One of the toughest aspects in all of filmmaking, after the financial backing is secure, is having a crew and cast respect and support, many directors have been dismissed over it, writers fired or flat-out quit due to it, and stars leaving a project due the hostilities. However, in many low to no budgets one sometimes needs to struggle with the situation, herein the director battled constant with his cinematographer Peter Bonilla, who went on to work primarily in the documentary field.

The slasher subgenre is filled with a few exceptional classics, mediocre fillers, and the dredge, many allow of unintentional laughs, a lot of groans, then there’s the WTF meets Swiss cheese creations, this one falls into the last grouping. It’s not a classic or even cultist, from the get-go it has one target audience in mind the male teenager, women bouncing, bobbing, and plenty of clothed T&A plastered everywhere. Way back in the eighties, it was big hair, and Jane Fonda led the aerobics enthusiasts, with headbands and leg warmers with the tightest spandex possible and disco music turned to dreadful pop, led to plenty of stereotypes and influence this bizarre storyline. Director and writer David A. Prior, who three years before this made the lukewarm slasher Sledgehammer [1983] created this monstrosity, which starred his brother in the adequate main role. Released by Academy Home Entertainment, home to many horror and thrillers flicks, as well supplying the very home VHS market with entertainment enjoyment for the b-movie viewers, as led to a solid backing from the horror fans, and in 2015 Olive Films made sure to make it available in all media formats with Slasher//Video delivering a limited quantity of Blu-rays for those thoroughly craving a special treatment of the movie.

The film begins like a scene from Final Destination 3 with Valerie, a model, informed she’s earned the appearance on the upcoming cover of some magazine, who anxiously spins around apartment, decides to head over to Second Sun to use its tanning bed. Then three minutes later we get our first direct T&A moment followed be a strange fire, though no special makeup effects just flash of fire, smoke and then darkness – oh wow. This all happens for no apparent reasoning, it just malfunctions, and she dies, then a hard cut to a gym entitled Rhonda’s Workout and a very sexualized and highly provocative of 99% of women doing an aerobic dance routine complete with some interesting lyrics. We quickly are introduced to the manager and owner Rhonda (Marcia Karr) and muscle-bound bruiser Jimmy (Fritz Matthews (Night Wars [1988])), who seems of a bit creep and finally her often tardy instructor Jaimy (Teresa Vander Woude (Night Visitor [1989])); who’s wearing the deepest plunging neckline in workout outfits ever, clearly showing excessive cleavage.

Ugly Women’s Locker Room

Hence, we see in the crappy women’s locker room Rachel climbing into the shower, only to shortly later killed with very large safety pin (no kidding) and her reaction to being stabbed with it is so delayed, as if she suddenly remembered ‘oh yeah I’m being stabbed’, it’s that bad, though most considered this dreadful homage to Psycho [1960] classic shower scene, oh please.

Psycho So-Called Homage

Meanwhile, Jaimy is cleaning the men’s changing room, and opens an unlocked locker and plays with a jock strap for … well who the hell knows reason; and we get one of those fake-out POV shots from ‘the killer’ before over to the lady’s room. There she discovers Rachel’s body neatly stuffed into a full-sized locker, with a quick cut of the body hauled away and no forensic worked done, except for Lieutenant Morgan (David James Campbell (Night Claws [2012])) on the scene to investigate. By the next day, its back to business, another aerobics class with more tantalizing shots, and some muscle crunching guys, with Rhonda leering around with attitude before catching snooping Chuck (Ted Prior), who states new hire from her co-owner. So, another strange cut to Chuck takes out garbage and then suddenly Jimmy arrives and confronts him concerning Rhonda they a lame fight al while Jenny watches and is impressed with the macho display. They head back to her place, a great way to spend your first day on the job, she then setups Jimmy as a possible killer suspect. Shortly, the body count mounts, next its Diane, who again is killed with a large safety pin (unsure if its an indirect reference to Student Bodies [1981]) this time in her home.

Murder Weapon

Meanwhile some local teens somehow are clairvoyant, spray graffiti calling the place Aerobicide (original title) and also Death Spa (which incidentally was the title for a 1988 horror flick set at a health spa, no connection to this movie); because up to this point technically only one murder took place inside the gym.

Ah, our killer upgrades to using sheer physical force and a knife to rid the streets of those three pesky teens, who also vanished from the cinematic world. Next up two more a weightlifter named Brad and his buddy bite the dust one by dumbbell and the trusty safety pin, so thrilling. Tom (Richard Bravo) discovers the bodies, but the amazing Chuck appears on the scene and “boffo” Tom, fret not he’s not the killer either, as he gets whacked while the police, namely Officer Peterson (Larry Reynolds (My Bloody Valentine [1981])) are on the premises. Meanwhile, the aerobic classes play on, with camera capturing all the suggestive poses possible, this happens a lot in the movie. The ending moves swiftly with a spin of the bottle of who the killer actually is, and a few more bodies drop both at the gym and other places, our killer hides secrets reminiscent of Sleepaway Camp [1983].

The film actually is quite watchable, the audio drops at times, so not always perfect, listening carefully for characters if it’s important to you. The cleavage hungry market of viewers will find plenty to salivate over throughout the film. It’s surprisingly adequate, though the bland characters appear quickly utter unimportant lines only to find themselves dispatched with haste, no true scares.

It might seem unusual, that it is difficult to sum up a lousy movie like this, but it one that harkens back to the mid-80s, and to subculture in society, the fitness craze; as the home video market open many doors for filmmakers it aided in giving a private lesson for all people obsess physical acceptance from others. The movie itself does that, yes those images of fit, trim, and overly muscular individuals but everyone served up for a smorgasbord of death, yet the craving of a perfect bod has them all return to a gym of death. Talk about dedication, chiseled looks versus death, carnage candy for the masses.

NFSW Trailer

TAGLINES:

• The workout will kill you!
• Something very unhealthy is happening at Rhonda’s health club.

*Note: the soundtrack is still popular:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091339/

IMDb Rating: 4.7/10

Baron’s Rating: 3.5/10

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