Reviewed by Melissa Antoinette Garza
This is one of the movies that terrified me as a child. My cousin Traci and I had rented it from a video store up the street. It had the coolest cover and we just had to see it. It’s funny. I know so many young kids who won’t watch anything that was made before Scream (1996) or worse Saw (2004). Perhaps there were people like that in my generation, but I know that ever since I could remember I would watch movies and television from every era. Then again, older films were always on television when I was a child and we only had 13 channels. Saturdays afternoons were filled with shows like Spine Tinglers or Elvira’s Movie Macabre which would introduce horror movies during the daylight hours. It was awesome! There’s just nothing like that anymore. Just like Saturday morning cartoons and innocent cool pre-teen shows like Saved by the Bell and California Dreams, they have all gone away. Sure some will point out programs like Hannah Montana, but it just isn’t the same. Nostalgia is definitely a killer!
Anyways, the film opens with a young boy (Christopher Flint) emerges from water. He attends a church sermon where the preacher (T.G. Finkbinder) discusses sinners and redemption.
Meanwhile, six individuals are invited to their high school reunion. As we meet each character, the sermon can be heard discussing the sins of each individual.
We have Cindy (Jeannetta Arnette) who portrays a woman who has been married several times and divorced several times. Now she parties and has sex with whomever she happens to meet at the bar. Still, the character is endearing, sweet and seems more like a flake than a slut.
Next we have, John (Damien Knight). He’s a lawyer who defends criminals regardless of their innocence, guilt or the crime they’ve committed. He seemingly doesn’t even care about what his clients may have done as long as the money is good.
Jane (Nikki Barthen) is a tough as nails woman who hunts birds. I am really not sure what her sin is. Perhaps she is pride.
Terry’s (Nick Carter) sin on the other hand is very clear. He is gluttony. He eats all the time and everything in sight.
Poor Kirsten (Gyr Patterson) is in a loving happy relationship and her only sin is that it’s with another woman. Sadly, in this film it doesn’t matter if the couple is monogamous and happy, because her union is considered biblically wrong, she is guilty of lust. Therefore, she’s a target of the madman.
Lastly, Roger (Michael Hollingsworth) is an actor who is a little too into himself. He is guilty of vanity. He looks at himself in the mirror just to admire himself. He is quite an amusing character.
Basically, everyone in the film aside from the killer and Terry are likeable. Terry is a bit annoying but it’s good to have a character like that in a movie like this as it distinguishes them from the rest.
This is a superb film and one of my favorites. It’s genuinely scary. The killer dresses in different costumes when he kills the people off. He’s everything from a clown, an actor dressed like Phantom of the Opera, a football mascot and possibly scariest of all a simple skeleton mask with a black hood. He has an awful laugh and a horrifying voice. He has an assortment of props he uses including a life-size puppet.
The ending confused me as a child. As an adult, I finally get it. One needs to read the last biblical quote to really understand the last few seconds.
I can’t recommend this movie enough. It flies by and is compelling from beginning to end. Though, I watched it on a DVD, I did find it for free on a website: http://www.boxtv.com/movies/watch-class-reunion-massacre-online#play
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
