Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
Source: Cult Epics, MVD Entertainment
Special Thanks to Derek Stubinski
Kadokawa's SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS (ねらわれた学園, Nerawareta Gakuen, 1981) will have its North American premiere on Blu-ray and DVD this October from Cult Epics. This groundbreaking first teenage idol movie by genre master Nobuhiko Obayashi, director of Toho's bizarre horror classic HOUSE (ハウス, Hausu, 1977), stars Hiroko Yakushimaru, then the heart-throb of millions of Japanese fans.
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
Released months before lead Yakushimaru's breakthrough hit SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN (セーラー服と機関銃, Sērā-Fuku to Kikanjū, 1981), Obayashi's SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS 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. Yuko teams up with Koji (Ryoichi Takayanagi), her budding boyfriend from the kendo club, to fight off the invaders.
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.
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS Blu-ray
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Number of Discs: 1
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Audio: LPCM 2.0 Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround / DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Region Code: 0
SKU: CE227
UPC: 881190022795
Street Date: 10/14/25
List Price: $39.95
Bonus Materials
- 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 (poster artist for Nobuhiko Obayashi's HOUSE)
- Reversible sleeve with original Japanese poster art
- First Pressing includes repro 24-page Japanese booklet (pamphlet)
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS DVD
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Number of Discs: 1
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Audio: LPCM 2.0 Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Region Code: 0
SKU: CE228
UPC: 881190022894
Street Date: 10/14/25
List Price: $29.95
Bonus Materials
- 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
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
Photo courtesy of Cult Epics and MVD.© 1981 Kadokawa Corp.
About Cult Epics
Cult Epics is a film distribution company, originally founded in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1991, specializing in controversial art films with a cult following. The first works Cult Epics acquired for distribution were THE EXOTIC DANCES OF BETTIE PAGE; HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and TOKYO DECADENCE. In 1998, Nico B, the company’s founder, moved to the US and continued acquiring rights and releasing cult movies on video in the art-house, horror and erotica genres, specializing in the work of such directors as Walerian Borowczyk, Tinto Brass, Jean Genet, Fernando Arrabal, Rene Daalder, Abel Ferrara, Radley Metzger, and Irving Klaw, among others. The Cult Epics releases VIVA LA MUERTE, THE BEAST, SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST, UN CHANT D’AMOUR, IN A GLASS CAGE, and most recently ANGST have been distributed theatrically across North America, screening at the American Cinematheque, Cinefamily, Lincoln Center Film Society, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, UCLA’s Hammer Museum, and other venues. A retrospective of Cult Epics releases was shown at Harvard University in 2011. Cult Epics is based in Los Angeles and continues to release rare cult films, both the sought-after and the unknown, the mainstream and the underground, for a new generation of hardcore fans.
About MVD Entertainment Group
MVD Entertainment Group is a full service music and movie distribution firm, exclusively representing thousands of audio and visual products for DVD, Bluray, CD, vinyl, and digital rights, worldwide. MVD also exclusively distributes a growing line of merchandise including limited edition collectibles, tee shirts, and more. “Serving Artists and Audiences†is MVD's purpose statement; it represents a commitment to the interests of the musicians, filmmakers, record labels, producers, managers, and every link in the supply chain. The customers are the Audience, from wholesalers, sub-distributors, major retail chains, online retailers, specialists, and independent mom and pop stores, all the way to the consumer. MVD Entertainment Group was founded in 1986 by Tom Seaman, an industry veteran with prior experience with The Record Hunter, Sam Goody, CBS Retail, and JEM Distribution. Tom, along with his family Elinor, Eve and Ed, initially focused on music videotapes. At the turn of the century, with the advent of DVD, MVD built a large catalog of exclusively distributed audiovisual content on DVDs, with special strength in music concert films, horror movies, documentaries, comedy, cult classics, and much more.