For the past four days, we’ve been taking a chronological look at some of the best and worst films about high school and teenagers. We started with two films from 1946 and now, 19 reviews later, we are approaching what may very well be the golden age of high school films, the 1980s. However, before we officially start in on the 80s, I would like to take a look at two films from 1979.
The first of these films is Malibu High and, despite the generic title, it’s perhaps one of the strangest movies ever made. Whether that strangeness is intentional (as I believed the first time I watched the film) or simply the result of inept filmmaking (as I started to suspect after I watched it a second time) is the question.
Malibu High tells the story of Kim Bentley (Jill Lansing), who is literally the most jaded high school senior ever. When the film begins, we watch as she wakes up in the morning, sits naked in her bedroom, takes a long drag off of a cigarette, and stares into a mirror with a look that suggests she’s on the verge of attacking her own reflection. Kim’s mother (Phyllis Benson) yells at her that she’s going to be late for school. Kim shouts back that maybe if her mother had made an effort to actually dress up and look good then maybe Kim’s father wouldn’t have committed suicide.
Kim Bentley prepares to face another day at Malibu High.
Once she does arrive at school, things don’t get any better for Kim. She’s dumped by her boyfriend, Kevin (Stuart Taylor). Kevin, it seems, would rather date a girl with more money and less mental issues so he starts going out with the spoiled Annette (Tammy Taylor). Soon, Kim is failing all of her classes, having flashbacks to the day that she found her father’s body hanging in his study, and working for the local pimp/drug dealer Tony (Alex Mann).
Kim, however, is determined to turn her life around. She seduces (and subsequently blackmails) all of her male teachers and is soon getting straight A’s in every class except for English, which happens to be the only class she takes that is taught by a woman. When the high school’s principal figures out what Kim is doing, Kim responds by undressing in front of him and causing him to have a fatal heart attack.
Meanwhile, Kim meets Lance (Garth Howard), another pimp who is a little more refined than Tony. Kim is soon working for Lance but, after she stabs a client to death with an ice pick, Lance realizes that Kim has actually missed her calling and he puts her to work seducing and assassinating rival gangsters. As the movie reaches its conclusion, Kim in not only a rich honor student but she’s now a professional assassin as well.
What more could Kim want out of life, right?
However, Kim is still obsessed with her ex and, one day, she happens to see Kevin and Annette on the beach….
The first time I saw Malibu High, I assumed that it had to be a satire. That was the only way I could think to justify the film’s over-the-top performances, melodramatic plot, and heavy-handed dialogue. I mean, what else could I think when the film actually goes so far as to feature Kim saying, “I’m serious …. DEAD SERIOUS!” before assassinating a gangster. Or how about Annette’s description of Kim: “She’s a piece of shit! She’s proving she’s a piece of shit!” Add that to the fact that the plot is basically a version of one of those old educational films where making the slightest mistake leads to the most extreme consequences possible and how could I not think that Malibu High was actually a brilliant satire?
However, on subsequent viewings, it’s become more apparent that Malibu High‘s satire is of the unintentional kind. In fact, it’s amazing just how seriously Malibu High actually does take itself. The end result is a film that’s not meant to be funny but still manages to be hilarious.
You may not be surprised to discover that Malibu High was a product of Crown International Pictures. And, like most CIP films, it can be found in a few dozen different box sets. And it’s worth watching just so you can say that you’ve had the experience.
Through the Shattered Lens 