School in the Crosshairs

From the director of House (1977) & His Motorbike, Her Island (1986).

Released months before lead Hiroko Yakushimaru’s breakthrough hit Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s first groundbreaking teenage idol picture is a dazzling mix of special effects and blue-screen artifice—a stylistic flair perfected in Obayashi’s debut House, now utilized for the onset of an alien invasion. Ordinary schoolgirl Yuka’s (Yakushimaru) new term comes to an odd start when she inexplicably stops an accident by using latent psychic powers. Troubled by her newfound abilities, Yuka also senses a strange force start to take hold of the school, with students turning into mind-controlled fascists, patrolling school halls, stifling dissent and mandating the re-education of freethinkers. A psychotronic fantasy forged into a young girl’s destiny to defend the planet, School in the Crosshairs is a cosmic overload of extraterrestrial tyrants, preternatural powers and Obayashi’s uniquely adroit filmmaking abilities, underlaid with an existential cry for free will.

Cult Epics website Exclusive: Reversible Slipcase art by Sam Smith + Japanese theatrical poster Postcard. Limited Edition of 500.

Special Features

• 2K Transfer & Restoration
• Audio Commentary by film critic Max Robinson
• Sailor Suits and Sound - Visual essay by Phillip Jeffries
• Obayashi Film Poster Gallery
• Theatrical Trailers
• New improved English subtitles
• New Slipcase art design by Sam Smith
• Reversible sleeve with original Japanese poster art
• First Pressing includes repro Japanese booklet (pamphlet)
• Web Exclusive: Reversible Slipcase art by Sam Smith (500)
• Web Exclusive: Japanese theatrical poster Postcard (500)

Technical Specs

Japan / 1981 / Color / Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 / 90 Mins / Japanese language with optional English subtitles / LPCM 2.0 Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround / DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround