THE MAJORETTES (1985/released 1987), aka ONE BY ONE

Director: Bill Hinzman

Writer: John Russo adapting his novel

Producer: John Russo

Cast: Kevin Kindlin, Terrie Godfrey, Sueanne Seamens, Denise Huot, Tom E. Desrocher, Carl Hetrick, Mark V. Jevicky, Mary Jo Limpert, Harold K. Keller, Zachary Mott, Tom Madden, M. Therian, Jacqueline Bowman, Colin Martin, Russ Streiner, Tammy Petruska, Dana Maiello, Gina Cotton, Angela Eckerd, Angela Canalungo, Teresa Almendarez, Edna Kleitz, Joy Deco, George Brennan, Joe Blakely, Earl Brandstadter, John Russo, Bill Hinzman, Amy Mathesiuf, Wilbur Roncone, Daryl Darak, Robert Lintner, Abby Roach, Jay Ross, Dave Gordon 

High school majorettes are being stalked and killed. Part of the killer’s deadly ritual involves immersion of his victims’ bodies in water. The murders set off ripples throughout the small town that disrupt the lives of the victims’ classmates and some very unsavory characters. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

When Night of the Living Dead (1968) alumni John Russo, Bill Hinzman, and Russ Streiner held a reunion to make The Majorettes, they played the slasher game pretty late in that horror subgenre’s season. Being filmed several years past the slasher film’s peak of popularity and not released for two more years, some may attribute its modest reputation to slasher film burnout at the box office, though home video was probably intended as its main outlet. Others still devoted to that style of horror were probably frustrated that The Majorettes was not just more of the same. 

As it is based on John Russo’s 1979 novel that was published before the slasher film had established a formula, The Majorettes has a more complex narrative and a wider range of character concerns than the typical slasher flick. It is not just a series of nasty kills, but about an assortment of characters that conflict with one another and react in surprising ways. The murderer of the majorettes is the catalyst for those confrontations. That may seem like a film lacking focus, but I see it as a welcome variation for the slasher film. This movie has intrigue beyond waiting for the reveal of the killer’s identity. 

One thing that I appreciate about John Russo’s writing, in both his novels and his films, is that his characters are not idealized. They usually come from mundane circumstances, and many of his characters are both petty and principled. No one is grandstanding as heroic or sympathetic. They are just living their lives as horror intrudes. 

A good example of the messy morality of Russo’s characters is the majorette Nicole (Jacqueline Bowman) that comes on to the nerdy photographer Tommy (Colin Martin). She is doing this out of fear and confusion resulting from a recent, unwanted pregnancy. Nicole thinks that, if she has sex with Tommy, she will have a more responsible person to blame the pregnancy on instead of the local drug pusher Mace Jackson (Tom E. Desrocher). Yet Nicole’s conscience does not allow her to follow through on her seduction. 

Kevin Kindlin plays the closest thing to a hero in The Majorettes. His character is the star high school quarterback Jeff Halloway. He is bickering with his majorette girlfriend Judy Marino (Sueanne Seamens) about their future together if Jeff goes off to college out of town. Both have legitimate motivations for their friction. These disputes are not integral to the plot, but they ground us in the reality of the life and times of these two characters. That is something that many more “focused” films don’t bother to do. When everything seems too deliberate, a film can seem contrived instead of relatable. 

Later, The Majorettes again loses its focus as a pure slasher film when Jeff is repeatedly traumatized by a succession of brutal events and retaliates. At that point the film veers into “Rambo” territory, yet it all plays out in a much less sensational fashion that seems all too likely these days. Jeff is never glorified in that action hero mode. He is just a high school kid that snaps. 

That is not to say that all of writer John Russo’s characters are sympathetic. He is never remiss to include scumbags, perverts, and sociopaths in his stories. There is no shortage of them in The Majorettes. They figure into some subplots that create a bit of complexity I can appreciate as a variation on typical slasher films. However, they also contribute to that loss of focus whined about by slasher purists. 

Even this film’s original title seems contrary to the genre. It does not follow the holiday-titled tradition that provided an almost perverse contrast to the horror in many previous slasher films. Its title is also not designating its bloody intent. While The Majorettes makes its youth-centric concerns apparent, it also sounds like a likely title for a teen-sex comedy. I find it morbidly appropriate to title the film with the innocent triggers and targets of the madman’s atrocities. 

And what of our majorette-mauling madman? He is the catalyst for all sorts of suspicions and repercussions among the cast of characters. Like many horror films, the menace is of interest because his transgressive behavior disrupts society. He is an element of chaos that not only threatens public safety, but also causes complications for other nefarious locals. It is an uneasy reminder of just how flawed and fragile civilization really is. This is reinforced by the killer’s so-called values that many would believe help maintain social stability. 

We are also not comforted by the agents of social order in this film. Few of the adults seem to have meaningful interaction with the teens. The parents are rarely present. Members of the faculty, clergy, and law enforcement are portrayed as suspicious or ineffectual. While there are some well-meaning people around doing their jobs, they can’t always be counted on to save the day. 

For those who have read the original novel, this fairly faithful adaptation still has a different resolution, so all is not spoiled when they watch the film. The Majorettes ends with a lingering sense of dread that is not unusual for horror in the last half century. That should come as no surprise from some talents involved in the classic Night of the Living Dead that helped set that uneasy standard in horror movies.