Welcome to the Grindhouse: Malibu High / Trip with the Teacher
By Andrew Haworth • Aug 20th, 2008 • Category: Bloody Stumps, DVD ReviewsWelcome to the Grindhouse: Malibu High / Trip with the Teacher 
BCI/Eclipse / Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) / Color / 1 disc / 182 minutes
How’s this for a fun double feature? A high school student sleeps her way to the top of the faculty, becomes an assassin and goes on a killing spree. Still intrigued? How about a busload of schoolgirls on a road trip straight to hell?
BCI/Eclipse takes us back to old-school exploitation with Welcome to the Grindhouse: Malibu High / Trip with the Teacher. It’s arguably the strongest offering in their series of DVDs dedicated to the glory days of the 42nd Street trenchcoat crowd. The sleaze hits an apex in this Crown International double-bill and fans of exploitation won’t be disappointed. This disc is a must-have!
The Lowdown: I’m not sure what alternate reality MALIBU HIGH (1979) takes place in, but I do know high school was never this fun.
Jill Lansing (in her one and only film role) plays Kim, a brunette with a bad attitude who seems to be flunking all her classes. She’s been recently dumped by her boyfriend, and has no cash to boot. She decides to shift the paradigm by offering sex to anyone who will take it — that includes her teacher, her principal, and the local pimp. Before long, she’s making fistfuls of cash and driving a sports car to school. But even that’s not enough. She gains notoriety as a hooker and in turn, catches the eye of a local mobster, who trains her to become a professional killer.
Things run amok during her final assassination — a hit on the father of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. The end sequence plays out over an extended jam of “The People’s Court Theme,” hi-hats, bongos, chicka-chicka-wah-wah guitar and all. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.
The B-feature, TRIP WITH THE TEACHER (1975), merges the motorcycle gang genre with road survival films such as THE SADIST, with disturbing results. Brenda Fogarty (IF YOU DON’T STOP IT, YOU’LL GO BLIND!, BEACH BUNNIES) plays Miss Tenny, a teacher leading a small group of young women into the desert on a camping trip. When their bus breaks down, they are met by a group of psychotic bikers, led by the perpetually scowling Al (played with epic sleaze by “Red Shoe Diaries” producer Zalman King).
It’s clear the bikers aren’t there to help get the broken bus started after Al tells Miss Tenny “You’d be surprised what a piece of ass would do for my disposition.” Awkward adult situations in various states of undress ensue, along with some fairly nifty motorcycle stunts — one unfortunate biker’s spill off the side of a cliff is priceless.
The Upshot: MALIBU HIGH is strangely compelling schlock even though Jill Lansing can’t act and compensates by spitting out her lines like they are laced with vitriol. Still, the film, as much of a wreck as it is, remains surprisingly watchable, thanks in part to copious amounts of nudity.
Similarly, Zalman King steals the show in TRIP WITH THE TEACHER like a murderous Jim Morrison. His unabating sneer, hateful harangues and episodes of schizophrenia instill an atmosphere of unease while the constant threat of violence keeps TRIP tense and believable.
My advice? Get these now! If you can’t find the “Welcome to the Grindhouse” release, you can get both of these films and six others on the recent “Drive-In Cult Classics” disc published by Navarre for under $10.
We’ve reviewed other discs in this series here:
Andrew Haworth is the editor of Shameful Cinema. After working as a print journalist for the better part of 10 years, he now produces Internet videos for a large daily newspaper and is a habitual freelance/fine art photographer.
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