User reviews

Considering the budget, I have to say this movie really succeeded. It had some great seat-jumper moments far above what I hoped to see in a film of this caliber. The chemistry test scene was utterly delicious. The acting was really very good -- you could tell everyone was serious about making this movie even though they really had no business doing that. The pace was good, the story was sound, the makeups and costumes were good (especially with what had to be a buck-ninety-eight effects bankroll), most of the camera work and stuff was pretty good. And so it actually worked! Unexpected in a movie that dares to take "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" into the recess yard.

While very low-budget, this is still a pretty enjoyable simple horror film. A gawky, geeky high school student gets bullied by his teachers and classmates. He gets revenge.

How he gets revenge is foreshadowed by the fact that the movie begins during an English class in which the teacher has finished showing the first half of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movie. Twisted Brain is itself a sort of Jekyll and Hyde remake. The student accidentally handed in a biology report instead of his paper on Stevenson, and the teacher gives him an F on the Stevenson report, and chops his biology paper up with her paper cutter. Those old paper cutters are like machetes! Turns out the student was working on a potion to change the physical strength of living creatures. After his guinea pig kills the janitor's cat, the janitor forces him to drink the potion for some reason, and there's conveniently a barrel of acid in the lab....

Meanwhile, he finds he's less shy in his normal form and starts warming up to a girl he had a crush on. Like Jekyll, the potion also starts trying to change him even when he hasn't drunk it.

I watched it on one of the DVDs in Rhino's Horrible Horrors Vol. 1 box set. It's not horrible, just cheap. Apart from the gore scenes, it almost feels like a Saturday morning TV movie. It's too bad there's not a commentary track.

It's so GOOD to hear all these memories of paper cutters, cleats and acid baths are not mine alone! I was maybe 6 when I saw it on late night TV. It's haunted me ever since. Does anyone know where I can find a copy?

Like many of the other reviewers, I remembered bits and pieces of this film from my adolescent years(ok maybe 11-13). I finally tracked down a copy and the film came back to me as I watched it. The guinea pig killed with broken glass and squealing, the English teacher with the paper cutter, the merciless jocks, and so on rushed to my brain and brought back that late evening in the 70s when I saw this film for the first time. The film is by no means great or even good, yet something in it makes it so memorable to those of us writing here. I am not sure what that quality is - maybe we see ourselves in this protagonist in small pieces. I don't want to get too psychological here, but it must be something about the film. The film is about a young man picked on by all who loves biology and the experiments he has been working on all summer. Everyone at this school..and I mean everyone except a young girl that admires the young man for his intellect...is cruel, sadistic, and totally uncharacteristic of what you would find in teachers and the like. He experiences one shocking mistreatment after another, until forced to drink a serum he has been working on, becomes a Hyde-like character that avenges himself for all the wrongs redressed towards him by all his enemies. The film is very cheaply made...very dark in most places, and it is very gory for its time, which also might explain why it is memorable. I liked the film, defects notwithstanding.

I remember watching this very very late on TV back in the late 70's on wor TV channel 9 in new jersey,it was kind of disturbing at the time today its kind of silly.a high school nerd(pat cardi)who looks like a teenage Howard stern,experiments with a serum that turns him into a homicidal monster that strikes back at his tormentors.its the same old story but its so bad its fairly good.a cop;austin stoker(assault on precinct 13(1976)investigates the goings on.look for football star mean Joe Greene as a h.s.coach in a bit part.this was released as horror high then they changed it to the twisted brain which is more appropriate.pat cardi went on to play a teenage ape in planet of the apes.ill give this goofy chiller 5 out of 10.if you want to find this on DVD its part of a collection of crown internationals horrible horror vol 2 i believe from rhino video.

Nerdy kid with a knack for chemistry makes a potion that turns first his Guinea pig and then himself into a monster ala Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Using it he gets revenge on anyone who has ever wronged him.

Perennial drive-in fodder is a half joking, half serious film that manages to be creepy despite itself. All of the characters are caricatures and the whole film plays out like a demented Tales from The Crypt story. the problem is that even though the film hits all the right notes at times, for the most part this is a really bad movie. Everything is poorly done from the acting to the make up to anything else you can think of. And yet the film still manages to be creepy. There are times in this film where there is real tension. Unfortunately other than the odd moment the film is so bad that you really won't want to watch it to the end.

For those who grew up with it or bad movie lovers only

This film actually isn't bad. The movie centers around a highly intelligent but thoroughly nerdy high school boy named Vernon Potts. Vernon spends his days in the library or the high school chemistry lab, working on "formulas" which ultimately transform him into a homicidal monster after he drinks his research cocktails. He uses the monster within to exact revenge on his tormentors, namely the high school janitor, the unforgiving English teacher, and the unsympathetic phys ed teacher. Typical of what you'd expect from a horror film, you see blood and gore from several of Vernon's victims.

Compared with many horror films of today, it's really not so shocking by comparison I think. There's a scene of a head floating in an acid vat, someone's fingers getting chopped off by a paper cutter, and some blood splatter. There's no nudity or sexuality.

There are several improbable scenes / concepts with the film, mainly, how is it that a high school level student is able to master biochemistry and pharmacology to create this "Mr Hyde" concoction? Additionally, any teacher as heartless and cruel as the Phys Ed and English teachers in this film would be fired instantly today. Oh well - enjoy the film as you watch Vernon take on his tormentors and dispense some good ole blood-splattering justice.

One Friday night, over a quarter century ago, I remember watching channel 7 in Detroit (when TV stations actually showed MOVIES, not reruns and infomercials) when this little "gem" showed up as the latter end of a double feature.

Sure it was cheaply made, but hey, it was kind of cool to see the "janitor in the drum" (the product was undoubtedly the inspiration for the scene). And the "cleats"… ouch. Indeed, I can't recall EVER seeing a more violent movie on TV. Heck, theatrical releases and Showtime don't even get this far over the top. I mean, a barrel of acid, with a dissolving head in it is NOT something you see every day. This is most true definition of a "cult" film. I have no idea if this ever got released theatrically, but it's reputation spread to local stations, where it got slipped in very late at night, probably without the knowledge, much less the permission of the programming director. It clearly was meant to be a joke by the people that actually had to put the movies on the air. By the people who really could relate to the "creeper". And we are all grateful to them.

I finally left the Hebrew Academy to enter public school in the fall of 1969. Was I finished with my Judaic studies? Of course not! My mother enrolled me in our local synagogue with their beloved cigar smoking principal Judah Klein who stress to my Mom that I have to attend Hebrew school to get Bar-Mitzvah-ed at the terms end in June. To my horror I enrolled in the 7th grade class and low and behold there was a Hebrew Academy teacher with his zit zits (fringes) hanging out of his trousers. "Ruevein, What a surprise!" said the condescending conservative yarmulke ridden zealot. He began to quiz me on basic Judaic laws. I couldn't answer him nor did I care as he humiliated me in front of the whole class claiming my parents wasted there money sending me to a parochial school of higher learning. I watched this Jekyll and Hyde revenge of the nerds movie on my local independent stations in the wee hours of the morning. I just love a good revenge movie where the antagonists get theirs and then some. We focus on a nerdy lonely student Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) and his Guinea pig Mr. Mumps. You see Vernon is on the verge of scientific greatness. Vernon spends most of his downtime in the high school science lab working on genetic research. Three main Tormentors ambush Vernon from every angle . Vernon's English teacher Miss Grindstaff (Joy Hash) humiliating Vernon in front of the whole class. She asks Vernon how he spends his time and he tells her he working on an experiment. The haughty teacher takes his research paper and proceeds to place it in the paper chopper. Vernon is demoralized as Miss Grindstaff proceeds to chop up his science project which he spent years perfecting. In addition our crabby Instructor tells Vernon and the class that she's giving him a big fat zero. The caustic janitor played by Jeff Alexander who threatens to ambush Vernon's experiments and wants Vernon to clear on out. Vernon also seeks revenge. Finally , (And most High school teens can relate to this), the Gym teacher Coach McCall (John Niland) tormenting poor Vernon. Each scene of revenge is gory but richly deserved in this horror fairy tale. Despite the lackluster camera work, I found this movie to be very entertaining and you begin to fantasize your own personal revenge on educators who have wronged you in the past or present. But please, don't try this at school. You can think bad thoughts but that doesn't me you have to act upon them. No money back guarantee with the paper slicer.

This appears to be another one of those obscure early 70's cult favorites that a lot of people vividly remember as one of many nostalgic late Saturday night flicks that turned them into horror fans for life. Although I'm from a different generation, I'm fascinated by tracking down these movies based solely on the enthusiast reviews of first-hour fans. Sometimes you stumble upon hidden gems like way (for example "Where have all the People Gone") and sometimes you find movies of which you don't understand the fuzz about. "Horror High" is a bit in between; not an undiscovered masterpiece but definitely not a waste of time, neither. It's a fun and light-headed little monster movie with a handful of cool gore effects and even a couple of suspenseful moments. The film is basically a high-school variation on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" – the opening sequences even openly refer to Robert Louis Stevenson's legendary horror story – with a nerdy chemistry whiz kid transforming into an aggressive monster, through drinking a self made potion, and executing bloody revenge against all those who wronged him. Vernon Potts is a typical high school loner who's continuously experimenting in the chemistry room, but further neglects all the other classes. He's the prime target of mockery in school; for the football jocks but also for the sadistic teachers and nasty janitor. When the latter forces Vernon to drink the potion that drove his Guinea Pig Mr. Mumps crazy with aggression, he becomes his vengeful alter ego. Soon the malignant English teacher Mrs. Grindstaff and the corrupt coach McCall will experience Vernon's wrath. "Horror High" is a hugely predictable and sometimes even downright boring, but it undeniably remains a charming and adorably shlocky 70's effort. The trashy low-budget make up effects are tremendously entertaining to watch (imagine yourself faces being pushed into barrels full of acid, fingers being cut off under a paper-guillotine and bodies being spiked through gym shoes) and the unknown lead player Pat Cardi does a fantastic job as the tormented nerd. Halfway through the film, there's a completely irrelevant and pointless interlude in which the film follows around Vernon's estranged father as he's arguing with his new girlfriend and making a business phone call. If anyone can explain the significance of these 10 totally unnecessary padding minutes, please email me!

Poor Vernon Potts(played by Pat Cardi) is a tormented and bullied high school student and science whiz, who develops a new serum that needs testing, but unfortunately the evil Janitor forces him to drink it, thus starting a violent chain of events that turn meek Vernon into a murderous ape-like creature bent on seeking revenge against all his tormentors. Rosie Holotik as his sympathetic friend, and Austin Stoker as the investigating detective round out the cast.

Too bad this film is shockingly amateurish in all other areas, with a heavy-handed emphasis on the "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" theme; however, this does have a distinct 1970's aura about it, though remains tacky.

Overall, a sad film with an inevitable ending.

While there's really no defending this movie to fans of great cinema, this late-night TV favorite obviously has a few staunch fans--and deservedly so. At worst an amusing time capsule, at best a deliriously exuberant celebration of all that's wrong with low budget horror films, HORROR HIGH is a love it or hate it proposition. Why I love it: 1) Rosie (DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT) Holotik as the nerd/identification figure's love interest, 2) the deliciously unsubtle acid rock score, 3) pathos galore. Plus more '70's pro football stars than you can shake a stick at, should you be inclined to do so. Edited for an "R" rating, then a "PG," then for TV broadcast (with filler scenes added to pad it back out,) this film is in need of some TLC. Having seen the director's cut at a screening in San Francisco, I can attest to the superiority of the original, rarely seen version. The audience's sympathy for the beleaguered hero remains intact despite the even more vivid violence he perpetrates in the murder scenes.

High school nerd Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) spends every spare minute of his day in the school lab trying to perfect his formula for enhancing his guinea pig's physiology; when the rodent finally mutates and kills the janitor's cat, the moggie's furious owner forces Vernon to drink his own potion, causing the usually meek student to become an uncontrollable monster driven to settle the score with anyone who has ever made his life a misery.

Vernon's chemical concoction might be a scientific revelation, but the formula for this film is nowhere near as ground-breaking, following in the well-trodden footsteps of numerous Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde rip-offs; but even though the film is predictable stuff, there is still plenty of fun to be had from this contemporary take on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic.

The cast is surprisingly good, Cardi impressing as the affable biology buff, scrumptious redhead Rosie Holotik (as caring classmate Robin Jones) making for an appealing love interest, and Austin Stoker putting in a decent turn as Lieutenant Bozeman, the cop tasked with solving all the murders at the school. A reasonable helping of gore also adds to the enjoyment factor, gruesome highlights including a bloody face-melt, a corpse in an acid vat, Vernon's nasty English teacher losing her fingers under a guillotine blade, and the school's coach being trampled to death by Vernon wearing spiked running shoes. The film ends on a suitably tragic note, Vernon gunned down by the police in front of a horrified Robin.

"Horror High" aka "Twisted Brain" is as bare-bones as any seventies independent flick can get. This is not a very good film, by far not, yet it might be an enjoyable watch for fans of obscure exploitation horror. It's basically a cross between an avant-la-lettre slasher movie (because of the high school setting & the systematic killings) and a contemporary re-imagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous "Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" story.

For the biggest part the screenplay of "Horror High" sticks to its guns, which is good. And it's a simple story: Vernon Potts is the nerdy high school whiz kid that gets picked on by everybody (teachers & students alike). Since he's good at chemistry & biology, he invented a potion that occasionally transforms him in a murderous maniac. Thus Vernon has the abilities to exact his bloody revenge. The killings are mildly amusing and the overall atmosphere of the film is gritty enough. However, at one point the screenplay takes a sudden and completely unnecessary side-jump introducing Vernon's estranged father & his girlfriend. A completely redundant padding scene that goes on for too long, since the father character is never mentioned again afterwards. Vernon also gets an obligatory love-interest thrown his way: The girlfriend of a bullying jock student. She falls for Vernon's intelligence, naturally.

"Horror High" is a curious effort altogether, not only because the film is so obscure, but also because it foreshadows many high school slasher films to come over the next decade. At the time, the 'slasher rules' of contemporary horror cinema weren't even established yet. Sadly the execution of the film, as well as the acting, is severely below par. Not a lot of talent & money were involved. But there were a couple of other elements that made this viewing more interesting to me, like the use of many bizarre sound effects (e.g. shredding distorted guitars). The soundtrack itself also becomes funky & rocky at times. Every now and then inventive camera angles were used and the use of conveniently placed flashbacks (re-use of footage) to 'enhance' the narrative provided some amusing chuckles throughout. Again, I can't call this a good movie by any means, but I can imagine it a worthwhile watch to lovers of strange & vintage, moody & atmospheric exploitation horror. Don't expect nudity in this one, though.

Scrawny, but good-natured Vernon(PAT CARDI, in a memorable performance) is a science-minded high school nerd, and an unassuming human target for cruelty who's belittled and abused by nearly everyone he knows(moronic jock schoolmates, choleric teachers, the psycho janitor, etc.). He concocts and ingests a substance which renders him a Jeckyll/Hyde type beast, the more powerful and assertive(and certainly more dangerous)persona emerging sporadically to become the "normal" Vernon's savage avenger. A sharp and suspicious investigator has his eye on Vernon, as does the school beauty queen(because the prettiest girl in school is always in love with the skinny, picked-on science geek. She knows he's gonna be rich some day...)

This bouncy little Crown International Pictures wonder was a perennial staple on late-night creature feature shows during the 70s and 80s, and those of a certain bracket remember it fondly. Folks today should get a kick out of its funky retro panache, and they may be surprised by the potent violence in some scenes(nicely punctuated by jarring heavy-reverb guitar thrums).

An all time great...of sorts. 7/10.

Wow. I am amazed I went beyond the opening song with this film. After all, the song was just horrible in every possible way--whiny, bad and dreadful. Was this a portent of more awfulness to come or was this low-budget film actually worth seeing?

The star of this film is a nerdy high school student (who, incidentally was 23 when the film was made). He's mistreated by his teachers, the janitor and his classmates. Like such to be Vernon Potts and you know that based on the title of this film that eventually all these people will have a major butt-kicking coming by the end of the film. But, in the meantime, we are treated to scene after scene of the most ridiculously nasty treatment of poor Vernon. Subtle this isn't.

Later, a deranged (and horribly acted) janitor freaks out and forces poor Vernon to drink some formula he's been working on in the lab. And, not at all unexpectedly, Vernon is now a crazed killer beast. I love how incredibly stupid and cheesy the first act of retribution is--when he shoves the janitor's head in a conveniently placed bucket of sulfuric acid (I always have a few sitting around the house for just such emergencies). When Vernon has recovered, he's covered in blood and hides the evidence of his atrocity. Is this the last killing by good ol' Vern? Well, considering it's only the 25 minute mark, I doubt it.

By the way, speaking of sulfuric acid in this murder scene, I noticed that the label on the drum was MISSPELLED!! Talk about sloppy!! Surely a chemical supply house can spell sulfuric!!

The next day, the police come to the school to investigate the killing. This apparently was prompted when one of the kids in chemistry class opened the giant drum of 'sulphuric acid' and bits and pieces of the janitor and his cat were floating in it.

There's more to it than this, but frankly it's all so dull and pointless I'll just wrap it up now. Overall, the acting, writing, special effects and direction totally suck. There really is nothing of interest or value in the film other than small parts played by Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Craig Morton and linebacker D.D. Lewis, as well as Pittsburg Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene and Chuck Beatty. It's interesting for anyone who watched football back in the 1970s--otherwise I have no idea why anyone would want to see this stinking film. Also, I hope I didn't miss any other players who were in the film--I'm trying my best considering that I was pretty young back then and my crazy old man memory isn't perfect!

Worthless--a complete waste of time.

The poor high school nerd gets upset over a sliced science report, is picked on by the jocks, and becomes a ravaging killer of the halls through consumption of a chemical formula. A real waste of movie, ladies and gentlemen! Maybe it qualifies as an early slasher, perhaps? Nah. It's way too dark to notice any killings on the screen. And everything else is filmed in the dark, too! As you are perfectly aware, this sounds exactly like a crass duplicate of DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE. The real difference is the setting of a suburban high school not just without a student body, but bodies that are meaninglessly dead! Some drops of red ink would've been the perfect substitute for shades of blood, explaining a lot for this lame-brained TWISTED BRAIN (a.k.a. HORROR HIGH). Go to the end of the class, my friend! Grade: F

Add me to the list of 10-year-olds scared simple by catching this one late night on free TV back in the 70s. My exposure to it was during a sleepover where we all decided to watch the midnight horror movie. Even as a 10 year old, I knew this was a bad movie. Poor acting, a mindless and mean-spirited script, bad grainy cinematography, amateurish direction. AND YET... it did absolutely scare my young self and has stayed with me through the years. The scene where the "manster" does in his coach with cleats accompanied by a blaring rock guitar solo so disturbed me, I avoided listening to loud rock music for a couple years. Definitely one of the more disturbing images seared into my braincells as a child. 3.5 / 10

A loner science nerd gets pushed too far by the cruel students and teachers at his high school and takes a potion he's been working on that turns him into a freakishly strong murderer.

Horror High has tons of low budget spirit and a nice grimy atmosphere that can only come from low budget filmmaking in the 70's. Acting varies, but most of them get the job done and it's somewhat satisfying to see the lead nerd serve people some much needed just desserts.

This film is sorta of a Jekyll & Hyde story. A teenage boy who is great in biology and chemistry is picked on by his English teacher, coach, janitor and a jock. He's working on a lab experiment with a hamster, Mr. Mumps and the weird janitor ends up forcing the boy to drink his own experiment - that is the last thing the janitor ever does. He will get the others for picking on him in teenage Mr. Hyde manner.

My copy of the film is a bit dark but it looks as if was filmed that way. The acting is not grand but tolerable for a film of this nature. It's not the greatest cinematography nor story but it's fun to watch.

It's not a super great film - but it's a pretty decent low grade B film that can entertain certain horror fans like myself.

6/10

HORROR HIGH is a very cheap, cheesy, and inadequate horror feature from the team at Crown International Pictures. It's a film that doesn't have a great deal going for it, aside from the relatively unusual (for the time) high school setting, something that would of course become ubiquitous with the advent of the slasher genre and '80s horror in general.

The annoying Pat Cardi plays a usual high school nerd type character who finds himself bullied and put upon by his peers and superiors. Inevitably he injects himself with a super-serum that turns him into a monster of kinds, and he then goes on a killing spree. Basically it's a Jekyll & Hyde story with an American high school setting.

The quality of the print I watched on Talking Pictures TV was truly horrendous, which I suppose does add to the grindhouse experience. HORROR HIGH is quite substandard, with slapdash kill scenes and overacting throughout making it hard to watch at times. The make-up for the monster is truly pathetic. The only thing of interest is seeing Austin Stoker, the cop from ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, playing...you guessed it, a cop. A somewhat unconnected sequel, RETURN TO HORROR HIGH, followed in 1987.

Really really bad movie. Fun to watch. Young bullied chemistry nerd accidentally becomes his own guinea pig. Movie is crazily stitched together. There is a large sequence that documents the personal life of his absent father and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, just enough to make them seem like important characters, then the sequence arbitrarily ends and we never see them again. There is a janitor that apparently lives at the school and dresses like a homeless man. There is also another sequence that borders homo-eroticism that involves half naked football players in a circle playing 'keep away' against the nerd, who fruitlessly and limply throws his body mass at them in a halfhearted effort to get back his belongings. The English teacher is a sadist, and the police force is incredibly inept. Very strange movie, but a gem for people that love movies so bad they are fun to watch. This one is one for your collection. Truly beyond bizarre.