A solid wrongly accused person thriller from the Danziger brothers.
A popular school teacher, Bradley Wells, is accused of murdering a schoolgirl after being the last person seen with her alive. Plot revolves around his escape from a mob keen on vengeance and him finding real killer assisted only by his fellow art teacher colleague and girl friend (Susan Beaumont in one of her last roles as Janet)
Later Danziger films are sometimes criticised for cheaper production values and modest storyline, but this is better with competent leads, a tense story and plausible alternative suspects. Story is helped by 1 co-writer being Brian Clemens who went on to considerable TV success.
The plot is driven by the victim's 'crush' on teacher Wells which was quite an edgy theme for its times and remains relevant today around male authority figures, abuse of trust and adolescence. On a minor point, several of the teenage schoolgirls, including victim Jess and her friends whose bet instigates the tragic chain of events, all look far older than the 16 and 15 they're supposed to be. There seems to have been a short edit when the mob initially use violence on Wells and some aspects of the escape are a bit far fetched, but it does allow for a lovely cameo from character Blind Bob as a Good Samaritan.
Most viewers will easily spot the 2 alternative suspects, but the constantly changing emphasis between them is well handled.
This is no classic but is certainly an enjoyable 70 minutes.
