Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Micransix Crappy film

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Prismark10 The late 1970s onwards was a period in American exploitation cinema where inner cities were full of violent gangs, uncontrolled by police and authorities. This trend continued in the 1980s with mainstream cinema churning out Death Wish and Dirty Harry sequels.This obscure B movie outing features an early film appearance by Michael J Fox, one of the few actors in this film who looks like a high school student.Perry Kings plays newbie Music teacher at Lincoln High whose idealism quickly goes out of the window as its run by a nihilistic gang of scumbags led by Peter Stegman who despite living a high style life, he can even play the piano spends most of his time living the life of violence and drug pushing. He is so bad that we even seem him and his cronies beat up a gang of black drug pushers. Well it is a far fetched film!Mr Norris is the only one to stand up to him. Despite security guards, CCTV the Dean of the school can never find any wrongdoing by the thugs and other teachers just turn a blind eye until Roddy McDowall the Biology teacher snaps that is.Timothy Van Patten is having a hoot as the vile and cunning Stegman who really gets off in bringing misery which also includes an unsettling gang rape scene. The scene in a bathroom where he frames Mr Norris was re-used in Fight Club but let's not talk about that.The film is at times preposterous with some of the students looking they are about to hit middle age. You kind of wonder why normal students come here because it is not safe or go postal with a machine gun on Stegman which is something that would happen nowadays.The film is cheesy, some uneven acting, some exploitation nudity and violence with some dark humour. After Mr Norris gets all Death Wish and starts to pursue the gang, he gets away with it because no one saw anything.

bkoganbing Back when people were shocked at what went on in school in The Blackboard Jungle, they hardly knew what to expect next. In the Sixties it was Up The Down Staircase. But wait till you see Class Of 1984. Makes those previous films look like the little red school house.Perry King and expecting wife Merrie Lynn Ross are new to the city and the school where King has got a new job as the music teacher. The school he teaches in is terrorized by a drug gang whose head is the psychopathic Timothy Van Patten.Whatever you want to say about Van Patten plainly he's a person with no redeemable qualities not even the fact he's a piano virtuoso. I've said about many characters in the movies and in real life, some in this world are no damn good. Evil is a concept that people have trouble recognizing or grasping, but Van Patten is both terrifying and mesmerizing in what he does with the part.Michael J. Fox before he hit stardom with Family Ties plays one of the younger kids who Van Patten and his bunch terrorize. Roddy McDowell is also here as a burned out teacher who cracks up under the strain.Class Of 1984 is not for the squeamish in school.

videorama-759-859391 Here's a high school, that's really shocking and scary. That's how I looked at it, when first seeing it, when nearing 14, due to a lot of hearsay. Now a lot of the shock has gone, though still it has some moments that still stay with me, like when last seeing it back in 2010. For teens this would have a more shocking effect on em' as to films like 187. Class of 1984 has a real ugliness about it, directed by a guy who has made his share of low budget, addicted action pics. Violence is high, I repeat, violence is high, some quite disturbing scenes like a arm being sawed off, or more so the mutilation of various animals in a chemistry lab, that drives a devoted and trying teacher (a wonderfully fantastic performance, by Roddy Mcdowell) beyond the edge. Another great performance, noteworthy, is Van Pattern, as the frightening psychotic, head thug Peter Stegman, where beside his ugly and despicable traits, lies a gifted pianist. The movie has a lot of fire and kinetic energy, and goes for continuous shock and pull no punches violence, which really takes place over the heart of the story that really should of be told instead of stringing a lot of ugly scenes together. Basically it's Perry King who isn't bad, as the new music teacher, against Stegman, where the two keep hitting back, making for an absorbing and revenge cheering the good guy on pic, but nothing more. Mark L Lester's films are guilty pleasures, and this is just another guilty delight, by a guy who knows how to make larger than life pics, this indeed, is no exception. Class Of 1984 does a rape scene to, and hats off to the Lisa Langois as the female villainess, and Merrie Lynn Ross, very good, and does us solid as King's raped wife, while also watch for a younger Michael J Fox, so so, as a stabbing victim, whose friend high on drugs, climbed one too many flagpoles. If it's action and violence you want, ala Lester, you'll get it here in this popular 82 vehicle, Van Pattern's brilliant psychotic performance, lingering in your memory for many nights to come.

Scott LeBrun "Class of 1984" has quite a bit of resonance not just for being a potent and entertaining trashy revenge flick but for also being more than a little prophetic. Its premise may have seemed far out at the time, but it would barely bat an eye nowadays. It's gripping stuff, well played by all involved, and certainly gets the blood boiling. The protagonists are reasonably sympathetic and the antagonists are a great deal of fun in their swaggering malevolence.Perry King ("Mandingo") stars as Andy Norris, the new music teacher at Lincoln High. Lincoln is overrun by gangs, crime, and graffiti, and people have to pass through a metal detector on their way inside the building. Andy learns soon enough that his biggest problem is a group led by the creepy Peter Stegman (a constantly amusing Timothy Van Patten). He refuses to put up with their garbage, leading to a battle of wills that climaxes in an intense and graphic bit of retribution while a band concert is going on.This is far and away one of the best films, if not the best, of director Mark Lesters' career. You really get interested in and hooked by these characters and this situation. Stegman and gang certainly go out of their way to show how rotten they are (rabbit lovers beware). Andy isn't perfect, and does let his anger cloud his judgment, which makes *him* more effective as a lead. Art direction is perfect, and the stunt work is impressive. Lalo Schifrin supplies the music score, the film includes a performance by the band Teenage Head, and the soundtrack includes tunes by Fear and a theme song belted out by Alice Cooper.King is an engaging presence in the lead, with Merrie Lynn Ross doing fine as his loving and concerned wife. Van Patten is very good as the bad guy, revealing himself as a true talent with his "concerto" sequence. Appearances are also made by Keith Knight ("My Bloody Valentine"), Lisa Langlois ("Happy Birthday to Me"), Stefan Arngrim ("Fear No Evil"), a pre-stardom Michael J. Fox as a dorky little wise guy (he's billed here without the middle initial), Canadian legend Al Waxman ('King of Kensington', 'Cagney and Lacey') as an ineffectual detective, and Erin Noble ("Incubus"). Old pro Roddy McDowall offers the standout performance as a harried biology teacher who despairs over his inability to inspire his students, and in the films' best scene, forces them to answer biology questions at gunpoint.This is must viewing for any lover of B cinema and / or the concept of punks on film. Followed by two sequels.At one point Stegman watches the 1977 Lester-directed drive-in picture "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw" on TV.Eight out of 10.