Most people look back at their teen years with more than a little halo effect. We tend to recall pleasant memories; school rallies, first dates and idyll hours hanging out with friends. It is natural to gloss over the hormonal turmoil, resentment of authority and the frequently overwhelming effect of peer pressure that molded our behavior. Most films about this tumultuous segment of life depicting the pivotal movements in a positive light. Then there is the type of movie that tries to show the worst case scenario of teen life; a basically good kid gone terribly wrong. Movies like this are typically set in a juvenile detention facility making these flicks into jail movies-light; half the age, twice the angst. Many of this particular type of movie were made during the fifties and sixties; the golden age of exploitation cinema that was regular faire in grind-houses and drive-ins across the country. A good number of flicks of this sort were released by United Artist or some smaller studio later acquired making them candidates for a recent set of DVDs that are being released by MGM/UA. These movies are now available as members of the Limited Collector’s edition Made on Demand releases. The video and audio are about on par with good video tape but what really matters here is the opportunity to add these movies to your collection. For many of us these are the movies we went to see on a Friday evening with friends making them memorable parts of our own personal history besides their contribution to cinematic history. The movie for consideration here is ‘High School Hellcats’. It is a perfect example of late fifties explorative movies blending the teen rebellion made famous with more mainstream movies like ‘Blackboard Jungle’ with a dash of the always popular grind-house theme of women in prison’. Don’t let the title mislead you. This is actually a respectable piece of film with more consideration given to production values than the typical Drive-in movie. With that said it does also manage to retain the elements we loved most about this sort of film; it is fun to watch and exceptionally easy to get into. Don’t search for social commentary or some profound message. This is cheap thrills cinema and is best appreciated when taken on that level.

This movie was originally released by American International Pictures, one of the most recognizable logos for those of us accustomed to frequently the more broken down venues of film. If you thought Rachel McAdams was a nasty piece of work in ‘Mean Girls’ and that ‘The Plastics’ represented a bad influence in a school just wait until you start watching this movie. In many ways this movie is a darker treatment of many of the same themes covered in ‘Mean Girls’ but the girls in this particular clique are far more prone to commit felonies than anything ‘The Plastics’ could imagine on their worse day. Similar to the lighthearted Disney take the core of this story is the corruption of innocence and the down side of peer pressure. There is nothing new about a teenager’s all consuming need to fit in but ‘High school Hell Cats’ takes matters to a visceral level; one where at lot more that social survival is at stake. Let’s put it this way; the opening credits are initiated by a girl tossing a switchblade with practiced and deadly accuracy. This is not a look at young ladies voted most likely to marry, settle down and raise babies. One note here that was a favorite observation of mine for quite awhile; the fifties bred the oldest looking teenagers ever. The cast of this movie most assuredly had not seen the inside of a high school since FDR was wondering about the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Younger members of the audience that may happen upon this movie need to realize that it was produced seriously as an admonition to the contemporary teenagers. After only a few years had passed when I initially saw it the movie was already considered high camp. I suppose that this status remains applicable today. Another artifact of the sensibilities prevalent in the fifties is what passed for near criminal behavior would barely get detention in high school now. The ‘rough language is milder than found in a ‘PG’ flick and the fashions tame even by their standards. When the Alpha female Connie (Jana Lund), wants to humiliate the new kid in school, Joyce (Yvonne Lime), she does so by tricking her into showing up for class in slacks. Poor Joyce is later subject to the parental fashion police when her father scolds her for the slutty behavior of walking around their home clad in only a slip. I have serious doubts about the number of teen girls that even know what a slip is or that it is not a type of dress.

The gang, ‘The Hell Cats’ are able to strike fear in the heart of a substitute teacher by repeating hackney phrases in response to comments like ‘Take your seats’ (where you want us to take them?) there is nothing in the way of overt violence and even less of a sexual nature but it has to be remembered that juvenile delinquency was one of the hot button topics in the fifties. Kids then were blamed for everything from the disintegration of society to the increase in crimes in most American cities. In this film there are several pointed comments are leveled against the breakup of the nuclear family. a mother going out telling her daughter to just make a sandwich if she gets hungry of a gang member lamenting about not needing the support of the gang if she only had such attention at home. Unintentionally this movie relates one of the prevalent fears of the time heighten by post war women finding interest outside the sanctity of the home. This film may seem like a comedy and in many respects in our present culture it is. Just remember that back then this was seriously considered.