School's Out (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Horror Movie, That's It

[craigbenting · 6/10 · 9 September 2002]

The bottom line of this movie is that it's a horror movie, not a great one, not a terrible one.

I watch these kinds of movies with my family and friends, so that balances my opinion a little bit. A lot of the scary parts scared me, but not all of them. The people I watched it with were scared by all the parts, however.

The acting was average and the story was average, but without the plot twists it would have been predictable. Because of the plot twists, it was worth it to rent and watch this movie -- I also gave this movie 7 stars because of it.

Of course, that doesn't mean it was worth buying it -- it apparently was made for TV (in Germany, though, which is different from here in the U.S.) and I think that affects the quality of the movie so it's really only worth one good watching.

Some decent potential here, but falls flat

[acidburn-10 · 5/10 · 2 July 2017]

Up until recently I had never heard of this movie and being a big fan of Slasher movies, especially when they became popular again during the late 90's, this one totally passed me by and don't recall seeing it on the shelves of my local video shop. So when I seek ed this out and looking at the cover with the killer wearing a creepy red mask and an awesome looking clown outfit, so naturally I was intrigued by this and when I got round to seeing it. Well I can see why this got lost amongst the shuffle.

The story follows a group of friends spending graduation night setting up pranks for their teachers at the school after hours and soon enough a killer shows up with a massive pair of scissors shows up and starts picking them off one by one.

This movie wasn't all bad, it does offer some great creepy locations with the school itself with a room full of creepy mannequins as well as a room of stuffed animals, which with the dark lighting does create an eerie atmosphere and the long dark corridors are used really well with a really cool Gothic look to them which does make for some really tense moments. The killer was very creepy and made for a real threat. The twists and turns that involve the killer or the last act which really took me by surprise and it really do keep you guessing up until the last act.

But there are several things that let things down in this movie, firstly the tame and lifeless acting, I don't know whether that was down to the bad dubbing and the pace was really sluggish and the dialogue was just stilted and awful. There were three distinct acts to this and the first act was really boring and dragged out and struggled to adapt to the tone. It's not until the killer appears is when things get interesting.

All in all 'School's Out' was average with some definite things that works in its favour including the mystery aspect, but gets bogged down by the pace and boring characters and if these things were tweaked a little, then this could have made for a much better movie.

Very good!!

[scoopdoyle1 · 5 May 2004]

I've been a horror/thriller/mystery fan my whole life, and I enjoyed this movie very much. On the DVD the director mentioned that he thinks of the film as a "teen giallo", rather than just another slasher film, which I thought was a good way to put it. Anyway, I did not have high expectations, but after watching the film, I realized I had enjoyed it. It satisfied the following criteria for me: 1) The body count was high, 2) the murders are mostly on camera and bloody, but not overly gory or over-the-top gimmicky murders; the weapon of choice is a nasty looking pair of scissors 3) sympathetic characters die, along with the unlikable ones 4) I couldn't guess who the killer was for sure -- the movie plays with suspicions very well, and is tricky, but doesn't cheat 5) the story was complex enough to keep my interst through-out 6) All the actresses were (to me anyway!) very attractive --but real, not typical slasher-film bimbos. This is a German-made film and some people won't like that it is dubbed. Me, I always liked dubbed films! You couldn't be a fan of a lot of foreign horror and NOT like dubbed films! So, I enjoyed it enough to track down a copy of the DVD to own.

Robert Sigl Pinches One Off

[DontLookBehindYou · 1/10 · 26 November 2023]

Love it or hate it, every country was cashing in on the slasher craze brought on by the likes of Scream, and Germany was no different. Robert Sigl delivers a subpar after school special mess that is just interesting enough to entertain. The killer looks good enough and the actual slasher part of the film is fun, but the dragged out Scooby-Doo whodunit that fades into the background stylistically in every sense for 45 minutes after that is not. I used to think this film at least had heart, but then I interacted with the director and found out that wasn't true at all. Honestly, other than the swordfish kill, this is absolutely avoidable. Understandable that Fangoria never picked up the sequel.

Very dull

[rundbauchdodo · 3/10 · 30 August 2000]

There is not much to say about this extremely boring, badly acted and ridiculously dull German slasher. It's a blatant rip-off of the similarly stupid films "I Know What You Did Last summer" and "Urban Legend", only that "Schrei..." manages to make the two American movies look almost acceptable (but almost only!). The German TV-version - which is two minutes cut compared to the US-video release entitled "School's Out" - even lacks the necessary drops of blood! Don't bother yourself with watching this mess; it's not worth the time. 1 out of 10.

Truly awful.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 1/10 · 13 August 2001]

I'm really fed up with such movies like "Scream","I Know What You Did Last Summer","Urban Legend" or "School's Out"-these so-called horror flicks pose as a slashers,but they're nothing more than politically correct trash."Schrei-denn ich werde dich toten!" borrows unashamedly from American "Scream" like slasher movies without adding new twists.The film is boring,completely unscary(if you think that fake scares are scary,you don't know the genre),awfully acted and not gory at all.It just sinks in the ocean of clichés.I like slasher movies in general,especially those from early 70's and 80's-they were low-budget,badly acted,but actually scary!Nowadays horror movies(apart from Japanese and HK stuff)are trying to please more teeny boppers than real horror fans.Oh well,we still got thousands of old ones to watch!And as long as I have those movies to watch I'll be a happy person.So don't bother with this awful mess.Not recommended.

Beware of the Jester

[pumaye · 7/10 · 26 July 2001]

A good slasher movie, made in Germany, with a good young cast of anonymous people, this movie is a threat for the fan of the genre. A few of the stylish murder scene are very well made and very effective in catching the eye of the spectator (and new enough to hold the attention even of the more smaliziate viewers). After all, a movie to belong to every genre fan video shelf.

A very good Slasher

[holli666 · 10/10 · 18 January 2002]

First i saw Robert Sigl's Cultmovie LAURIN. I was very impressed. When i read (in 1999) he made a Scream-like TV Movie with a bunch of Soapstars i was a little shocked. BUT... i think School's Out looks more like Soavi's STAGEFRIGHT than Scream and other Films like that.

The acting of Katharina Wackernagel or Sandra Leonhard was very good.

Also the Camera-work looks nice...a little bit like the Argento movies. A very very good TV movie....much better than most Big Cinema Baddies.

Controversial and fascinating

[info-110 · 7/10 · 11 April 2002]

Obviously, this flick was not made for gore-hounds. Admittedly you don't get to see the murder victims' innards, so avoid it if that is your cup of tea. What you get to see in plentiful are fascinating and nightmarish images that should be envied by the majority of contemporary genre film makers. These images emanate an underlying violence that is much more frightening than gut-spilling excesses. Recommended.

Strange

[ehoshaw · 5 December 2000]

I don't think people should totally hate this film, it was actually trying to add some atmosphere to the usual teen slasher flick. I like the eerie music and setting, but there is a lot of badly dubbed dialogue, and the twists really get out of hand at the end. Plus, it is not very gory. I was quite disappointed when I saw this film. I was really looking forward to it, after reading a big article about it in an issue of "Fangoria" a few months ago. There were too many confusing plot twists and logic loopholes. Rent this one and see for yourself, some may like it and some may not. Up to you.

cool horror!

[Schwalbach · 10/10 · 20 May 2002]

german giant of the thriller drama robert sigl manages to excite 90 minutes of horror in the tradition of "scream 1". fast speed, young actors with great talent - bloody showdown for a typical Sigl-Final. Cool horror in an intense and frightening atmosphere.

Be afraid, be very afraid

[murmelbaer · 8/10 · 14 May 2004]

Above-average German import slasher that is much better than most of the American slashers that have flooded the screens in the past years. Impressively executed and well acted - and unjustifiably underregarded by most of the viewers in this forum who seem to be prejudiced against German horror films. Why some people think this is slow or dull remains a mystery. If slow means that it does not meet the expectations of viewers used to a maniacal cutting style that tears the story and the characters out of proportion then this film is slow. Hoewever, me and my friends relished a good scare while watching the movie and were very satisfied with the pace and thrill. Be afraid. Be very afraid!!!

Great

[c.lange · 9/10 · 14 November 2000]

This dark and brooding chiller import proves that not only Americans can make effective horror films. Just like OIe Bornedals Danish original `Nightwatch', `School's Out' provides a highly menacing atmosphere from start to finish and some unexpected plot twists. It also delivers a top-notch performance from its female lead. Great Grand Guignol set pieces abound in the eerie main location of the ancient school building. The visionary quality of some scenes also adds a special touch and makes this more of an `adult' horror film than a common teenie slasher.

Too mature for its target audience

[info-73 · 10/10 · 11 March 2002]

When reading most of the user comments here one thing becomes obvious: The problem with this film is that it is too mature for its target audience who only seem to be interested in butcher scenes. But if you belong to those viewers who are interested in other aspects in horror films you should give this movie a chance.

SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW

[Revenge_of_the_Madness · 22 February 2004]

This movie boasted that it was the German answer to Scream/IKWYDLS/Scary Movie?{okay}/ and other teen slashers. It managed to make them look good. This was slow and pointless, the reasons behind the killings, much like Camp Blood, make little sense. The Killers even go too far in setting up abilis...I would say watch it to find out but don't.

Granted its not the worst I have seen by far, it might even have been good if it just picked up the pace a little. I enjoy mystery slowness but this was moloassas slow. You quit caring after awhile you just wanted it to hurry up and get on with it...

in the top 5 worst horror films ever

[dx4lifexpac · 4 December 2000]

here in the u.s.a this movie is called School's Out, i saw it at the video store and knew it would be bad but i thought bad in a good way like Jack Frost, but i was wrong, School's Out had potential at one point to maybe be decent but it failed, the kills were for the most part off camera, this movie tried to be too smart for it's own good, how dare this trash mention a classic like Psycho, alot of people hate the new 90's hollywood horror other than the Scream trilogy i don't like 90's horror in the U.S.A that much as well, but i would rather watch any U.S slasher then watch one from another Country, cause bottom line here in the U.S we do it better sorry but it's true, i thought the little Scream twist at the end was funny it was so dumb though i did not see it coming, it was still dumb, the script and directing were rock bottom, you want real horror go back to the 70's or 80's hell even 90's hollywood horror it sure is better than this trash i give School's Out 0/10

Tricked me, dammit!

[Dellamorte_Dellamore07 · 22 August 2004]

This movie had a cool case, and the summary on the back actually sounded kinda cool (can't go wrong with people getting trapped inside something and stalked by a masked killer), but after two minutes of watching the this trash The word FAST FORWARD, or better yet EJECT popped into my mind continuously. The plot involves four teens and one of the guys sister getting locked in a private school while trying to set up tricks for their teachers, they also haven't heard the warning on the radio that a lunatic has escaped. WOW!..don't get me wrong, I love slasher pics, NEED them actually, i could watch a lot over and over, it's not about the story, but mainly what the director does with the material. There is little gore, the characters are ugly and boring (no it wasn't the REALLY BAD dubbing, but that still annoyed me)and there was no suspense.

The direction is to basic, what he thinks as stylish confuses me. How many times is he going to flash the killers weapon in front of the camera and hold them while the soundtrack blares it's epic over the top ho hum sleaze. There was only one little thing in this slop that interested me was the stalk sequence involving all these school board maps. That was pretty cool (Visual wise) but cut way to short. The chick as the opening victim (?or is she?) was dumber then rocks and freaking annoying. ON the back case summary it says the teens are "preaparing for the big rave", what rave?..that shitty excuse where their serving wine with plastic cups???..nice rave. Avoid this, especially if your a fan of slasher pics where people get trapped inside an enclosed area (michele Soavi's STAGEFRIGHT is a perfect example of this type of thing done right), this film is a childish excuse for SLASHER.

* * out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 10 August 2002]

Group of teenagers partying inside a college after the last day of final exams, fall prey to a killer. It appears to be a mental patient with history of violence and murder that has just recently escaped and raped a young woman. The first half of this film is intense & exciting and very entertaining as well. However, the second half gets more absurd with every passing minute however.

Rated R; Graphic Violence and Profanity.

Okay German slasher.

[Jack the Ripper1888 · 10 June 2002]

Out here in the US, this film is called SCHOOL'S OUT. When I rented it, I had no idea that it was a German movie. And when I started it, I knew something was wrong. The dubbing on this tape is very poorly done. Why the hell didn't they just subtitle the damn thing? By the end of the first hour, things have finally picked up, and then we are merely confused. But, by the end of this tripe, everything explains itself. SCHOOL'S OUT gets 3/5 because it was so poorly dubbed.