The late 1970s onwards was a period in American exploitation cinema where inner cities were full of violent gangs, uncontrolled by police and authorities. This trend continued in the 1980s with mainstream cinema churning out Death Wish and Dirty Harry sequels.

This obscure B movie outing features an early film appearance by Michael J Fox, one of the few actors in this film who looks like a high school student.

Perry Kings plays newbie Music teacher at Lincoln High whose idealism quickly goes out of the window as its run by a nihilistic gang of scumbags led by Peter Stegman who despite living a high style life, he can even play the piano spends most of his time living the life of violence and drug pushing. He is so bad that we even seem him and his cronies beat up a gang of black drug pushers. Well it is a far fetched film!

Mr Norris is the only one to stand up to him. Despite security guards, CCTV the Dean of the school can never find any wrongdoing by the thugs and other teachers just turn a blind eye until Roddy McDowall the Biology teacher snaps that is.

Timothy Van Patten is having a hoot as the vile and cunning Stegman who really gets off in bringing misery which also includes an unsettling gang rape scene. The scene in a bathroom where he frames Mr Norris was re-used in Fight Club but let's not talk about that.

The film is at times preposterous with some of the students looking they are about to hit middle age. You kind of wonder why normal students come here because it is not safe or go postal with a machine gun on Stegman which is something that would happen nowadays.

The film is cheesy, some uneven acting, some exploitation nudity and violence with some dark humour. After Mr Norris gets all Death Wish and starts to pursue the gang, he gets away with it because no one saw anything.

Back when people were shocked at what went on in school in The Blackboard Jungle, they hardly knew what to expect next. In the Sixties it was Up The Down Staircase. But wait till you see Class Of 1984. Makes those previous films look like the little red school house.

Perry King and expecting wife Merrie Lynn Ross are new to the city and the school where King has got a new job as the music teacher. The school he teaches in is terrorized by a drug gang whose head is the psychopathic Timothy Van Patten.

Whatever you want to say about Van Patten plainly he's a person with no redeemable qualities not even the fact he's a piano virtuoso. I've said about many characters in the movies and in real life, some in this world are no damn good. Evil is a concept that people have trouble recognizing or grasping, but Van Patten is both terrifying and mesmerizing in what he does with the part.

Michael J. Fox before he hit stardom with Family Ties plays one of the younger kids who Van Patten and his bunch terrorize. Roddy McDowell is also here as a burned out teacher who cracks up under the strain.

Class Of 1984 is not for the squeamish in school.

Despite being made on a low budget with a relatively no-name cast, CLASS OF 1984 has become something of a classic when it comes to cult cinema. Not since DEATH WISH have we had such a realistic, gritty low-down slice of urban exploitation, and here the violence is played out brutally and inevitably within the walls of a run-down school terrorised by a gang of malicious, victimising punks. This powerful film is miles ahead of something like 187 in its depiction of classroom violence and although the subject matter is offensive, the film is still gripping to watch. It's one of the rare instances where I was hooked to the screen and couldn't possibly stop watching until the credits rolled.

Despite being made thirty years ago, the film hasn't really dated and in fact seems perhaps even more important today: certainly in the age of classroom shootings and ghetto violence it's not difficult to believe that somewhere in the world stuff like this is really going on. Director Mark Lester (known for making violent movies - take COMMANDO for example) charts the action well with his matter-of-fact direction which really puts the action "in your face". However, it's not just about the action; although there is a lot of it, the characterisation and storyline are just as important if not more so. Music by the veteran Lalo Shifrin keeps things moving along and an opening song by Alice Cooper seems appropriate. There's a nice sense of pacing which means those ninety minutes just seem to fly by.

Lester's cast is mainly packed with unfamiliar faces (which is a plus in a realistic film like this),although a couple of famous actors do show up. In the lead role, Perry King (THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY) is excellent as the victimised teacher who is finally pushed to the edge by the terrorising punks when his pregnant wife is raped. His ordinary, even kind teacher makes for a sympathetic hero and we're behind him all the way. Merrie Lynn Ross is okay as his loving wife but her role is a very minor one, seemingly there for plot purposes only. Timothy Van Patten shines as the leader of the punk gang, Stegman, an intelligent lad who has dedicated his life to evil pursuits. The other gang members are fine too even though their roles are one-dimensional.

Famous faces to look out for include Michael J Fox in his debut as an extremely young-looking victim of the school bullies and Al Waxman playing a detective (but then didn't he always?). However, most memorable is the scene-stealing Roddy McDowall (FRIGHT NIGHT) who plays fellow teacher Corrigan who is forced to turn to drink to forget about the problems of the class. McDowall has some excellent scenes, the finest of which is when he holds up his class with a gun and asks them life-or-death questions. There's also an excellent tragic moment where he goes gunning for the bad guys in his car, causing it to crash and explode in an impressive display of special effects.

The best part of the film is the gripping conclusion, set on the night of the prom. Here, King's wife has been kidnapped by the thugs who are leading King through the dark corridors of the school, beating him up. Then he decides to fight back, leading to some cool scenes of him killing the gang in various ways which will have you cheering. This is audience manipulation at its finest and it doesn't disappoint on the violence front. Although not a film for all tastes, I would recommend CLASS OF 1984 to exploitation fans looking for more than just violence and gore, as this is also a well-made, well-acted film besides which uses the violence in context instead of just having it for violence's sake. Great, disturbing stuff.