Strange Behavior (1981) User Reviews

Strange indeed!

[uds3 · 6/10 · 18 November 2003]

Known most everywhere (outside the US) as DEAD KIDS, this is the film by which "strange flicks" are measured. To some extent, comparable to MY BLOODY VALENTINE in as much as what we have here is majorly weird goings-on in a small township.

You would never pick that this was filmed in New Zealand - it LOOKS like a small Nebraska township with a Pontiac Le Mans, Thunderbird, Chevy and assorted 60's Yank tanks on view as well as your all-american college dudes. Only the dedicated viewer may pick up the cinematography and Tangerine Dream soundtrack as revealing its New Zealand ancestry - very reminiscent at times of BATTLE TRUCK! Actually in large part an Australian endeavour also - witness Arthur Dignam as Dr Weird-In-The -extreme!

Agreed, as a slasher movie it doesn't cut it....as a thinking man's thriller it never rates. As an 80's time-capsule..its a winner ("Friday the 13th" vintage) What makes the film, is its very weirdness and the musical score from Tangerine Dream. Those shots of the car moving along the town's main drag are utterly cool and absorbing. For some reason also the fancy dress party and the kids dancing to Lou Christie's great 60's hit, "Lighting strikes," just hits a nerve somewhere down memory lane. Interesting also to see McClure as a zappy college student. Some of you may recall him as reporter-pup Jimmy Olsen in the four-part SUPERMAN series as well as SUPERGIRL

Not great by a long shot but way left field enough to stake a claim to horror immortality.

A real hidden gem

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 9 November 2019]

"Strange Behaviour" is a lot better than I'd expected it to be. It has some startling imagery, some genuinely frightening scenes, and finally manages a sense of atmosphere.

It is also an original twist on the slasher formula that was probably stale even in 1981 - at least if the parody film "Student Bodies", made that same year, is anything to go by. Seasoned horror junkies have seen hundreds of slashers at least. We all know the trope of the killer wearing a distinctive mask, which is often removed in the final moments to reveal the killer's identity. But in "Strange Behaviour", the movie has more than one killer, and in fact deals with the question of mind control. In this movie, any of the younger characters can kill at any time, so it's not a question of whodunit. It's more like who's going to go crazy next.

For its cool ideas, occasionally shocking imagery and at least one frightening scene, "Strange Behaviour" is a winner. Unfortunately it is held back by some narrative incoherence and charisma-less lead performances. I still say check it out.

Lastly, I want to say something about the movie's unusual pedigree. It's an American production that was meant to be filmed in Australia, but when the filmmakers couldn't find any cities in Aus that resembled the screenplay's setting in Illinois, they moved the production to New Zealand! How is NZ any more or less Midwestern USA than Australia? And, to top it all off, the movie is considered an "Ozploitation" flick?

No wonder the plotting is a little confusing. The cast and crew probably didn't know where the hell they were, or were supposed to be, or what they were actually making.

Hypnotic.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 10 November 2002]

Not quite the underrated masterpiece other people are talking about, I'm afraid. It begins well enough, with an atmospheric, out-of-this-world Tangerine Dream score and hypnotically slow direction, but the story tips its hand too early; the basics (if not the particulars) of its plot become rather obvious to us well before they do to the characters. Still, this is above average for an early-80s horror film. (**)

'Dead Kids' is dead good! One of my favourite horror movies of the late 70s/early 80s.

[Infofreak · 27 May 2004]

In the late 70s/early 80s during the Australian film "renaissance", when historical dramas like 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' and 'Gallipoli' were all the rage, a producer named Antony Ginnane attempted to go against the tide and get some thrillers and horror movies made Down Under. He dreamed of being Australia's Roger Corman. Sadly it wasn't to be but hats off to him for helping movies like 'Patrick', 'Thirst' and 'Turkey Shoot' get to the big screen! 'Dead Kids' (a.k.a. 'Strange Behavior') is another underrated movie from this period that he co-produced. This time Ginnane and friends went to New Zealand instead of Australia, something to do with union hiccups I believe. The movie was actually filmed in Auckland, but set in the US with a mostly American cast, including Dan Shor ('Wise Blood'), Michael Murphy ('Manhattan'), Louise Fletcher ('One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'), Marc McLure ('Superman'), and Dey Young ('Rock'n'Roll High School'). Also appearing were the British born Fiona Lewis ('The Fury') and Aussie character actor Arthur Dignam ('The Devil's Playground'), who plays the enigmatic Dr Le Sangel, a role originally intended for Klaus Kinski. As well as a great cast this movie is noteworthy because it was directed by Michael Laughlin, the producer of Monte Hellman's 70s road classic 'Two-Lane Blacktop', and co-written by Laughlin and Bill Condon, who went on the write and direct the excellent James Whale biopic 'Gods And Monsters'. There are two outstanding bits in 'Dead Kids' which anyone who watches it will never forget: the syringe-in-the-eyeball scene, and the party sequence with a bunch of kids dancing to the Lou Christie oldie "Lightning Strikes". Music buffs will also appreciate the score from Tangerine Dream, and Aussies will get a kick out of (briefly) hearing The Boys Next Door's post-punk classic "Shivers" on the soundtrack. 'Dead Kids' is one of the my favourite horror movies of the late 70s/early 80s, a golden age filled with some very inventive and original shockers e.g. 'Evil Dead', 'Phantasm', 'Dead & Buried', 'Basket Case', to name a few. Eli Roth's super-hyped 'Cabin Fever' claimed to be inspired by some of these movies but totally missed the point in my opinion. Forget Roth, go for the real thing like this, which is both more entertaining AND scarier.

Quirky, oddly gripping low budget horror

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 23 December 2016]

Inventive horror yarn that transcends the usual slasher fare by mixing in an imaginative, sometimes scarily plausible plot with the usual nasty in-your-face violence that goes with the period. Filmed in New Zealand but set in America, the photography in this film is ruined by a hideous print and poor pan-and-scan job on the video version I saw, but that doesn't stop it being a tense and grisly exercise in terror that proves to be a lot stronger than other '80s horror fare. I know I always use it as a whipping boy, but the Friday the 13 series in comparison is sterile, comic book stuff.

I really liked this film's plot of a science lab being the front of a brainwashing cult, which I believe hadn't been done elsewhere. Some scenes are packed with tension and the film as a whole is very suspenseful. The gore isn't overdone, but is still pretty strong stuff and used in a way to make you squirm (for example, in one scene a boy slashes open his own wrists - ouch!). The scene in which the maid discovers a girl sawing the arm off a corpse is particularly grisly. At the same time, there's a great final twist in the plot (the "kill your father" scene) which I have to say I didn't see coming, although some other moments are predictable.

The acting as a whole is impressive, especially when you consider most of the cast are unknowns. Particularly affecting are Dan Shor as the brainwashed teen, Fiona Lewis as a despicably evil nurse and, most of all, Arthur Dignam (for trivia fans, he went on to play Ernest Thesiger in GODS AND MONSTERS) as the weird-looking, immortal scientist. Great stuff. While the film does have some lulls and seems overlong at even a fairly shot running time, it still manages to be quirky, unpredictable and on the occasion, intensely gripping.

Experimenting on the younger generation.

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 26 December 2006]

Galesberg, Illinois is a sleepy, small town where brutally strange murders are occurring. Sheriff John Brady believes it has something to with some secret experiments being performed on the local teenagers by a collage's psych department led by Dr Gwen Parkinson. Also unknowingly to John, his son Pete has signed up to the program in the hope the money he earns off it, would go a long way for him getting into his preferred collage.

Slashers hey. God love 'em! Well this was around the same time when the craze for it was huge in the horror genre. But that in mind, while I found the New Zealand/Australian co-production "Dead Kids" to follow the conventional methods and clichés. It still manages to hold its own within the sub-genre because of its quirky charm, realistic touch and overall edgy style that sets it apart from many rancid entries. There's something quite compelling about it all, even though the fractured story could have been far more fulfilling in its matter.

Mainly it comes off because the sterling performances are very convincing in setting up their characters, the story's progression is unforeseeable with a unique premise (that could be lifted right out of those early horror 30's and 40's features of mad scientists) and Michael Laughlin's pastel direction has a freshly polish tinge about it that comes off very well in some superbly choreographed scenes that are stylishly unusual (loved the inspired party scene with Lou Christie's "Lighting Strikes"), unnervingly creepy (the scarecrow scene) or just plain suspenseful. If there's one downer to Laughlin's direction though, it's that the most of the imaginatively nasty death/or attack scenes are executed rather sloppily and can look silly. At least they were grisly and had some splatter to spare, but in the long run it wasn't trying to be pointlessly gory or wanting to up the body count.

It's a moody atmosphere that slowly engages the viewer with its mysteriously offbeat vibe and nail biting jolts created from its wholesome reality. Streaming through the script is a welcome slice of humour that has the right sense towards its material. The production is that of low budget, but it doesn't show up prominently with many professional elements working in favour on the project. While the film is set in US, it was actually filmed in New Zealand with a mostly American cast. The picture-perfect setting authentically comes across and makes good of the atmosphere. Louis Horvath's wide scope Panavison cinematography is gorgeously framed with such hypnotic verve and the Tangerine Dream's effectively airy music score has that alienating awe to it.

Australian producer Antony I. Ginnane backed this one and has some other great films under his belt that he managed to get the screen, like "Turkey Shoot", "Patrick", "Harlequin" and "The Survivor". Michael Laughlin would go on to direct "Strange Invaders" and screenwriter Bill Condon would be recognised for penning and directing "Gods and Monsters (1998)". Though, he first kicked of his flair for direction with effectively minor southern Gothic shocker "Sister, Sister (1987)". The performances are particularly fine. Dan Shor is ideal as the Pete and Dey Young has a very appealing presence on screen. Michael Murphy holds it together with an admirably focused turn as sheriff Brady. Fiona Louis really eats it up as the icy Dr Parkinson. Making up the rest in bit parts are Marc McClure, Johnny Guitar, Charles Lane, Arthur Dignam and very warm-hearted Louise Fletcher.

A definite oddity that works a treat in what it sets out to do. Recommended.

The Best Scene in a Movie Ever?

[FilmFatale · 4/10 · 18 July 2005]

Overall, Strange Behaviour is a fairly lame sci-fi/horror hybrid with seemingly ordinary kids making a few bucks at a research facility and turning out a little bit...wrong. There are a few decent shocks here and there, but mostly it seems like there's just something missing - like the filmmakers lost part of the script on the way to the shoot and just went with it.

Cinematic ally, there's no real reason to watch it, but there's also no real reason not to.

However, our hero goes to a party (for no reason) and it's a costume party (for no reason) and eventually everyone breaks out into a synchronized dance to Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes." That's quite possibly the greatest scene in a movie ever.

Fresh Blood

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 24 April 2011]

In a small New Zealand (as Illinois) town, future acclaimed filmmaker Bill Condon (as Bryan Morgan) is stabbed in silhouette after his parents leave him home alone. Elsewhere, aging teenager Dan Shor (as Pete Brady) is having trouble persuading "top cop" father Michael Murphy (as John) to sponsor an application to Galesburg College. To raise money, Mr. Shor accompanies pal Marc McClure (as Oliver Myerhoff) to the college's psychology department, where the lads are paid $200 to volunteer for some supposedly harmless experiment. Administered by creepily sexy Fiona Lewis (as Gwen Parkinson), you can bet the experiment has something to do with the film's rising body count...

"Strange Behavior" features some of the usual genre missteps, but they're interjected with freshness. The characters are introduced uniquely. Shor shows his cheeks, and Mr. Murphy clips his toenails at the breakfast table. Louise Fletcher (as Barbara Moorehead) is okay, but in a much smaller role than heralded. Best of all is a sixties TV costume party kicked off by Lou Christie's hit single "Lightnin' Strikes" (1966) and ending in what can be described as "Uncle Fester" stabbing "Hoss Cartwright" to death. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack is sweet. Director Michael Laughlin, working with Mr. Condon, nicely mixes fright with fun, and they neatly construct an unexpected plot twist.

****** Strange Behavior (10/16/81) Michael Laughlin ~ Dan Shor, Michael Murphy, Fiona Lewis, Louise Fletcher

Strange Behavior (interesting plo - BAD MOVIE)

[e_esben · 3/10 · 15 December 2006]

I just got it on DVD because I read of all the positive hype, and loved movies like "Stepford "Wifes", "Desturbing Behavior" and "The Mansurain Candidate", and I hoped to find more movies in this genre. I stumbled over this movie, and though I had found what I was looking for because of the good reviews and interesting plot, but I was really WRONG!

First of all, this movie has a really slow pace! You can deal with that is the acting and the atmosphere is good, but none of these were good. There was just about no atmosphere at all, you never get a shock or feel scared or even interested in the characters.

The Good: Kid with scare mask makes a kill. (Really great mask!) Nice filming while riding the car. (camera on backseat) Plot with potential

The Bad: only 5 kills in the entire movie, and only one is interesting. No interest in the characters hardly any focus on the experiments/plot Lots of random talk, no continuation in the movie No atmosphere, you feel nothing but boredom while watching this movie Boring surroundings Boring sound side of the movie

Conclusion: Not worth watching, even if your a horror fan. There is no reason for watching this movie, unless your a major fan of someone in it :-S Don't know who that should be!

Lives up to its title (either one)

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 25 October 2019]

Also known by its much more in your face title Dead Kids, Strange Behavior holds a place in New Zealand film history as the first horror movie made in the country. A homage to American horror films of the 1950s, it was intended to be part of a trilogy. However, after this movie and Strange Invaders underperformed at the box office, that was not to be.

It was released in the UK as Small Town Massacre and ran afoul of the video nasty controversy, ending up on the Section 3 list of films.

This - and Strange Invaders - were both directed by Michael Laughlin (Two-Lane Blacktop), who co-wrote the film with Bill Condon, who would go on to direct Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh, both parts Twilight: Breaking Dawn and write 2002's Chicago and The Greatest Showman.

Speaking of the word strange, perhaps the strangest thing in this movie is that while it's supposedly based in Galesburg, Illinois, it couldn't be geographically further from America if it tried. That's because the movie was lensed in Auckland, New Zealand.

It all starts with the murder of Bryan (co-writer Condon), which ends with his body getting stuffed into a scarecrow.

Local cop John Brady (Michael Murphy, who has been in plenty of Robert Altman's films) is on the case. And his son Pete (Dan Shor, who was in Wise Blood) and his friend Oliver (Marc McClure, who you'd know as 1970's Jimmy Olsen) are learning all about the work of Dr. Le Sange from Professor Parkinson (Fiona Lewis, who was in plenty of films, but around here, we celebrate her for her work in the seminal - and semenal, really - Tintorera...Tiger Shark). Oh yeah - his dead mom (and John's lost wife) once worked for Le Sange.

Pete wants to go to college and doesn't have the money to apply, so he signs up to be part of the professor's experiments. After all, Oliver did it and it wasn't a big deal.

Or was it? Because later that night, a maniac in a Tor Johnson mask attacks and kills a boy at a party before being unmasked as - you got it - Oliver. He can't remember anything, not even the bizarre surgical cuts that he did near his victim's eye. That said - whoever killed Bryan and the kid at the party couldn't have been the same person.

Despite all that, Pete still undergoes one of the professor's tests, swallowing pills and repeating key phrases. He also begins a romance with Caroline (Dey Young, Kate Rambeau from Rock 'n' Roll High School), a fellow student.

The murders only ramp up in intensity, with one woman finding her son chopped to bits in the bathroom before her throat is slashed. John, being a good cop, starts to feel that perhaps the professor has something to do with all of this, questioning her while being unaware that she's about to inject his son in the eyeball with a concoction of mind-altering drugs.

That's when we get the exposition - during John's date with his girlfriend Barbara (Louise Fletcher, who everyone else will tell you was in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but I'll confide that she was Dr. Gene Tuskin in Exorcist II: The Heretic) - where we learn that everyone who has died - including his wife - was tied to the unethical experiments of Le Sange. Even worse, Le Sange is probably still alive, because when the lovey-dovey twosome break into his crypt - talk about a romantic date! - his casket is empty.

The end of this movie is a mix of mind control madness, a mistaken case of paternity, doctors ordering their patients to kill themselves and even a happy close. It all lives up to the title - strange - in the best of ways.

You have to love when a movie totally stops to give you a synchronized dance scene, like a slasher film variant of the same kind of stuff that used to happen in 1950's films like I Was a Teenage Werewolf. That song - Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes" - was also covered by Klaus Nomi.

Speaking of music, Strange Behavior also benefits from a score by Tangerine Dream. I really need to get on to writing a list of movies that thier music made even better. They rival Goblin for how many cult films they scored.

A few Inspired moments of Horror, but Dull & Unbalanced

[loomis78-815-989034 · 5/10 · 30 April 2014]

In a small town in Illinois, the local teenagers have found a new way to make after school cash. They have been volunteering as test subjects at the local University in the psychology department run by Dr. Gwen Parkinson (Lewis). Parkinson is secretly doing the work of Dr. Le Sange (Dignam) who is believed to be dead after the crazed doctor was caught doing mind experiments on the kids which resulted in the death of the wife of local sheriff John Brady (Murphy). John's son Pete (Shor) has now began to volunteer and starts showing psychotic tendencies. Also known as "Strange Behavior", this film was shot in New Zealand and passed off as Illinois. Essentially it's the mad scientist behind the evil in this unbalanced horror film. There are a few effective sequences like when a mind controlled girl chases an old woman through a house and when twisted Oliver (Marc McClure) puts on a Tor Johnson mask and stalks and slashes a girl at a party. Unfortunately there are plenty of dull moments spread throughout and both the action and actors seem bored. This movie flicks to life in a few flashes which makes it watchable but it just never catches any momentum and in the end is quite forgettable.

"We're going to find the FAT ones!"

[hippiedj · 9/10 · 23 January 2004]

Definitely a film with its own personality, Strange Behavior can best be appreciated by those that remember when films didn't require fast editing to appease the short attention spans of MTV-weened young'ns. With lines like the one about the "fat ones" delivered by the great Charles Lane and a vision of a 1950s style small town set in the "present" (something director Michael Laughlin and writer Bill Condon again brought us in Strange Invaders), the film was a splendid hybrid of old fashioned Twilight Zone ambiance and the fun, then-fresh exuberance of New Wave music and sheer sense of FUN. To top off the great mix: a Tangerine Dream score.

Mad Scientists, teens partying (but in the pre-MTV, pre-home computer kind of ways), mysterious killings, and....strange behavior! Oh, and the kind of impromptu group dance that was a heck of a lot more fun than the big dance scene in Footloose! Where else would a sudden dance sequence just seem to fit into a film -- the way Strange Behavior smoothly incorporates old-style thrills with humor and wit, having a bunch of teens break out into dance to the song "Lightning Strikes" doesn't seem so unusual, especially since the theme of the party was 1960s TV characters! Disguising the location of New Zealand as an Illinois town was quite a treat as well.

The story could have easily been done a number of times: small midwestern town, teens used as behavioral science subjects, mysterious murders by different killers...but of course the collaboration of Laughlin and Condon assures us this is not going to be typical. the focus is not to scare you out of your wits, but to offer something more mysterious. Add to that a very great choice for the cast (including more seasoned actors the likes of Michael Murphy, Fiona Lewis, Louise Fletcher, Charles Lane and others, plus the ever-smoking Dey Young and Dan Shor bring a likable aspect as well without being pushy teens) and an eye for design, Strange Behavior rises far above the cookie-cutter horror (particularly slasher) films of that time, and even in the present. There are many master shots that go for lengthy takes, and those of us that care more for story and dialogue can savor what's going on. I wouldn't be surprised that younger audiences that are used to fast cuts and one-liners would find this film too slow (and then again youth that are smarter might embrace this as other films from over 20 years ago). The minimal bloodletting works just as well, and the needle-in-the-eye trick can still illicit a good squirm today just as it did in 1981.

It's great to see that Strange Behavior has influenced other films: Fiona Lewis' hairdo inspired the one Sean Young had in Blade Runner, and it's obvious the lackluster film Disturbing Behavior from 1998 was, to put it kindly, "inspired" by Strange Behavior. Joe Dante even wanted Fiona Lewis for Innerspace based on her being seen in this film.

Strange Behavior is a great reminder of how things were so much more based on literal creativity and storytelling. Nowadays, it's all about special effects done digitally and pushing soundtracks from bands or music styles no one's going to care about 10 years from now. Laughlin and Condon were smart enough to give us elements that remain to this day unique, memorable, and never wearing out their welcome. Sure, by today's standards the film may not seem so shocking, but having come from being a "teen" back in 1980, it was refreshing for its time and has well earned its cult status. Sure, even the songs in it are more cool than what's considered a hit these days!

Thank goodness Elite Entertainment has released the DVD in the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which also gives that widescreen feel of the 1950s thrillers in which Strange Behavior resembles so well. It makes my life much more fulfilling knowing such gems as this one are being given the respect and care in their restoration. Ignore the lower IMDb rating that it has at this time (just over a 4), because I feel it's being given a low rating by those who are too familiar with recent "shockers." The general reviews by the press were quite good for Strange Behavior back when it was released, and I for one feel that I do know a bit more about what quality is since I've experienced these kinds of films and their evolution up through to today's more slicker productions. It's also why you're hearing more references to older TV shows and songs in today's advertisements: they just don't make 'em like they used to, and there's just more distinction and personality in things from way back when! Or at least, some of them, since this film definitely was different from anything else when IT was released. Long live Strange Behavior!

An MKULTRA Death Party.

[meddlecore · 6/10 · 19 November 2020]

Strange Behaviour (aka Dead Kids) revolves around a mad doctor, who is running an mkultra-style experimental program, at a small college in fictional Centerville, Illinois.

They have been recruiting high school and college kids by offering them $100 per session.

Then using mind control techniques to make them kill their friends.

One of these boys is the son of the chief of police, whose wife had previously worked with this same doctor, before dying, herself.

And he never got a chance to pursue justice...which he has never lived down.

Now his son, who is trying to earn money for his college application, has also joined the program.

Recruited by his best friend, who ends up murdering a boy at a party, before being killed himself.

The scientists involved think that this will be a revolutionary treatment that will change the world.

But that doesn't really explain why they'd have to resort to murder in order to prove it.

In most cases, they are clearly just trying to remove an enemy of their program from the equation, or trying to cover their tracks, by tying up loose ends.

Which, in the end, may come back to haunt them.

For the most part, this is a relatively low budget- and all around- cheesy film.

But there's a bunch of gore, and the special effects are actually not that bad.

Making it a pretty fun little slasher flick, with a bit of a twist.

It was meant to be the first instalment of a trilogy.

But it only ever spawned a sequel- Strange Invaders (1983)- which was so ill-received, that they cancelled production of the third film.

Which is unfortunate, because this one is certainly worth checking out.

6 out of 10.

Better than expected, but...

[natashabowiepinky · 5/10 · 5 April 2013]

FINALLY, a passable horror. Although, I'll remember it more for a stunning I Dream Of Jeannie costume in the fancy dress party scene, than for the actual content. Also, I have no idea why this is rated 18 since the murders are more comical than gruesome, and the most horrific thing on displays are the bad 80's hairdos.

Still, Fiona Lewis's performance as the most ruthless female medical worker since Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is noteworthy (Oddly enough, the woman who played Nurse Ratched, Louise Fletcher, pops up here in a completely different role) and there is a nice little twist near the end.

Alas, the unrealistic stabbings and the presence of breathing corpses prevent it from ever being scary, and the tactic of renaming it DEAD KIDS in the UK just reeks of desperation.It's perfectly watchable,and miles better than some of the dross I've seen of this genre recently, but my wait for a truly good horror this year goes on

One of the truly great, overlooked, horror movies of the last 22 years.

[jawhite44 · 12 July 2002]

Chock full of haunting images, chilling murders, and good performances this slow, laconic but amazingly effective horror flick has stayed with me since I saw it when it was originally released. The film is best in its portrayal of teen life in a small college town in the midwest (though it was shot in New Zealand). Taking it's cue from there, the film moves along at a leisurely, but ultimately disquieting pace revealing that all is not so sleepy and calm in this rural environment.

Co-written by Academy Award-winner Bill Condon ("GODS AND MONSTERS") the story shows remarkable intelligence and wit in the vein of some of the best Roman Polanski flicks (e.g. "THE TENANT" and "REPULSION").

Best if seen in the movie theater to appreciate it's glorious widescreen landscapes. Wish this picture was out on DVD.

Strangeness and disquiet.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 8 March 2010]

"Strange Behavior" is a bizarre slasher/mad scientist horror film with moody score by Tangerine Dream.John Brady,sheriff of the small town of Galseburg,investigates a series of incidents where teenagers have gone berserk and started killing people.At the same time Brady's son Pete tries seeks to earn money for university tuition by volunteering for a series of mind control experiments being run by Dr Gwen Parkinson at the university psychology department."Strange Behavior" is the first horror film that was actually shot in New Zealand.The direction by Michael Laughlin is flat and there are some dull and lifeless moments.Still there are also some nasty shocks including particularly brutal throat stabbing committed by the masked killer at party.If you liked "Strange Behavior" check out "Death Warmed Up" with its almost identical plot.7 out of 10

Strange indeed.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 1 December 2008]

Set in the US, but shot in New Zealand by an Australian, Strange Behaviour stars Dan Shor as teenager Pete Brady who unwisely volunteers as a test subject for an experimental drug, in order to raise some much-needed cash. What Pete doesn't know, however, is that the scientist who has developed the treatment is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and is turning his human lab-rats into knife-wielding assassins.

'Strange' is a very fitting word for this early 80s movie, which opts to buck the trends of the day—gratuitous gore and nudity—to deliver a very unique horror experience. Although the basic premise of a mad scientist using human guinea pigs to carry out nefarious acts might be considered fairly routine material for the genre, this film proves to be far removed from other similarly themed fare, and totally unlike the mainstream horrors of the era: there is a small helping of nasty violence in Strange Behaviour, but it is director Michael Laughlin's distinctly offbeat style and the promise of much weirdness that has lead fans of cult/drive-in movies to seek out the film.

An impromptu formation dance routine at a 50s themed party, set to the sound of Lou Christie's "Lighting Strikes"; a psycho bitch scientist (played by Fiona Lewis) who is handy with a syringe; a gratuitous toenail clipping scene; Jimmy Olsen from Superman in crap fancy dress; Louise Fletcher NOT playing an evil cow; a creepy kid in a rubber mask and a murderous fat girl: it's all very quirky, and yet, somehow, it works—at least until the lacklustre final act, which fails to keep the levels of lunacy sufficiently high, and which is capped by a very abrupt ending that sorely needs a clever twist or suitably bizarre revelation to round off things in a satisfactory manner.

An offbeat horror that rises above the milieu of 80's slashers

[Colbridge · 6/10 · 28 August 2023]

By now slasher movies had been around in the mainstream since Halloween in 1978 but director Michael Laughlin decides to mix things up a little and comes at the 80's slasher from a 1950's B-movie sensibility, so what we end up with is explicit gore alongside schlocky sci-fi, and it's all the more refreshing for it.

Originally titles Dead Kids, Strange Behaviour was to be the first of a trilogy to homage 1950's genre movies but Laughlin only got this and the follow up Strange Invaders (1983) made. Shot in New Zealand but featuring a mainly American cast this also benefits from having a more superior crop of actors in it such as Louise Fletcher, Michael Murphy, Fiona Lewis and Marc McClure than a cast of unknowns that usually permeates these kinds of low budget horrors.

A sleepy University town in Illinois is awakened by a series of brutal killings which the Police suspect are somehow related. However rather than being a suspected serial killer the link could be coming from the University itself as someone is conducting experiments using a mind control drug among the local teenage population.

Co-written by Laughlin, the author and producer of the critically acclaimed road movie Two Lane Blacktop (1971), and Bill Condon who is most notable for writing Gods and Monsters (1997) and Dreamgirls (2006), Strange Behaviour is an odd, intriguing and different 80's horror movie that does get rather ponderous at times but gets an extra star from me for including the classic pop hit Lightning Strikes by Lou Christie, an earworm you won't be able to get out of your head, and a score by electronic pioneers Tangerine Dream.

Different horror film, but falls apart in the middle

[jcaraway3 · 5/10 · 25 April 2012]

The first half of this horror film, about strange experiments going on at a small campus, is very good. It was very effective thanks to a chilling score by Tangerine Dream and had some expert cinematography. It also had some big names in the cast. Michael Murphy (M*A*S*H), Louise Fletcher(One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest) and classic film actor Charles Lane.

But then, maybe 3/4ths of the way through, it gets terrible. And it gets there quick. I think the scene that convinced me this movie was no longer good was the one where Michael Murphy's character is talking to Louise Fletcher's at the kitchen table. He talks about this evil scientist like he's some cartoon super villain. In fact, the plot to this whole movie becomes a ridiculous mad scientist/ revenge story like you would see in a Poverty Row production from the 30s or 40s, with hilariously campy lab scenes straight out of a bottom of the barrel James Bond flick. It loses all credibility here. It loses it's atmospheric feel , the blond kid acts like he's high for most of the rest of the film, and it has a climax that is very predictable and feels like it was thought up right on the spot. It also has one of the most pointless and confusing (to me anyway) "last lines" in movie history, and ends abruptly. I would also like to note that, unless I missed something, we never find out what happens to any of the kids that the mad doctor experiments on. (SPOILER) They just kill and disappear from the film altogether.

So to me, it just seems like the filmmakers stopped caring halfway through. They don't even try to cover up this one kid's New Zealand accent (it's set in Illinois, but was shot in New Zealand.)

This movie is included in the same set with "Patrick". It is marginally better than that film but alas, only marginally.

Unheard of gem and great stumble on

[willandcharlenebrown · 7/10 · 19 November 2020]

Thanks Amazon Prime for recommending based on films I have liked and watched! Great acting and great spin on a slasher movie!!!!!

Not bad, but not very good.

[innocuous · 5/10 · 7 April 2008]

SB is definitely not a reminder of the teen slasher/slasher runs loose at camp/sorority house serial killer films of the 80s. The violence is quite mild (with the possible exception of a certain bathroom scene), there's no mystery about who the killer is or why they're killing, and there's no gratuitous nudity. (In fact, I don't recall any nudity at all.) The plot, which revolves around the ability of mad scientist types to remotely control the behavior of teens and to make them commit murder, is hackneyed and dated even by the standards of the early 80s. The viewer is let in on the plot fairly early in the film. Combined with the low overall body count (and some inexplicable gaps in the storyline,) the film can be both boring and puzzling.

Several well-known actors put in obligatory roles, but only Louise Fletcher seems embarrassed by her marginal and insignificant character. Fiona Lewis plays...well, Fiona Lewis. Charles Lane appears in the movie, but we're never sure exactly why. Dan Shor is a somewhat odd and inappropriate choice as the teen lead. He was 25 when the movie was made and while this is not uncommon in casting teens, he is not able to pull it off. Besides being a couple inches shorter than the romantic interest, he walks around like a zombie BEFORE he's zombified and his face makes him look like he's just come off a three-day bender. From the right angle, he'll remind you of William Katt, but with none of Katt's charm or boyish sense of humor.

One distinctive touch to this movie is the odd little scene that serves as a coda. The scene does not really serve any purpose...there are no revelations...no suggestions that "the evil" will return...no surprises or shocks...no final resolution of the fate of Fiona Lewis's character. It's just filler stuck on the end.

In spite of all the film's flaws, it is fairly well-made and the NZ scenery does stand in well for Illinois. Overall, it's quite competent, just not memorable.

Strictly for those who enjoy such movies, as there is little else to recommend it other than the genre.

A fascinating offbeat horror movie.

[nippy-4 · 10/10 · 6 October 1999]

Don't let the unpleasant title put you off, this is an excellent little movie that I actually found quite scary. The acting is top class especially from Dan Shor and Michael Murphy who star. Louise Fletcher is also on top form and all three bring a realistic almost 'cinema veritie' feel to the proceedings. The film works because of Michael laughlins direction that develops the film on many levels. On the one hand there is lots of atmosphere and a suspenseful intensity that builds up to the films climax yet Laughlin also concentrates on character development and relationships giving us insights in to Chief Bradys (Michael Murphy) mysterious past and the close father/son relationship him and Pete (Dan Shor) have. The film also pays close attention to small town life. In this small Louisiana town everyone knows everyone there are lots of nice little touches by Laughlin to point this out. Laughlins direction also has a humorous edge to it and the good acting adds to this. There is one incredibly surreal scene in the movie at a party where all the 'party-goers' start dancing in unison! They are all in 50's style fancy dress and dance in a hyperbolic 50's fashion! Although it is hard to decipher Laughlins motives here this scene seems incredibly inspired to me personally. Although some scenes in this film are quite shocking I cannot comment on the amount of gore in this film because I have only seen the UK 18 cert release which has been cut considerably and panned and scanned. If only there was a widescreen version available I for one would instantly snap it up!

Overall quite a confusing entry

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 6/10 · 14 June 2014]

A string of strange deaths in a small-town lead the sheriff to a rather obscure mystery he was involved with years earlier that has resulted in several youths running rampage over the residents that may have a more ghastly ulterior motive.

Not really too sure what to make of this one, as there's a lot to work with that really shines through. The initial part of the murder mystery is pretty decent with a couple fun and admittedly enjoyable stalking scenes that definitely give off a tense vibe from time-to-time, and the finale offers some pretty interesting revelations that are definitely unnerving, but the fact that the film is just so slow-going and dragged-out that it really loses a lot of it's steam just by dragging out the investigation and doing nothing with what should've been a tense scene beforehand. Add to that a low number of kills which result in a tame amount of blood, a lot of broad comedy that really isn't funny and shouldn't be in the movie and a far more complex plot that normal really doom this one significantly.

Rated R: Language and Violence.

The dead don't come back and take revenge - they don't.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 14 August 2008]

This video nasty, released as "Human Experiments" with 26 seconds cut in 1994, and also known as "Dead Kids" in the US was one of the 74 films banned in Britain.

Now, some may be grossed out quickly by Michael Murphy clipping his toenails at the breakfast table, Yech! I assure you there are more hideous things awaiting. It has lots of exciting scenes like the knife in the head, blood and screams, more blood and more screams.

What it didn't have, however, was anything that would make this something to ban. Those 26 seconds must have been horrendous.

I did enjoy seeing Louise Fletcher in a good role.