Dead Heat, Hellraiser, The Stuff, I’ve seen most of the big classic output of New World Pictures of the mid to late 80’s, but Reform School Girls has always eluded me until now, with this feature packed blu from Vinegar Syndrome, from a new 2K scan of the interpositive
Reform School Girls is follows a new group of girls brought to a reform school that is lorded over by the sadistic head of the ward, Edna(played with maniacal glee by Pat Ast) and tough as nails inmate Charlie(punk rock icon Wendy O. Williams). Jenny is the main girl we follow as she immediately butts heads with Edna and Charlie, and a slew of “women in prison” cliches follow. The film walks the tight rope of being a pretty obvious spoof of the genre while playing everything completely straight, a task that director Tom DeSimone(of Hell Night fame) handles quite well. Were treated to the usual copious T&A, and cat fights that the genre offers, until it all dissolves into the action packed finale that will having you hooting and hollering. Reform School Girls is a real 80’s treat, full of the big hair and rocking soundtrack you’d expect of something of it’s era, and it delivers all the entertainment that that entails.
Vinegar Syndrome present this blu of Reform School Girls from a fresh 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive and the results here are great to my eyes. Its very similar to other blu’s of New World releases from this time period given the same care. Clear, no signs of any DNR, the colors really pop when they need to. I haven’t seen the old Anchor Bay DVD to compare, but I was fully satisfied with how this release looked. Audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, I didn’t notice anything wrong with the audio mix, everything was clear, no pops or cracks, everything came in great.
Vinegar Syndrome loaded this bad boy up with bonus features, including a making of documentary with many cast and crew members sharing stories on the making of the film from script to release, a lot of cool information you’ll learn watching this, you also get two audio commentaries, interviews on Wendy O. Williams and Pat Adst, and the theatrical trailers
-Billy Jarrett