Spain has produced a number of good horror films over the last two decades, with directors such as Alejandro Amenabar, Álex de la Iglesia and Jaume Balagueró making some truly standout films. School Killer stars one of the main players of seventies/eighties Spanish horror films in the form of the great Paul Naschy; but overall I'm not surprised that this film doesn't get mentioned alongside the likes of Tesis, Rec and Day of the Beast as one of the better modern films to come out of Spain as despite some good ideas, there's far too many things wrong with it. The plot is not particularly original and focuses on the common horror film ideas of a bunch of kids getting into trouble and an old abandoned building harbouring a maniacal killer. The kids decide to go to the old school building, where one of their dads stayed twenty seven years earlier, for a party but it soon becomes apparent that there's something strange going on inside the building and they soon learn that the boy's father was the only survivor of a massacre the night that he and his friends stayed there.
The best thing about this film is undoubtedly the atmosphere and director Carlos Gil succeeds in creating a truly foreboding feeling that suits the film very well and excellently compliments the plot and the building at the centre of the story. I went into this film expecting a slasher (and thus without any high hopes) but to the film's credit, it actually tries to be more than that and it could be argued that the film is more of a psychological thriller. This certainly gives the film an extra element of interest and it manages to take a mysterious plot and blend it well with the gore you'd expect from a slasher. Paul Naschy is obviously the main standout of the cast and he still has a good screen presence despite his advanced years and provides an extremely effective villain. As mentioned, the film does feature some good gore and although it doesn't feature all the way through; what we do get works well within the context. The film is rather slow to start and it doesn't really get interesting until the final third. However, despite this; the film doesn't end very well and there's too much left unexplained for this to be an effective film overall. Still, School Killer is better than a lot of modern horror films and is at least worth a look.
The best thing about this film is undoubtedly the atmosphere and director Carlos Gil succeeds in creating a truly foreboding feeling that suits the film very well and excellently compliments the plot and the building at the centre of the story. I went into this film expecting a slasher (and thus without any high hopes) but to the film's credit, it actually tries to be more than that and it could be argued that the film is more of a psychological thriller. This certainly gives the film an extra element of interest and it manages to take a mysterious plot and blend it well with the gore you'd expect from a slasher. Paul Naschy is obviously the main standout of the cast and he still has a good screen presence despite his advanced years and provides an extremely effective villain. As mentioned, the film does feature some good gore and although it doesn't feature all the way through; what we do get works well within the context. The film is rather slow to start and it doesn't really get interesting until the final third. However, despite this; the film doesn't end very well and there's too much left unexplained for this to be an effective film overall. Still, School Killer is better than a lot of modern horror films and is at least worth a look.