When track team member Laura Ramstead dies from a blood clot after winning
her final race at Midvale High, a killer starts bumping off her athletic
peers right before their graduation.
This film is actually quite enjoyable if not a bit too cheesy. The main
action begins as Laura’s sister Anne arrives home from the Navy to collect
a posthumous award on her sister’s behalf, that’s when the killing starts
in an assortment of athletics related deaths.
Moving along at a fast pace (It has to, as the killer times the deaths
with a stop watch to ensure that each victim suffers for as long as Laura
did which was seconds) the film boasts some unusual camera angles and
some really good editing for the early ‘s, with colour washes and
nightmarish surreal edits, that succeed in creating a weird almost
Carrie-esque atmosphere.
The actors are all quite good, but it’s the very beautiful Patch Mackenzie
as Anne, who comes off the best, as some of the characters have to do some
dumb stuff, for example one girl can’t run away from the killer as she is
busy shaving her legs in the sink at school!!
Surprisingly, this film seems to have been the main inspiration for ‘Urban
Legends Final Cut’ as we have a sibling returning to collect a posthumous
award, a blonde girl who likes to go jogging in the woods surrounding
campus, and a killer in a fencing outfit. The similarities are striking!!
Even in it’s cheesiest moments this manages to entertain, a highlight
being the excellent Linnea Quigley running from the killer whilst
struggling to keep her blouse shut. Carmen Electra eat your heart out!!
OVERALL SUMMARY
A bit cheesy but quite entertaining and there is far worse out there that
you could watch.
