I’m not sure why but it seems I’ve been sent yet another film from the 80s. I don’t know what I did to get in the good graces of the powers that be (aka Jeff Dolniak). Please someone tell me so this happens again! Not that I don’t love watching the modern stuff, too, but it’s nice to have some throwbacks/classics come my way.
Dead Kids (aka Strange Behavior) sets the stage with a teenager sneaking a little ciggy in his room while his mom is downstairs preparing dinner. The power goes out and after the kid lights a candle and plays shadow puppets, he’s brutally murdered.
Chief of Police John Brady and his son, Pete, live in this tiny town of Galesburg. While dad is busy trying to solve the murder, Pete is trying to find a way to raise some quick cash so he can apply to the local university. Cue his bud, Oliver, who tells him about some scientific trials at Galesburg U where, if Pete volunteers to participate as a guinea pig, he can earn $100 per session (minimum two sessions required).
What could possibly go wrong?
Yep, these sessions involve behavior modification practices based on the recorded instructions of a dead professor, LaSange. When Pete signs up, the head technician, Gwen Parkinson, makes sure Pete hasn’t told his father about it. RED FLAG, PETE! RED FLAG! She then gives him a pill that supposed to make him smarter, increasing the connections in his brain, but really he just feels high 15 seconds after swallowing it. RED FLAG, PETE! RED FLAG!
After a few more murders, and a shit ton more red flags, CoP Brady believes these trials at the college are at the heart of everything. You see, his wife used to work for Dr. LaSange and in developing his crazy theories. John never believed her sudden death was anything but that bastard’s fault.