Joanna Gould wrote about Class Of 1999 (1990) for the ‘good bad movies’ issue of VHS Tracking and I’d always been meaning to confront this one. I remember vividly reading about the movie in video store magazines as a kid; the poster and the plot scared the hell out of me, the idea of high school as this nightmarish war zone (the Australian VHS had a Born In The USA type shot of person in jeans standing in the foreground gripping a chain as a weapon in defiance of a shadowy gang by a chain-link fence in the distance). A pseudo-sequel by director Mark L. Lester (in the hall of fame to me for making Commando) to his scuzzy exploitation thriller, Class Of 1984, which crossed Death Wish with The Warriors, as a teacher took revenge on the punk delinquents who made his life hell. In 1999, Lester flipped the formula, added a dash of Robocop and The Terminator, and gave us an Escape From New York intro where a femme robot voice over computer graphics explains that school gangs have gotten out of hand and that the police organised Free Fire Zones around the schools where they didn’t venture and lawlessness reigns. Bit of a plot hole in that if the areas around the schools are lawless, why do the punk gangs still go to school anyway? Something to do, I guess! In any case, hapless principal Malcolm McDowell has made a deal with Megatech corporation honcho Stacy Keach (the first shot where we see Keach with a snow white buzzcat and an epic rat’s tail, along with white contact lenses for his eyes, hooked me in; he gives the wildest performance here). Three teachers – John P Ryan, Pam Grier (!), Patrick Kilpatrick – are secret cyborgs who are part of a new Megatech program in McDowell’s school to keep order and discipline students. Yet as their punishments get too far out of hand, Cody Corp (Bradley Gregg) has to unite the warring gangs (where everyone seems to dress like Corey Feldman circa ‘89) and protect the principal’s daughter (Tracy Lind) from an incoming robo educational take over. This was trashy, gory fun with grey Seattle locations, old school special effects and some groaner one-liners (Cody, after blowing up the chemistry lab, “I guess I blew that course”). I mean it definitely has some horror elements but not as scary as my childhood mind envisioned it. A moderately budget cyber-thriller that descends into a climax of multiple explosions and teen gangs facing off against android teachers. Rented on iTunes. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 