I have to say that I quite love “Return to Horror High.” Yes it’s convoluted and mostly a nonsensical meta horror comedy about the horror genre, but a lot of the ideas it lays out during the duration of its story are so ahead of their time. “Return to Horror High” (not a sequel, by the way) has the distinction of being cited as one of the precursors to “Scream,” but it really only holds that distinction in how it takes a step back and analyzes horror. Beyond that Bill Froehlich’s film is only really connected in that it’s a slasher with a whodunit twist. The rest of the movie is a pretty nonsensical meshing of storytelling styles, and twists that make no sense. Nonsensical is the key word to “Return to Horror High,” but that’s also what makes it so good.
In the early 1980s, a series of gruesome murders occurred at Crippen High School. The killer was never apprehended. A few years later, a film crew uses the now-abandoned Crippen High as the set for a film about the murders. But an uninvited guest star — the killer the film is based on — makes a cameo appearance on the set. As the murderous madman terrorizes the cast and crew, leading man Steven Blake and leading lady Callie Cassidy set out to stop him.
You can sense director Froehlich and co were aiming for a real horror movie satire, and they go way off the deep end trying to accomplish that niche. It establishes lore before setting the stage for the narrative and spend a lot of time kind of going in and out of this film crew making this low budget horror movies. I appreciated the movie for being willing to take such jarring tonal shifts, often staging a scene and then stepping back to reveal it was just a scene being filmed for the intended movie. The script has a very non-linear often confusing format that jumps back and forth between sub-plots and red herrings. You’re never quite sure what is real or what is being staged for the sake of the film.
Even in the prologue with the police officers looking over the line up of corpses, you’re never sure if we’re watching the filming of the movie, or if this all actually occurred. “Return to Horror High” at least has ambitions and aspirations to deliver something interesting, and it works. For the most part. It basically all amounts to one big reveal a la “April Fool’s Day,” in the end. But when you’re sure the movie has everything wrapped up, there are still so many questions left over. Also, the final scene is so inexplicably ridiculous, offering no rhyme or reason, but I appreciated it for that. I don’t know, “Return to Horror High” is charming in its way, even with gaping plot holes, and plot twists that never quite wrap up neatly.
If anything the film garners a fun cast with folks like Lori Lethin, Brendan Hughes, Alex Rocco, Scott Jacoby, Andy Romero, Richard Brestoff, Al Fann, Pepper Martin, and Maureen McCormick, respectively. McCormick, who seems to be on the verge of laughing every time she’s on screen, is shockingly hot in her small supporting role as the town deputy. There’s also the very famous small role by George Clooney, who was still a B movie bit player during “Return to Horror High.” He’s in the movie for a total of three minutes and is killed off screen, but it’s a neat Easter egg that adds to the appeal of “Return to Horror High.” It’s too bad we never really got a follow up as I’d have loved to see how they approached the formula in a different decade.