Splatter University

This film begins at a mental hospital with the staff looking for a patient named "William Graham" (Dick Biel) is apparently wandering around somewhere in the building. He then kills one of the staff members and disappears into the night. The scene then shifts to three years later with a female professor at St Trinian's College named "Janet Phillips" (Donna Hartman) working late one night and, upon hearing a noise, goes to open the classroom door. Suddenly, without any warning, a man with a knife appears and stabs her to death. The scene then shifts once again to approximately 3 months later with a young college professor by the name of "Julie Parker" (Forbes Riley) accepting a teaching position at that very same college. To that effect, although she has a few problems in relation to the college rules and traditions, she quickly adapts and everything seems to be going quite well--at least, until the body count begins to rise. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I didn't initially know what to expect from this film other than the fact that it was an 80's slasher movie. Some of them are good--and some of them are bad. So, when I saw that it was a Troma movie, I knew not to get my hopes up too high. Sure enough, what followed was a film consisting of cheap sets and weak scripts. Likewise, the acting in general could have used some improvement as well. In other words, it was a typical Troma production. Even so, both Forbes Riley and Kathy LaCommare (as "Cathy Hunter) performed reasonably well and that helped to a certain degree. Having said that, however, neither of them were quite able to overcome the obvious low-production values mentioned earlier, and I have rated this movie accordingly. Below average.

Splatter University is just another attempt to cash in on the 80's slasher hysteria.

The acting was bad but the script definitely had potential. There were some pretty creative deaths but they were all ruined by the horribly slow pace and unneeded dialogue. For some reason the director felt like following around a bunch of crumby actors who the audience expected were there just to die and then suddenly stopped incorporating them into the film? Why was that? Were they just trying to throw us off or waste our time?

I can't say "Splatter University" was complete trash, I can say that the script and twists could have worked with a better director, bigger budget, and more experienced production team.

Go ahead and see this movie, but don't expect anything better than "okay" or worse...

Just another traditional slasher. Well that's what you say about the Troma released "Splatter University". It's textbook and low-budget as you can get with a eye-catching film title. But it's reputation of being one of worst its sub-genre had to offer seems to scream loudly. It had me thinking of the 1981 slasher "Final Exam", but that film is exemplary compared to this outing. Sure "Splatter University" is rancid, uninspired with lazy direction, tacky writing and wooden acting, but I have a soft spot for campus horror and I kind of enjoyed that it didn't take itself all that seriously, as it felt like they're playing up to the camera. You could say the stalk and slash elements at times took a back-step to college hi-jinks, which I found a little more amusing than the slasher side of the story. There it would get slow and sluggish with confused editing. I didn't find it all that effective in presenting the red herrings and the revelation isn't anything surprising, but the finale had one surprise up its sleeve I didn't see coming and quite a daring one too. The story is fairly messy, as what begins as a psychopathic killer escaping from an asylum then moves on a couple years later when a university teacher is brutally murdered to only move on even further where a couple months later a newly appointed teacher arrives on the campus where suddenly the lady students are being targeted by a killer. So many random occurrences seem to make its way into the unfocused story; some don't even have any relevance than to add trivial exchanges for humour. Sometimes the darkest of humour. Although there's no hiding how spiteful and deranged the violence can be, however they're rather unimaginative in the usual slashing and stabbing. Quite bit of red paint gets chucked about and the electronic soundtrack gets a good workout. Characters come and go with no one really standing out (most of them are obnoxious or slackers), other than Forbes Riley as the leading lady and Dick Biel. Senseless, hackneyed and cheesy, but what do you expect? Nudity, if so... look elsewhere.

"Gross! There's a fingernail in my pie".

Man, this was a rough one to watch. I'm all for low budget movies, but this one looks like about the cheapest movie I've ever seen. Had the story been more interesting, this wouldn't have been an issue, but every time it starts to get interesting, it cuts away to silly subplots involving the students and ruins any tension. If the students were better developed, it wouldn't be an issue, but they feel like they're shoehorned in from another film.

Francine Forbes plays the leading lady and she's actually pretty great and likable. Whenever the film follows her, it's on a roll and we care about what happens to her. I'm not sure if it's because the writing for her is a little bit better or because Forbes is such a pleasant actress, but she seems to have been pasted in from a far better film.

There's about zero tension or scares, but some of the effects work isn't too bad and there are a few fairly gruesome murders. The killer reveal and finale finally ratchet up a little tension, but by that point, it's too little too late. The ending itself is shockingly downbeat and unexpected, so one must give them kudos for that.

Splatter University is a minor effort in the early 80's slasher cannon and probably for completists only.

A teacher fills in for another teacher who was just brutally murdered and fears she may be next as the killer rampages through the students and staff of a small campus. There might be a commentary on religious repression in here somewhere and Francine Forbes is a very likable heroine and easily the best actor in the movie. The tone is too goofy to ever really find its footing between the slashing and the silliness and then the film has the guts to end on one of the most downbeat notes ever played in slasher history. A lot of interesting parts that work, but the film itself doesn't. Is it a little crazy that I'd still recommend it?