitised first three quarters of the film.
As I said, I’m not entirely sure whether I’m recommending this film or not. It’s daft and uneven, yet very entertaining in places. It spawned two sequels (which I’m inevitably going to watch) and actually made a decent box office return. I’ve watched a lot of terrible movies over the last couple of months – don’t ask me why, it’s a bad habit I’ve developed – but the fact I’m still thinking about this one makes me want to encourage you to give it a go if you haven’t already.
CLASS OF 1984 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime here in the UK, and TUBI elsewhere (I think).
