Malibu High (1979) / Trip With The Teacher (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)Another exploitation double feature disc emulating the formula of the 2007 film, "Grindhouse", which featured two simulated 70's-era low rent thrillers (contributed by Robert Rodiguez and Quentin Tarantino), along with simulated trailers and concession-stand ads from the same era. Here, though, you get two actual low-rent, 70's-era epics featuring babes, guns, and some nasty violence. "What?" you say. "The cover of the DVD makes it look like you get lots of sexy fun. Where do the guns and violence come in?"
Well, that's the fun of these independent thrillers from a bygone era, an era when independent fare 90% consisted of sleazy gems like these, not the latest Jane Austen adaptation. And added fun always came from the fact that, regardless of the poster art, you never knew what you were actually going to get from these unpredictable movies. So, what are you getting from "Malibu High" and "Trip With the Teacher"? Glad you asked...
"Malibu High" delivers the nudity and high school hijinks promised in the poster... at first. But then it slowly goes off on a kind of descent-into-crime-and-madness riff where the central teen-age girl character, in an effort to gain independence from her nagging mother, becomes a prostitute (first small time, then as a busy, going concern), then- I kid you not- a cold-blooded hit woman working for a mob kingpin.
Oh, yes, during all of this the girl is still concerned about getting good grades, so she bribes her teachers with sexy fun at the local lovers' lane in return for A's. So, yes, the producers do drift back from time to time to the sexy exploitation theme promised on the poster, but it's soon back to assassinations in parking garages and rich guys' mansions.
While many "grindhouse" movies are unfairly lumped into the "so bad it's good" category, this one probably rightfully belongs in that particular bin. But it's definitely worth a look, preferably with a group of friends and a case of beer.
"Trip with the Teacher" doesn't want to distract you with a complicated plot, so it simply employs that old stand-by, "teens on a field trip get terrorized by crazed motorcycle thugs", and uses the rest of its energy to come up with particularly brutal ways for the thugs to terrorize the girls. Though the poster art indeed suggests that there's some kind of menace in the film and not just naked girls, it really doesn't prepare you for the unsavory deaths in store for several of the characters, and not just the girls. Yes, these thugs are mean to everybody, so it would be unfair to hit this creepy little epic with a lot of "another movie that hates women" reviews.
Things are lightened up a bit by a "good" motorcycle guy who comes to the girls' aid, but it's still all rather unpleasant. In the end, though, I have to concede that "Trip with the Teacher" is ultimately an edgy, and (unlike the earlier film) not at all ridiculous example of the grindhouse form. And since you all want to know this: Yes, there's a fair amount of nudity, but none of it is really fun to watch, due to the violent context in which most of the nudity takes place.
Extras include trailers for something called "The Stepmother", offering more thriller/exploitation fun, as mom gets it on with everyone but her husband; and "Weekend with the Babysitter", a silly movie that examines the "relevant" issue of white-haired, late middle-aged married guys suddenly taking up with their teen-age babysitters and their "now generation" friends. This trailer appears on at least one other "Welcome to the Grindhouse" double-feature DVD, but it never gets old. The disc features one or two other trailers from the 70's, but those were the best ones.
The prints used for the main features are generally fine, but both show some wear and tear. But you're not supposed to let that bother you, as scratchy prints and even the occasional missing reel were supposed to be part of the classic grindhouse experience.
In the end, I'd say that "Malibu High" is about 80% worth seeing because it's "so bad it's good" and 20% worth seeing because it's genuinely sort of interesting. "Trip with the Teacher" reverses things: it's 80% actually involving (but only if you can tolerate violent exploitation fare) and 20% fun-to-laugh-at badness.
With that said, if any of this sounds at all interesting to you, go pick this DVD up and see for yourself how you'll respond. After all, what's to lose considering the dirt-cheap price?


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