The 1981 horror-film parody, “Student Bodies,” which was shot in Houston in the fall of 1980, has withstood the test of time to become a cult classic. In this send-up of “Halloween,” “Stir Crazy,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Prom Night,” a crazed killer called The Breather stalks high school students and dispatches them with an array of harmless items wielded as murder weapons including paper clips, blackboard erasers, an eggplant, and horse-head bookends.

For most of the cast, including lead player Kristen Riter who was still in high school during filming, it was their only movie appearance. Riter, not to be confused with contemporary actor Krysten Ritter,went on to become a minor rock star in Europe recording with the band Wedding and also Popul Vuh on the “Cobra Verde” soundtrack. Riter currently teaches voice and keyboards at a music college in San Ramon, California.

But for Houston based make-up artist and photo stylist Susan Vogelfang, who now lives in Los Angeles, it all started when she got a call out of the blue from director Michael Ritchie of “Bad News Bears” fame. “Michael quoted me a higher rate than I’d ever made,”says Vogelfang.

“I’m going to do the movie for half a million,” Ritchie told her. Besides a credit as a unit production manager, Vogelfang wore many hats including location manager and ad hoc Teamster captain.

Ritchie told her: “We’re going to have two weeks to prep, we’re going to shoot it in 21 days, and we’re going to wrap for one week.”

Locations included Texas Southern University; Lamar Junior High School in Richmond, used for a prom dance; and James E. Taylor High School in Katy, used for a football game sequence.

A parade utilizing Foley’s Store floats was staged at the corner of Main Street and Bell Street. Today, the only recognizable remaining building seen in the background is Houston House Apartments. The floats are seen against The Exile Club, once the oldest gay bar in town, which was located at 1011 Bell St. but closed in 1986.

Being a member of the DGA Ritchie couldn’t take directorial credit because the film was non-union. That credit was bestowed on Mickey Rose. Rose himself was a successful writer who’d penned Woody Allen’s “Take the Money and Run” and “Bananas,” and wrote material for Johnny Carson.

玫瑰和其他作家(誉为生产商)我rry Belson and Harvey Miller were on the set scripting gags on a daily basis.

贝尔森（Belson）的荣誉包括制作和写“奇怪的夫妻”，他还表达了呼吸。米勒获得“本杰明私人”的奥斯卡提名。

“They were hilarious to be around,” says Vogelfang. “They could not turn it off.

Craig Busch, then a production assistant who would become a Houston location manager, recalls Rose and the other writers rewriting jokes on the set everyday.

“Mickey would call action but if he had a set-up that didn’t work Ritchie would change it,” says Busch. “Ritchie was the driving force.”

Busch recalled a scene where a stuntman dove out a four-story window. “He got paid $600 but they had to do the stunt twice. Ritchie didn’t want to pay the $600 again. They haggled for a while, and the stunt man held up five fingers and Ritchie shook his head. Then he held up four fingers and Ritchie nodded in agreement,” says Busch.

Ritchie brought prop master Donald Nunley from Hollywood so he had a heavyweight in the art department.

“他教了我有关产品场所的知识，并说‘我们将获得很多免费的东西。’迈克尔有一个保姆打开冰箱的场景，所有产品放置都立刻在那里，” Vogelfang说。

Some of the items featured in “Student Bodies” include Coors Beer, Dr. Pepper, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Dunkin’ Donuts.

“Student Bodies” ends with arms coming out of a fresh grave. Houston based producer Susan Elkins remembers it well.

“他们需要有人在坟墓里，所以我自愿参加了。他们不会埋葬其中一位演员。”埃尔金斯说。“注意安全，我有一个呼吸装置。我不喜欢这样做，他们一口气开枪。”

As a present after production wrapped Ritchie and Rose gave the crew individual horse head bookends, a significant prop in the film, with each person’s name on a plaque. Despite the films R-rating the film contains no graphic violence, sex or language save one F-bomb. Ritchie continued his studio career in the ‘80s with hits like “The Survivors” and “Fletch.”

迈克尔·伯杰隆（Michael Bergeron）是休斯顿的作家。