Ring of Terror (1962)

Ring of Terror
Directed by Clark L. Paylow
Written by Lewis Simeon
1962/France
Playstar Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” ― Kurt Vonnegut Jr.[/box]

The poster gives away the only scare in this very bad movie.  It does not really matter since it is also telegraphed early in the film.

The story is framed by a dumb appearance by a cemetery custodian.  We find out all we really need to know about this movie when the first scare is created by his stepping on a cat’s tail – a scene dragged out to ridiculous lengths.  The main action concerns Lewis B. Moffat, a medical student, and hijinx at the college he attends.  His fate will be sealed by a hazing prank.

This movie fully deserves its 1.4/10 IMDb rating.  It contains much of the disconnected weird vibe of an Ed Wood movie but is much more boring.

Amazing trivia:  By the 1970’s, director Paylow managed to survive his shame and had became an assistant director and production manager, notably on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The Conversation (1974).

Clip – the custodian looks for his cat