Virgin Cheerleaders in Chains

Look, it's a low budget film and never pretends otherwise, and I have a warm place in my heart for low budget films and film makers who are smart and make the most out of what they've got. Like these guys. For its type (yes, if you haven't figured it out already yes there's some gore and blood), style, subject...well done, folks. A fun ride.

Entertaining movie with great script and good directing. If drives me crazy when people review a lower budget movie like it's a main stream film. Loved the movie and ending had me thinking. Highly recommended.

Saw this at the River Fest Film Festival after a long day of viewing long and short films. Out of the fifteen movies I saw that day, this one still sticks out to me. This movie doesn't take itself too seriously and the audience is let in on the fun. Too many horror movies leave out the humor and try to make you jump out of your seat. But this one was a nicely story within a story that left me happy that I saw it.

It is a story about a group of people that are trying to write and film a horror movie. While on location, the movie becomes reality as members of the crew are picked off one at a time. Come for the movie making and stay for the slashing and hacking!

This film is built on a gimmick - the notion that the characters are making a terrible film and we, the audience, get to see the ensuing train wreck.

However, the film itself becomes a train wreck, using tired jokes and uninspired writing. Every scene feels forced and there's no character to root for. The "bad guys" look like people who just grabbed some Halloween garb off the clearance rack and the "good guys" are supposed to be your goofy Scooby Doo mystery team types, but that cliché only works if the film were set in an era before people reviewed every location on the internet and before you could vet any person with the touch of a button.

The worst part is, there's this smugness to all the writing that just makes it seem in every line of dialogue like the writer thought he was being the most clever guy who ever walked the planet. Hopefully he learned from this experience that a "so bad that it's good" film is usually fun because its creators worked extremely hard at something that INADVERTENTLY turned out extremely bad. They didn't make it bad ON PURPOSE.

However, this film was made badly on purpose to try to cash in on that type. All the "so bad they're good" movies were never planned that way, and this film is no exception. It's just bad.

Strong story, characters and directing. Gave us a familiar topic but delivered in a way that was fresh and new. Play along and enjoy the ride that Virgin Cheerleaders in Chains takes you on. As a reviewer, I was very impressed with the care and attention Gary Gannaway put into making a genuine high quality horror film. It never feels like an Indie film and is that rare gem.