Death of a Cheerleader

This made for TV film was based on a true story so I have to accept that the events outlined actually did occur. There were a lot of caddy and cliquey girls misbehaving and being cruel to one another in an attempt to show who were the alpha girls, and who were the subordinates. Many of these young ladies came from affluent parents and unlimited funds to achieve their lofty goals easily influencing any voting on who gets in and who does not make the cut.

The lead actresses Aubrey Peeples (perpratrator) and Sarah Dugdale (victim) did more than an adequate job and if I did not know that these events actually happened then I would have said the film is hokey. But the events did happen and a number of families lives were ruined all because one young lady felt she was being shunned because she was not as rich as her peers, nor in with the "cheerleaders".

The fate of two of these ladies is life (and death) changing and any young teenagers (female and male) should pay close attention to how hurtful words and actions can be to their classmates.

I give the film a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating

It's 1983 in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in California. Bridget Moretti (Aubrey Peeples) is an outsider from a modest family. She is desperate to befriend Kelly Locke, the coolest girl in school, and join the Bobettes. Nina Miller is not into the superficial and narrates as Bridget gets arrested for the murder of Kelly Locke.

It's a Lifetime movie. That's the start and the end of it. The cinematic look is poor. The places look cheap despite this is supposed to be the wealthiest neighborhood. The girls are twenty somethings. From the start, Nina should have the same look. I didn't connect her to the opening of the movie. She has no rooting interest. Peeples needs to go full force right from the beginning. She does have a few nice acting moments. That's probably the only good from this. Mostly, it's all very flat. The ending tries to wrap it up by blaming it on the pressure. That needs to be set up much better. All of this needs to be much better.

I'm starting to wish they would stop re-making 1990's TV movies that focused on real crimes. The modern movies don't even begin to compare to the original versions.

I loved A Friend to Die For. Kellie Martin was great as Angela Delvecchio, but in this version, Aubrey Peeples just doesn't have it as Bridget Moretti, which is the Angela character.

Kellie made me feel so many emotions. I was disgusted by Anegla's sickening need to fit in but I also felt a little sorry for her, though disgust definitely won out. Bridget did not make me feel anything at all.

Tori Spelling also disgusted me as Stacey Lockheart, but Sarah Dugdale was a flop as Kelly Locke. It was like there was no spark at all.

So, my sister tells me that Lifetime has done a remake of A Friend to Die for AKA Death of a cheerleader. Both based on the true story of the Kristin Costas murder in 1984 in Orinda, CA. Bernadette Protti was the name of the killer IRL.

Anyhow, we like the original so we decided to watch the remake. It sucks. The acting is horrible and the movie is just all over the place.

Skip it and watch the original instead.

Nothing even close to the original. I miss the 90's lifetime movies. The new remakes of lifetime are never good. "No one would tell' was a great 90's movie and the new 2018 remake of that was just butchered. Same with this one. I never give my hopes up anymore.