The horror movie that was filmed at Spry

Not long ago I heard a very interesting little bit of trivia about Spry Middle School: back in 1981, a low-budget horror movie was filmed there.

The movie is called Fear No Evil, and was produced by Frank LaLoggia. The story tells of an 18-year old high school student who appears to be human, but is actually the incarnation of Satan. Two archangels are sent from heaven to stop him before his evil takes over the world.

Several scenes were filmed in the school’s hallways, classrooms and gymnasium, in addition to exterior shots. The screenshots below are from the movie trailers.

The R-rated movie gets mixed reviews (not surprising for a low-budget thriller), like this one posted on IMDb:

It is definitely ambitious for a low budget feature and falls into the M.S.U. (Makin’ Stuff Up) genre perfectly. It is almost like director Frank LaLoggia had two half finished scripts and threw them together. … The high school scenes are really funny, like LaLoggia had no sense at all how people behaved in school.

Another review says the film has a “good premise” and is “well plotted,” but with “over-the-top acting, laughable special effects and a disappointing finale.” Both reviews agree, however, that it has a good soundtrack.

It must not be too awful, though; in 1982 it won a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, for Best Low-Budget Film. This was the same year that Harrison Ford and Karen Allen won awards for best actor and actress, for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Director Frank LaLoggia is a Webster native. Fear No Evil is the first of three movies he directed, the best-known of which is probably Lady in White (1988), inspired by the ghost story of the Lady in White at Durand Eastman Park. He’s also acted in several movies and sitcoms.

And here’s something else fun: click here to see when Spry was very briefly featured on Saturday Night Live.

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(posted 6/21/2023)

Tags: Fear No Evil, Missy Rosenberry, Spry Middle School, Webster Central Schools, Webster NY