Final Screening Review : Strange Behavior (1981)

Michael Laughlin’s Strange Behavior turns small-town science into a deadly Halloween experiment.

Dead Kids, Dancing Teens, and Needle-in-the-Eye Nightmares

FINAL SCREENING: The Rare Reviews Countdown

Welcome to FINAL SCREENING, Horror Movies Uncut’s rare reviews countdown celebrating the season of fear. Each night leading up to Halloween, we’re revisiting films that slipped through the cracks — titles that never found the spotlight, disappeared after their release, or were simply too strange for their time. These are the misfits, the buried treasures, the experiments that deserve one more chance under the projector’s glow. Join us from October 13th through Halloween as we dig deep into cinema’s forgotten nightmares, one screening at a time.

For today’s Final Screening, we’re diving into Strange Behavior (1981) — or as some might remember it, Dead Kids. Directed by Michael Laughlin, this eerie sci-fi horror hybrid is one of the first horror films ever produced in New Zealand, even though it’s set in the quiet Midwestern town of Galesburg, Illinois.

The story follows police chief John Brady (Michael Murphy) and his son Pete (Dan Shor) as their small town becomes ground zero for a string of brutal murders. The twist? The killers are local teens — hypnotized and transformed by sinister psychological experiments led by Dr. Gwen Parkinson (Fiona Lewis), whose research lab hides more than a few skeletons.

The film boasts a sharp supporting cast including Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and Mark McClure (Superman), and it perfectly captures that early ’80s vibe — suburban paranoia, eerie synths, and kids in costumes at a Halloween party that turns deadly.

Strange Behavior stands out for its odd tonal mix — part small-town slasher, part sci-fi satire, part offbeat coming-of-age story. It’s got a synchronized dance scene straight out of left field, a needle-to-the-eye sequence you won’t forget, and a handful of moments that feel like they directly inspired later teen-horror hits like Disturbing Behavior and The Faculty.

Shot on a modest budget of $1 million over 32 days, Laughlin’s film finds atmosphere in every frame — from shadowy labs to staircases drenched in low light, it’s clear the filmmakers knew how to make the most of limited resources.

For Horror Movies Uncut, Strange Behavior earns a 3 out of 5. It’s a strange, stylish, and slightly clunky but fun horror curio — a must-watch for fans of early ’80s experimentation and proto-slasher weirdness.

Strange Behavior (aka Dead Kids) is streaming now on The Roku Channel, Fawesome, and Plex.