Bad Girls from Valley High

Put this in the same category as "Death to Smoochy" a movie about characters that are incapable of eliciting audience sympathy both the good guys and the bad guys alike. Everyone is wasted in this, and the prat falls of Chris Lloyd are below Disney Channel standards. The actress who plays Katarina, though nice to look at, is just a confusing and ugly mess of traits that seem arbitrary and wholly unrealistic. This smacks of a cheap Mean Girls cash in, but where Mean Girls had a heart this has a gaping black hole.

Not a likable or intriguing character among the bunch. Just absolutely terrible. The twist is obvious from the outset, and the ending is beyond cruel given the tone of the film prior to it.

Just an embarrassing mess.

Having two actresses that I think are really good - Monica Keena ("Dawsons Creek", "Freddy vs. Jason") and Nicole Bilderbeck ("Clueless" and "Bring It On") intrigued me to watch this film - plus it seemed in the style of the fantastic "Mean Girls". Instead, the film was a bit of a let down, though it had some good moments. Julie Benz gets most of the screen time, and she is pretty decent, while Monica Keena and Nicole Bilderbeck are good, this is not their best work.

The rest of the cast didn't fare much better. Suzanna Urszulay was uninteresting as the new girl, Jonathan Brandis (R.I.P) was nice to look at, but rather bland, and Chris D'Elia was only funny until he became annoying. Janet Leigh (R.I.P), gives, as usual, a terrific performance in her small role, though I wonder what she was thinking when she signed up for it. Christopher Lloyd is funny as the school teacher.

The film seems to try a bit hard in places, and fails. It also seems of poor quality, for example, when the three girls are in the school, there isn't the usual back ground noise you would expect, and it is very noticeable. There are far worse films that one could watch, but there are far better ones also. Only the actors redeem this film.

It's good to know that Jonathan Brandis and Janet Leigh's finals films are available for their many fans. Both actors had such talent. Janet's long career strewn with gem's of her stellar talent. And Jonathan's shining efforts, tragically cut short, a loss to the film making community. Final films of many artist are not always what we'd call the finest examples of their craft. But the fact that two years after their deaths, that the public still want's to see their work must mean a lot to their family. I had the pleasure of knowing Jonathan for a brief period in the 90's and he was the most charming and friendly of persons.

~Jonathan thank you for all your gifts you've left us.~ ~Janet--- you sure could scream!

Although released to video in 2005, "Bad Girls From Valley High" was actually shot in 1999 and shelved for legal (or financial) reasons. The plot revolves around three selfish uppity girls (Julie Benz, Nicole Bilderback & Monica Keena) who are responsible for the death of a girl (Tanja Reichert) of whom the leader (Benz) is jealous. A year later a mysterious exchange student appears (Suzanna Urszuly) and the girls start to wonder if she may be a ghost of vengeance, particularly as they start prematurely aging. Jonathan Brandis, Chris D'Elia, Christopher Lloyd and Janet Leigh have important peripheral roles.

It's too bad this movie fell into obscurity because it works well for what it is. It's got the pizazz and quirkiness this type of film requires and a number of laugh-out-loud scenes, plus there's no unnecessary raunch or general obnoxiousness, except of course for the main "Hun" girl (Benz). Tanja Reichert is a highlight, but she appears so briefly she's almost not worth mentioning; and Keena is a cutie but they don't do enough with her. But Lloyd is his usual entertaining self. Brandis would commit suicide four years later and Leigh would pass away in five.

The film was shot in Vancouver (but the story takes place in Washington) and runs a short-but-sweet 84 minutes.

GRADE: B

"Bad Girls from Valley High" is a bad film. The writing is poor, the characters are pretty much universally hateful and there is no subtlety at all at any time. By comparison, TV shows by Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel from this period are like great works of art!

A Romanian girl arrives at a high school (even though she looks old enough for graduate school) and soon the three nastiest and most awful girls at school begin to age prematurely as if by a curse or witchcraft. At the same time, Christopher Lloyd's character keeps showing up...making goofy faces and looking confused as to why he's in the movie.

This film is painfully unfunny and dumb with fart jokes being among the BEST of the jokes. Even kids watching will think this and the story is like "Mean Girls" as written by a drunk 7 year-old. Bad in most every way and a film which seems as if no one involved even cared to try to make a decent movie.