Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

High School Hellcats

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • High School Hellcats



    Released by: MGM Limited Edition Collection
    Released on: 5/16/2011
    Director: Edward Bernds
    Cast: Yvonne Lime, Brett Halsey, Jana Lund
    Year: 1958
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Edward Bernds 1958 B-movie High School Hellcats tells the tale of Joyce Martin (Yvonne Lime), a pretty blonde teenager whose family has just moved to a new town. On her first day at school she meets Connie Harris (Jana Lund), the tough talking leader of a girl gang known as The Hellcats who meet on a regular basis in the ladies lounge of an abandoned movie theater. Connie tells Joyce in no uncertain terms that she definitely will want to be a member of their gang, otherwise no one will like her and she won't get any dates with boys. When Connie plays a prank on Joyce and convinces her to wear slacks to school knowing full well it's against the school's dress code, the poor girl flips out and cuts class, opting to hide out at a local cafe. There she meets the dreamy soda jerk, a hamburger loving nice guy named Mike Landers (Brett Halsey), who she eventually warms to and who she starts to date secretly so that neither her parents nor the Hellcats will find out.

    Joyce is starting to slip under Connie's influence, however. It starts with the theft of a $1.99 pair of earrings but culminates in a scene where she and a few other kids head to a party held at the house of a couple out of town for a month. Here these no good kids chug Pabst Blue Ribbon and do the twist until, when the lights go off, someone winds up dead, seemingly much to the delight of Hellcat's second in command, Dolly Crane (Suzanne Sydney)!

    A movie immortalized to those with good taste in the song of the same name by The Cramps, this seventy minute movie zips by at a great pace and is a fun watch right from the get go. Not without a certain amount of semi-innocent sex appeal, the girls all strut about in tight sweaters, dolled up and looking good, all the while keeping the guys at just enough of a distance so as not to run into any problems of the carnal kind (despite some mild groping at the party scene). Most of the film's enjoyment comes from the dialogue, however, particularly when it comes to Connie whose tough talking bad attitude ensures that she steals the show.

    Definitely made to cash in on the increasing teen movie-going market that made AIP loads of money decades back, this is a typical teen angst picture in that the parents don't understand the characters, the perfect case in point being Joyce's mother (Viola Harris, who just can't shake her addiction to her bridge club?) and father (Don Shelton), the latter of whom slaps his offspring at one point for wandering around the house in a slip. Thankfully there's a kindly social studies teacher in the form of Trudy Davis (Rhoda Williams) for Joyce to confide in. Lots of people smoke at inappropriate moments, the movie features a great score full of some dramatic stings, and the cast are all a lot of fun here.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    MGM's 1.33.1 fullframe widescreen transfer looks very good and despite the fact that this probably played theaters in a wider aspect ratio, there aren't any obvious cropping or framing problems and the compositions appear fine. The black and white image does show some minor wear and tear and some scenes show a tiny bit more print damage than others for some reason but overall the image is very stable and generally quite crisp, detailed and clean. Contrast is decent, black levels reasonably solid though never quite reference quality - nothing to complain about here, really, and quite a nice transfer overall.

    The only audio option on the disc is an English language Dolby Digital Mono track, there are no alternate language tracks or subtitles provided. The clarity is generally fine, though there are bits that sound a little flat, which likely stems back to the source. Minor hiss is present once or twice but if you're not listening for it you probably won't be bothered by it.

    The disc includes a static menu, chapter selection and… that's it.

    The Final Word:

    Saucy, sexy and stupid, High School Hellcats is a blast from the past well worth revisiting for fans of fifties era teen angst and girl gang high jinks. MGM's MOD DVD-R looks and sounds very good, though the absence of any extras at all is a disappointment. Still, this is a definite upgrade from the VHS release and fans of the film will appreciate it.










      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X