Brad Pitt should have been the last cinematic teen heartthrob of the ’80s. People remember when he exploded on the movie screens in the early ’91 with his scene stealing supporting performance in Thelma & Louise as the guy who hooks up with Thelma and steals her cash. But he was supposed to have a leading role ’89 except it got downgraded from the cineplex to Video Bar. He was the third lead in Cutting Class, a high school slaughter film with two other major teen stars. But instead of a name on the marquee, you had to search for Brad Pitt on the New Releases shelf. Now the straight to VHS film is getting upgraded to 4K UHD so you can see it properly on your home theater.
Paula Carson (Popcorn‘s Jill Schoelen) is looking forward to a couple days without parental supervision. Her father Bill (Fernwood 2 Night‘s Martin Mull) is going on his hunting trip and leaving his work as the District Attorney back in the office. He trusts Paula will follow the rules while he’s off shotgunning ducks at the lake. What he doesn’t know is that Brian Woods (The Blob’s Donovan Leitch) is back in school. Bill had sent him away to a mental institution for killing his father. Paula’s hunky boyfriend Dwight Ingalls (Seven‘s Brad Pitt) doesn’t trust him even though they were friends before the homicide. Maybe we shouldn’t trust Dwight since he’s intent on getting Paula to break all the rules. The hunting trip goes bad when Bill gets hit with an arrow by an unknown man. He’s not quite dead since Paula’s class comes up to the lake as part of a field trip. They completely miss gasping Bill. School isn’t safe as the unknown killer makes students and teachers disappear. He even pulls a student under the bleachers during a basketball game. Who could it be? Could it be Brian? What about Dwight since he seems to have metal issues. Or how about the creepy janitor? There’s also the jerkish gym teacher (Baa Baa Black Sheep‘s Dirk Blocker). Why not point the finger at the principal (Planet of the Apes‘ Roddy McDowall)? There’s plenty of suspects in a high school full of potential victims.
Cutting Class is a film that’s entertaining because of the actors. The script isn’t that great which is strange seeing how Rospo Pallenberg took part in the writing of quite a few great films for John Boorman including Excalibur. He also doesn’t seem to understand how a high school basketball game operates when his sticks the cheerleaders at the top of the bleachers during the game. These weird touches somehow keep the action from looking too normal. The movie gives us Brad Pitt’s first major screen role. He’s more than believable as the jerkish boyfriend. According to a few sources, he was engaged to Jill Schoelen during this time. They do make a cute couple. Pitt makes sure Dwight isn’t too sweet and trustworthy so we’d never suspect. Jill Schoelen builds on her image as a great daughter that she played in The Stepfather. This time the murdering psychotic isn’t mom’s new husband, but one of the guys at school. Is she going to spot him or will her heart get in the way? It’s good to see Roddy McDowall back at a high school after Class of 1984. He seems more ready for the ruffians this time. Martin Mull does his best to be the slightly clueless dad who even more clueless about hunting. Donovan Leitch does a lot of heavy lifting making us not make sure he’s not the obvious killer since he is the kid who just was released. He has to look innocent while sporting the same buzzy haircut Otto had in Repo Man. The kills are creative (especially if you watch the unrated cut). You’ll want to avoid shop class after seeing the big finale. That’s a dangerous place where you’d find crazed classmates and teachers eager to cut off your limbs. You’ll get to see more of the grizzly details with the upgrade to 4K UHD instead of the original VHS release. Cutting Class is an enjoyable romp that wraps up the ’80s Teen Flick culture.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K UHD transfer is from the original camera negative. It’s 2160p HD. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mono and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo. This sounds clean and clear. You’ll hear the killer stalking the school hallways. The subtitles are in English and Spanish.
DISC 1 – 4K ULTRA HD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:33) sets up the terror lurking at the school.
Collectible LaserVision Mini-Poster is suitable for framing.
DISC 2 – BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Unrated version of Cutting Class (91:03) with the new transfer brought down to 1080p.
Interview with star Jill Schoelen (20:26) has her trying to recall if she auditioned or they offered her the part. She recounts her agent telling her about the part on her car phone. She originally didn’t want the part, but she caved. She did enjoy getting to work with Roddy McDowell and Martin Mull. She didn’t like how the film was so on the nose. She had issues with director Rospo Pallenberg. She felt he over directed the movie.
Interview with star Donovan Leitch (16:25) has him talk a bit about director Rospo Pallenberg. turns out Rospo had spent most of his filmmaking career working with director John Boorman. He worked on the scripts for Excalibur, The Emerald Forest and Exorcist II: The Heretic. He didn’t write the script for Cutting Class. Leitch says that the bow used in the swamp is the same one Burt Reynolds used in Boorman’s Deliverance. He shares memories of a young Brad Pitt when he was still a good ol’ boy.
Kill Comparisons (3:53) allows you to see how they had to recut scenes to get the precious R Rating in order to get into video stores.
Find the Killer VHS Contest (4:11) must have run in video stores to promote the video release. They want us to guess the real killer before Oct. 3, 1989. First 250 right answers get a cool prize. All correct entries get a t-shirt. The tape is kind of rough with audio going up and down. But it’s fun to remember when they cared enough to promote the VHS release.
R-Rated / Edited Version of “Cutting Class” (90:52) lets you experience the version that came out on VHS in the summer of 1989. This is in standard definition.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:35) has us suspecting which student, staff or faculty member is going to the killer.
Trailer Gallery includes Ghoulies, Vampire’s Kiss, Swamp Thing, Witch Trap and Jack Frost.
MVD Rewind Collection presents Cutting Class: LaserVision Collection. Directed by Rospo Pallenberg. Screenplay by Starring Brad Pitt, Donovan Leitch, Jill Schoelen, Roddy McDowall & Martin Mull. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD disc and 1 Blu-ray disc. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 30, 2024.
