Cutting Class
| Cutting Class | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Rospo Pallenberg |
| Produced by |
Donald R. Beck Rudy Cohen Peter S. Davis William N. Panzer |
| Written by | Steve Slavkin |
| Starring |
Brad Pitt Roddy McDowall Jill Schoelen Donovan Leitch |
| Music by | Jill Fraser |
| Cinematography | Avi Karpick |
| Edited by | Bill Butler Natan Zahavi |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures Home Video |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Cutting Class is a 1989 American dark comedy slasher film directed by Rospo Pallenberg and written by Steve Slavkin. The film was Brad Pitt's first major role.
The plot revolves around the return of Brian Woods (Leitch), a "problem teen." He has just been released from a mental hospital; he was admitted after the suspicious death of his father, who crashed and died while driving a car with cut brakes. He falls in love with classmate Paula Carson (Jill Schoelen), but the local basketball star Dwight Ingalls (Brad Pitt) is already Paula's boyfriend. Meanwhile, the lecherous school principal also seeks Paula's affections. Then horrible murders start happening with no one certain of the identity of the culprit. The main suspects are Dwight, whose control of his anger has never been perfect; Woods, who may not have been fully cured at the sanitarium; and the principal, who seems to stop at nothing in his attempts to bed Paula.
The film opens with a paperboy delivering newspapers. A paper is delivered to Paula Carson's house. Paula is approached by her father, Bill, who is an attorney, who has planned a hunting trip. He warns Paula to do her homework, not to allow boys in the house, and most importantly not to cut class. Paula then puts the newspaper in the bin, showing its headline: "Boy who killed father released from Mental Asylum."
Bill Carson drives to the swamps for his hunting trip. As he takes shots into the air, someone is hiding nearby and holding a set of bows and arrows. The person calls over to Bill Carson and fires an arrow into him. Bill cries out and then falls down to the ground.
Meanwhile, Dwight Ingalls enters class late after avoiding two accidents on his ride to school. Dwight is questioned by his teacher, Mr. Conklin, and a girl sitting next to Dwight whispers the answers to him. Dwight tells her to shut up when she teases Dwight for not knowing what H2O is.
Later, Colleen and Paula are taking out gym equipment. Paula walks past a set of bows and arrows and notices a leaf hanging off the arrow. Paula picks the leaf off and then eats it. Meanwhile, Brian is told to climb a rope by the P.E. coach, but Dwight caused him to fall.
At a hot dog stand, Colleen, Paula, and Gary are waiting for Dwight. Brian approaches, and Colleen insults him before suggesting that Brian has a crush on Paula. Dwight then pulls up in his car and starts talking to Paula. He asks her to go to her house, as her father is away, which would give them the opportunity to be alone. Dwight then goes to buy Paula a hot dog, but he is beaten by Brian who hands her one and says, "You had that look." When Dwight returns, he tells Paula to get in the car and makes it clear to Brian that they are not friends anymore and to leave him and Paula alone. They all then drive off in Dwight's car.
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