The slasher sub-genre may very well be one of the most familiar of any within the realm of horror movies. Plenty of people are still under the assumption that horror is mostly men in hockey masks wielding chainsaws. Which was a Simpsons gag and not related to anything from the Friday The 13th franchise. But I digress. Slashers are familiar yet tend to change with the times. Some of the most common settings have been old, dark houses, summer camps, and significantly: schools. Be it colleges, academies, colleges or public schools, they have been a constant staple of slasher films if not for horror as a whole for decades. But academia has changed over the years as have the movies, and most evident with the latest tale of school slaughter that is Student Body
The story follows Jane Shipley (Montse Hernandez, Colony) is a star student at an elite academy but finds herself drifting apart from her childhood friend Merritt Sinclair (Cheyenne Haynes, Camping) and their clique. But when Jane’s intense and conservative math teacher Mr. Aunspach (Christian Camargo, The Hurt Locker) crosses a line and the principal and administration refuse to help, they decide to reunite and deal with the problem themselves. Leading to Jane, Merritt, and some of their friends breaking into the school. Only to be trapped themselves and stalked by a manic with a sledgehammer and dressed as the team mascot… Now this final exam could mean their lives!
Directed and written by Lee Ann Kurr, Student Body is simultaneously something of a throwback to slasher movies of old (particularly the late 70’s and early 80’s) and modern day teen drama. One thing that should be emphasized that this is not a slasher focused on the violence, but more on drama. The first half of the movie is mostly build-up and foreboding tension as we get a handle on Jane, her friends, and their situation at school. Which does an excellent job in building character for everyone in the clique which include Nadia, Eric, and Ellis played by Harley Quinn Smith, Austin Zajur, and Ellis Azad respectively.
Which is nice to see crew of potential victims built up and defined before they are stalked and assaulted. Each stand out on their own and their relationship to each other defined. As well, Mr. Aunspach creates a tense and looming shadow over Jane and the others with his more grounded and all too real menace as a teacher drunk on power and his own twisted philosophies. Christian Camargo does a hell of a job bringing that level of darkness to the daytime and pre-slaughter scenes.
On the other side, we have our slasher in the form of school mascot Anvil Al, a welder with a big ol’ sledgehammer he uses for smashing. His cartoonishly big chin and dinner plate eyes bely that he is going to track you down and smash your skull to a pulp. Also, there’s just something so creepy about something that genuinely looks like it was made by students being used for murder. Also used as a great segue on the school’s sponsorship from a bullet proof glass manufacturer that has supplied the school to keep it as ‘safe’ as possible, only to lock the students in as potential victims.
Student Body is definitely a more slow-burn slasher than most, so if you’re looking for something kinetic and filled to the brim with gore, this probably isn’t for you. There aren’t any particularly over the top kills in this one, with the focus aiming to add dimension to these characters for tragedy if and when they are killed by the masked assailant. The storyline of Jane navigating friendship and her academia has enough interest to stand on its own, but combined with the slasher turn is plenty of entertainment and drama.
Student Body is available February 8th, 2022 on VOD and Digital.
