Malibu High (1979)

Crown International Pictures were the producers behind this sleazy slice of low budget exploitation. At first I thought it was just another high school sex comedy along the lines of MALIBU BEACH and the first half hour or so certainly feels like one: we've got a young lead actress (Jill Lansing, who starred in just this one movie) who frequently disrobes for her copious sex scenes with middle aged men.Lansing's character seduces all the local teachers to get better grades, but that's just the start. The film reveals her downward spiral as she becomes an assassin (!) working for the mob. Thus the latter half of the production attempts some pseudo-thriller elements, but they're handled so badly that you'll be laughing instead of thrilled.The genre this brings most to mind are all those sensation movies from the 1930s that offered supposed warnings against booze and drugs; titles like SHE SHOULDA SAID NO! and THE MARIJUANA MENACE. Director Irvin Berwick had form, having previously shot HITCH HIKE TO HELL. MALIBU HIGH is a mess of a film, with poor acting and poorer production values; Lansing's performance in particular is one of the least convincing I've seen in a movie in a while. You might get a laugh or two out of it, but that'll be all.

As a teen, I saw this twice at the same drive-in a month after it was shown the first time. I remember the title was High School Hit Girl. I remember being angry that they scammed us into paying for the same movie twice but since the movie was part of triple features I wasn't that mad, (especially since I was with a girl I was hot for the second time.) Amazingly this movie not only had a plot but it made sense too. For a drive in movie, it wasn't bad. Kim Bentley (Jill Lansing) is a slacker chick whose apathy for school and ambition has turned everyone against her. Her mother is disappointed in her and her boyfriend has dumped her for another girl. She's just happy ditching school and getting high with her air-headed friend, Lucy. One day, her local drug-pusher, Tony makes her a proposition that will make her more money. She becomes a hooker. She also starts sexually propositioning her male teachers in exchange for high grades. Soon she meets another pimp who steals her away from Tony and allows her to keep more of the money she's making as well as cars fancier than any of her teachers can afford. In exchange, in addition to hooking, she also has to become an assassin. All the while, Kim is still carrying a lot of anger for her ex and his new girlfriend. Jill Lansing is amazing in this movie. She's not only gorgeous with a hot body. She shows more emotion than most actors in better movies. Lansing emotes, anger, apathy, happiness, jealousy, fear, sarcasm, etc. This is actually an enjoyable B movie that you don't mind watching to the end to see how it concludes. You actually care about the characters in this movie, mainly, Kim. Unfortunately, the ending is a big letdown as it just suddenly runs out of steam but it's still worth a look. Regardless, this actually looks like a movie Quentin Tarantino would have a field day recreating as a part of his grindhouse collection with all the hooker and assassin elements.

You don't go into seeing this one with any grandiose notions, and, if you are like me, you should be pleasantly surprised that this is one of those vintage "bad" movies that is just loads of fun to sit through. Kim Bentley loses her boyfriend and so she begins failing her classes, etc... when she decides to become a prostitute and then later an assassin picking up booze, weed, and coke along the way. Jill Lansing appearing in what seems to be her only screen credit gives a credible performance as the "hooker to hit girl" as she frequently disrobes and lets her breasts get lots of air, seduces two of her teachers for grades, and runs a profitable business from the back of her pimp's van. We get lots of stereotypes here and the plot is pretty threadbare when it comes to anything other than giving us lurid and "shocking" behaviours to be witnessed. The rest of the cast is better-than-average for a movie of this ilk, and I laughed out loud several times at the bizarre going ons and what I was suppose(perhaps not) to take seriously. In addition to all this Kim has a few hazy flashbacks about her father hanging himself. Malibu High is sleazy and fun - and entertaining. It has what you would expect in a picture like this but packages it well. As some have noted the soundtrack is weird to say the least as we get an instrumental People's Court theme used in a most inopportune moment and that bizarre SCTV strident tone used when something significant is being conveyed - at least that is what the director is trying to convey.

Worst Movies of ALL Time! Saw this twice in the early 80's on some dinky, weird station that my local Cablevision company had (channel 10) on LI.There's just so much about this movie that's atrocious. It's a hoot all the way as the girl goes from HS renegade to killer. The sex scenes are not erotic, the "acting" is riotously bad and the music! No idea who the hell threw this crapola thing together but we should be grateful it's around.Why more people who like BAD movies don't know about this one is beyond me!