Movielogr
The Drifting Classroom (1987)
Directed by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi
Twitter Facebook Google+Disaster | Science Fiction | Horror
Overview
An entire Japanese international grade school—and all within—are mysteriously transported to a foreboding desert wasteland. As the story unfolds, the diminishing student body weathers this apocalyptic crisis while searching for clues about their surroundings, and dealing with psychological breakdown and dangerous exterior forces.
Length 104 minutes
Actors
Yasufumi Hayashi | Kiwako Harada | Yuki Kitazume | Nenji Kobayashi | Kaho Minami | Yoshiko Mita | Toshie Negishi | Toshinori Omi | Etsushi Takahashi | Aiko Asano | Vajra Barzaghi | Leana D'Aloisio | Marcus Daub | Troy Donahue | Dennis Falt | Kwanchai Faulkner | Elizabeth Hoffler | Aura Lani | Robert McAfee | Kathleen O'Connor | Jason Orr | Georgio Paulino | Jini Pierson
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/06/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
DKUTV served up a student themed double feature tonight that started with this film, one I missed last time they programmed it. Was glad to get another chance to see this bonkers flick. Tho not nearly as wacky, silly or fun as HAUSU it would pair well with that movie. It’s by the same director which I didn’t know during the viewing but suspected as much. Has the same visual flare.
Besides the general premise I don’t know where to begin. Seemingly random a primary school full of students and teachers gets sucked into a time slip that sends them to a desolate wasteland. As they attempt to survive the parents are shown still in Kobe hoping for a solution to bring them back. But all kinds of wild shit happens including a infected student returning from the wasteland in a mad rage attempting to kill everyone. An attack of giant bug monsters. A student-led expedition that occurs over one day for them but is over a month for those still at the school.
It’s one crazy thing after another that led me to believe this was a manga adaptation. That proved to be correct. It just feels like a long running series all sealed up in one film. While not super great like HAUSU there’s enough here to recommend and have me wanting my own copy of the film. I actually watched it 1.5x since I kept on the rebroadcast and it was just as compelling. I really like weird this gets.
I like that the story is set in Kobe and at an international school so have the dialog is in English b/c of all the foreign kids in the movie. Of course the dialogue is odd but expected.
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