Main Cast: Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher, Dan Shor, Fiona Lewis, Arthur Dignam
Release Year: 1981
Country: NZ/AU
Run Time: 103 minutes
Plot
Dead Kids, aka Strange Behavior, is a creepy exercise from director Michael Laughlin--who conceived this as part one of an abortive "Strange Trilogy" which also included 1983's Strange Invaders. Although lensed in New Zealand, the film is set in a sleepy American town, in which a series of gory murders committed by local teenagers are linked to a twisted brainwashing scheme by a deranged behavioral psychologist (note irony please). Despite some humorous details (e.g. one killer dons a Tor Johnson mask) and a nostalgia for '50s pulp horrors (not to mention a fondness for splattery death scenes), the disparate plot elements don't come together as well as they should, failing to live up to the premise's potential for guilty chuckles or gasps of horror. Fiona Lewis is sexually menacing as the mad doc's assistant, but Louise Fletcher's wasted role may make viewers pine for Nurse Ratched. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Scott Brady - Shea; Dey Young - Caroline; Marc McClure - Oliver; Charles Lane - Donovan; Elizabeth Cheshire - Lucy; Beryl TeWiata - Mrs. Haskell; Jim Boelsen - Waldo; John Clarke - Alvin; Sue Moore - Steak-'n-Shake Waitress; Lulu Sylbert - Oliver's Sister; William Hayward - Robinson; Richard Moore - 1st Construction Worker; Terry Donovan - Mr. Brown; Andrew Glover - 2nd Construction Worker
Credit
Russell Collins - Art Director, Bill Condon - Associate Producer, Bruce Finlayson - Costume Designer, Murray Newey - First Assistant Director, Michael Laughlin - Director, Petra Von Oelffen - Editor, John Daly - Executive Producer, David Hemmings - Executive Producer, William Fayman - Executive Producer, Tangerine Dream - Composer (Music Score), Craig Reardon - Makeup Special Effects, Sue Moore - Production Designer, Louis Horvath - Cinematographer, David Anderson - Production Manager, John Barnett - Producer, Antony I. Ginnane - Producer, Sue Moore - Set Designer, Stephen Edwards - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Hughes - Screen Story, Bill Condon - Screenwriter, Michael Laughlin - Screenwriter
Strange Behavior was a 1981 horror spoof directed by Michael Laughlin and written by Bill Condon, poking fun at pulp horror films of the 1950s. The original release was titled "Dead Kids". The film was intended to be the first installment of the aborted Strange Trilogy, which was canceled after the second installment, Strange Invaders, failed to attract a wider audience. The soundtrack features atmospheric electronic music by Tangerine Dream and the Lou Christie song Lightnin' Strikes to which characters in the film perform a synchronised dance routine at a teenage costume party.
Set in Galesburg, IL, this movie plays on the inherent spookiness of small college towns. A complex back-story obscurely bubbles to the surface as the lurching plot unfolds. Evil psychology professors. Mind-controlled killer college students. A decade-old love triangle. Nothing that's going on seems to make any sense, until all is revealed in the climax.
