''Zombie High'' (also known as ''The School That Ate My Brain'') is a 1987 American

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film directed by Ron Link. The film was released theatrically on October 2, 1987, and stars

Virginia Madsen Virginia Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress. She is the recipient of two Critics' Choice Awards, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Gl ...

as a beautiful young teenager who must fight against a boarding school that is intent on turning everyone into a Stepford-esque "perfect" student. In the film,

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

is used for the

mental conditioning Classical conditioning (also respondent conditioning and Pavlovian conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food, a puff of air on the eye, a potential rival) is paired with a neutral stimulus (e.g. ...

of the

brainwashed Brainwashed may refer to: *Brainwashing, to affect a person's mind by using extreme mental pressure or other methods Film and television * ''Brainwashed'' (film), a 1960 German film * '' Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power'', a 2022 American documenta ...

victims. By accident, a character finds out that

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

has the opposite effect, restoring human traits to the victims.

Plot

Andrea (

) is a teenage girl who has won a scholarship to Ettinger, a formerly all-male

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

. She leaves behind her boyfriend Barry ( James Wilder) in the hopes of scholastic achievement but soon discovers that things are not as they seem at Ettinger. Andrea finds that her friends are slowly changing from regular teenagers into personality-less drones. Some investigation shows that the school's faculty has been harvesting life-sustaining chemicals from the student body, which makes them seemingly perfect students who are focused on doing well in school and obeying rules. Andrea is spared from this fate by one of her professors, Philo ( Richard Cox), who takes pity on her due to her resemblance to a former lover. Along with her boyfriend, Andrea discovers that the staff uses

to stabilize the students. Philo gives her a tape to play over the loudspeaker system, which he claims will stop the faculty and students from capturing her and turning her into a zombie, only for her to lose it while the school's students chase her. With nothing to lose, Barry plays a tape of

in its place, accomplishing the desired task of stopping the students and saving their lives.

Cast

as Andrea *

Paul Feig Paul Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing films such as '' Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), '' Spy'' (2015), ''Ghostbusters'' (2016), '' A Si ...

as Emerson *

Sherilyn Fenn Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress. She played Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. She als ...

as Suzi *

Clare Carey Clare Carey (born June 11, 1967) is an American film and television actress best known for her roles as Kelly Fox in ''Coach'' (1989-1995) and Mary Bailey in ''Jericho'' (2006-2008), and her film role in '' Savannah Sunrise'' (2016). Backgrou ...

as Mary Beth *

Scott Coffey Scott Coffey (born Thomas Scott Coffey; May 1, 1964) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. His film credits include ''Shag'', '' Some Kind of Wonderful'', ''Dream Lover'', and ''Mulholland Drive''. He directed the films '' E ...

as Felner * Richard Cox as Philo * Kay E. Kuter as Dean Beauregard Eisner * Henry Sutton as Bell *Walter Addison as Chief Hillis * Christopher Peters as Phillip *

Christopher Crews Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...

as Biff * James Wilder as Barry *

John Sack John Sack (March 24, 1930 – March 27, 2004) was an American literary journalist and war correspondent. He was the only journalist to cover each American war over half a century. Biography Sack was born in New York City. His work appeared in ...

as Senator Felner *

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

as Ignatius * Susan Barnes as Mom * Jeff Morgan as Zombie student * Tease (Music Band, with Kipper Jones, Derek Organ and

Tommy Organ Thomas LeRoy Organ, Jr. (born 22 February 1963) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. The son of Thomas LeRoy Organ, Sr. (1940 – 1966 Musician, Army Veteran) and Dorothy Louise Render-Organ (1941 Legal Secretary, Entreprene ...

) as themself

Reception

Lana Cooper of Brutal as Hell wrote, "For unintentional humor and as an ‘80s genre horror timepiece, Zombie High cannot be beat. Just don’t expect to be scared." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' panned the film in a 1988 review, expressing surprise that Madsen would star in ''Zombie High'', as they viewed it as a step down from her previous acting work. Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called it "a student project gone awry". Glenn Kay, who wrote '' Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide'', called the film a "nondescript, forgettable flick". Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic

Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and ...

said, "The movie plays the concept more seriously than the title lets on, and, in fact, winds up dragging quite a bit."

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, zombiehigh 1987 films 1987 comedy horror films 1980s high school films 1980s teen comedy films 1980s teen horror films American high school films American teen comedy films American teen horror films American zombie comedy films Films set in boarding schools 1980s English-language films Films shot in Los Angeles Films produced by Elliott Kastner 1980s American films Films about classical music and musicians American rock music films Films about mind control English-language comedy horror films