Night School (1981)

Bryan Thomas Norton (0:02)

Hi, everyone, my name is Bryan Thomas Norton, and we are doing the special commentary for Night School, aka Terrorize from 1981 And with me today, I'm very excited, is associate producer Leon Williams. Leon?

Leon Williams (0:19)

Oh, right.

Bryan Thomas Norton (0:19)

Yeah, and also Leon's friend, who they met on the picture, Jeff Levitt, who plays-

Leon Williams (0:26)

Levitt.

Bryan Thomas Norton (0:27)

Levitt Levitt. Well, he said, anyone is fine, but who plays the killer when it's not, spoiler alert, Rachel Ward.

Leon Williams (0:36)

Hi there.

Jeff Levitt (0:37)

I'm honored to be here.

Bryan Thomas Norton (0:39)

And you guys met on the set and remained friends. And when I was doing research for this movie, I had talked to Leon and he instantly put us on a three-way call because- and you guys had such great chemistry. So I said, oh, we definitely have to do a- there's your name. Look at that. We definitely need to do a commentary track together. Now, the real star of Night School for many people who've re-evaluated it is probably Boston because it's amazing locations and movies didn't shoot in Boston at that time.

So, but could you tell us, maybe, Leon, you were in LA. How did this Boston-based film come into your lap?

Leon Williams (1:30)

Well, Larry Babb, who was the producer and raised the money for the movie, and Ruth Aragon, who wrote the script, they lived together. They were lovers or whatever you want to- I don't know what we called it in 1981

But we were all friends, and we were all struggling to get our movies off the ground. I had one, they had this one, and we agreed that whoever got there first would take the other people along with them. And which is very odd for this business, they kept their word, and their movie came about first. Larry got the money, and we're going to shoot it in Boston. That's where Ruth was from. And we got on an airplane, we had a director, Alfred Sowell, and his girlfriend was going to play the female lead, and everything was hunky-dory, at least flying to Boston.

And then kind of the shit hit the fan once we got to Boston. And you want me to go on with that?

Bryan Thomas Norton (2:37)

No, we'll get to that one. We'll get to that one in a minute. But so Ruth was from Boston, I believe Larry was also, so that's why we got to... And they're both of Armenian descent, so that's why we got to...

Leon Williams (2:49)

No, Ruth, I don't think was Armenian descent. Oh. Not that that makes any difference.

Bryan Thomas Norton (2:53)

Well, I kind of looked it on.

Leon Williams (2:54)

If it sounds good, she was Armenian.

Bryan Thomas Norton (2:57)

Anyway, that's why they have this wonderful character of Taj, played by Joe Sicari, and he's always making Armenian jokes. Now, forgive me, we just saw an actor named Kevin Fennessy, who's become a great friend. And when the original director hired him, it was to play a much larger role. And when the director was replaced, he took one look at Kevin and said, no, you can play the janitor with one line. But Kevin has been the lifeline for me with Night School because he knows everyone in Boston, and he has hooked me up with so many people. And this lovely lady here is Meb Bowden, who unfortunately died a few years ago on this famous merry-go-round opening scene. And I believe, Jeff, this is you.

SPEAKER_4 (3:45)

That is me, that is me.

Leon Williams (3:49)

He didn't want to shave that day, that's why I put the helmet on him.

Bryan Thomas Norton (3:52)

So now the film was completely new to you, and here you are playing the killer. What kind of direction did you get, or were you just like winging it here?

Jeff Levitt (4:02)

I walked on the set trying to get some extra work, and Ted Duncan, who is the stunt coordinator, looked at me and said, you know how to use a knife?

And I immediately said, oh yeah, yeah, sure. And he gave me a knife and said, okay, take it home over the weekend and come back on Monday. And that's how this movie, I was tap heart.

Bryan Thomas Norton (4:30)

Oh, and explain to our listeners, what does that mean?

Jeff Levitt (4:34)

I did not, I wasn't a member of SAG at yet, and this movie earned me my SAG card.

Bryan Thomas Norton (4:40)

Oh, that's good. Now, sharp-eyed viewers, if you rewind it there on your own, you'll notice some asshole kid stands up, looks at the camera, makes a face and sits down, but it's hard to see. Now, we're going to introduce our leads. This is Leonard Mann, who is going to participate for this Blu-ray.