Tormented

An entirely predictable high school horror in which a bullied student commits suicide and then comes back from the dead as a malevolent zombie, taking revenge on everyone who wronged him. The only difference with this production is that it's British-flavoured, but in every other respect it's the kind of movie you've seen a hundred times before.

The first thing that struck me as I watched this was the distinct lack of sympathetic characters. The high school students are a group of vicious and narcissistic bullies who you'll be waiting to get bumped off – even Alex Pettyfer, playing against type as a bad guy for once. Tuppence Middleton is, I suppose, the protagonist and somebody you're supposed to root for, but I found her as irritating as the rest. Vaguely interesting characters, like James Floyd's Nasser, are kept to the sidelines. The antagonist isn't very pleasant either. Watching this becomes a bit of a depressing experience, one in which you're just waiting for the next gore scene.

And gory it is. The film-makers adopt the approach of making every death as inventive as possible, and there are some truly nasty moments played out for their absurd, comedic value as well as the bloodshed. The bit involving a guillotine is particularly outrageous and really works, and it's moments like this that stop TORMENTED from being a dog in the same way that non-starting hoodie horror F was a dog. In fact, it's fairly well made throughout, with well-shot direction and a perfectly-timed pacing. Perhaps not a film you'd ever want to watch again, but it does the business for a one-time viewing.

My friend and I really wanted to see this film but sadly it wasn't showing at our local cinema so we got a train to Milton Keynes just to see it and I have to say it didn't disappoint, I was having second thoughts about this film when we were on our way because the TV adverts for this film makes it look like a boring teenage slasher, it is a teenage slasher but not boring. Its funny, pretty gory, and sexy! But everyones different with their films. I enjoyed the storyline as I didn't expect what was going to happen. Great choice of cast.. all very talented and I will definitely be buying it when its comes out on DVD.

See it if you liked Skins, Friday the 13th and Scream.

The best thing about Tormented is the opening and closing credits, which were original and interesting. The opening 10 minutes weren't bad, but from then on things go downhill and rarely pick up.

The main problem with this film was the poor storyline and script. Direction and acting were okay, and quite stylish at points, but the storyline itself wasn't sufficient to tread a path between horror and comedy.

The bullying is over-the-top and unbelievable, certainly for the age of people involved; characters were kept paper-thin; and the script riddled with clichés. You simply didn't believe what was happening, nor that, when events turn nasty, the protagonists greet them with such an indifferent attitude. Logic is out of the window - a school with 3 recent deaths, an unexplained accident, and a disappearance - yet no sign of the police, and the school still open ... hmmmmmmm.

The bottom line is, this is another film that seems incapable of representing British school students as they really are, and opts for cliché which doesn't go far enough for parody. The result leaves the viewer too detached to show much interest in the events, and there aren't enough laughs to retain interest on a purely comedic level (the only laugh coming from the discovery of the 'full condom', and we have to wait an hour for that).

Of interest to those who might like Skins, if only to see something much worse. A shame.

My review of Tormented I have just watched the teen thriller- Tormented and I really liked the low budget British horror. I thought the storyline was constant and easy to follow and the actors/ actresses did a good job of bringing a hint of humour to it as well as playing the horror scenes well. Also, it was very stereotypical of a teenage school; bullying, girls turning the uniform sexy, Goth's, one main alpha male of the school- Bradley (Alex Pettyfer) and the 'geeks' the ones that got bullied and ignored. Furthermore, I think the way in which Darren Mullet- (Calvin Dean) murdered 5 of the bullies was very gory yet imaginative. Everyway was different and once it happened, little things relate to it such as; the painting of Kalilah and the 'Head school girl' badge and the hole in Justine's school blazer. Finally, I like the way it was a non-linear structure and used the same shot of Justine being arrested at the start of the film and at the end. However, even though I enjoyed the film, it was a little predictable. You can definitely predict what will come next you just don't know how. Also, I think Darren Mullet played a good point in being spooky, but sometimes it was funny in places where is should be. For example, killing the girl in the swimming pool and Jason fell out of the cupboard in the art room. Finally, I think the acting of the teachers good of been better. When the head master found Justine over Alexis' dead body, he said "Justine" without hardly any shock in his voice, just humour. Finally, in my opinion, overall I thought it was a good movie and should surely be recognised more than it does. Alex Pettyfer did a good job at acting and got a huge Hollywood role after his performance. I would definitely recommend this to a teenage audience but not for the faint hearted. I also think that the message of non-bullying is strong all the way through the movie; what goes around comes around.

I saw it last night at a special preview. I will admit I only wanted to see it because of Alex P, but I was pleasantly surprised. I hate Horror films, but this was much more of a slasher film, and very funny in parts, which allowed you to relax and enjoy it.

The deaths are rather imaginative and only one was quite obvious what was good was that for most you could laugh through each death . The acting is good on a whole, but a couple of the main characters do need some acting lessons, the whole cast is quite young but they have been able to develop each character well.

This film will not be for everyone. It is very 'Skins' (teenager) orientated,as it uses a lot of slang and such. The plot is rather unrealistic but thats what makes it fun, anything could happen, and most things do.

I would recommend this to someone who isn't too bothered about what they are watching, who is up for a good laugh, but doesn't mind a bit of blood and guts.