All Cheerleaders Die

This came on the Horror Channel in the supid-o-clock-in-the-morning slot

You see 'cheerleaders' and 'horror' and immediately think it would be a glorified zero budget skinflick featuring scantily clad dolly birds strutting about and getting killed off one by one with their bits and bobs all up in your face a la 'Muck' or 'Zombie Strippers' but it turned out to be really good fun.

Some genuine laugh out loud moments thanks to a smart and darkly comic script, physical comedy and good old fashioned farcical situations/misunderstandings made this a lovely way to pass the time.

It reminded me of 'Idle Hands' as it's in the same spirit of being a teen horror, but it's chosen to go down the silly and fun path rather than the pretty-people-geting-naked-then-killed one.

After her childhood friend Alexis (Felisha Cooper) dies while performing a cheerleading move, the rebellious Maddy (Caitlin Stasey) is horrified when Alexis's football-playing boyfriend Terry (Tom Williamson) begins immediately dating cheerleader Tracy (Brooke Butler). As a result Maddy decides that she will join the cheerleading team, as they must now find a replacement for Alexis, with the intent to seek revenge against Terry and Tracy.

This is a remake of a 2001 film of the same name that was also written and directed by McKee and Sivertson. To say it is an improvement would be obvious, but also true (there is now no reason to seek out the earlier one unless you are a die-hard fan).

Sadly, though, despite some clever moments and an interesting premise, this never reaches the level of "The Woods" or "May", and despite Lucky's quick rise to horror master, he is not flawless (but who is?). Sivertson is still waiting for the right film... "I Know Who Killed Me" has its fans, but is not by any means a well respected movie.

Better than I'd heard. It has some major flaws. My guess is that there was some producer interference, because the set-up could have been better developed. It feels a tad chopped up. The whole horror premise is caused by vague, supernatural bullcrap that really could have used some better defining. Once it all gets going, though, the film is kind of fun. Four cheerleaders die in a car accident that's caused by the football stars. A goth teen (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) who once dated one of the cheerleaders (Caitlin Stasey) finds their bodies and brings them back to life through witchcraft. As with anything brought back from the dead, the cheerleaders become bloodthirsty monsters who want revenge. It's a pretty basic horror premise, but it works largely because of the very good cast. The other three cheerleaders are played by Brooke Butler, Amanda Grace Cooper and Reanin Johannik. The villain (the captain of the football team) is well played by Tom Williamson. Certainly not one of McKee's best works, but it's better than a majority of the horror films that are being released nowadays.

I still don't know what to make of writer/director Lucky McKee. It started strong with May (2002) which I thought was a wonderfully crafted drama/thriller that put McKee on my radar. His venture into television as director of the Masters of Horror episode titled 'Sick Girl' was OK, but didn't capture my attention as much as May. Then came The Woods (2006) and Red (2008) which were both relatively competent, but hardly memorable. The Woman (2011) was definitely memorable and made headlines for its festival showing and a paying attendee that was less than thrilled with what he saw on the big screen (YouTube it, you'll thank me).

McKee's newest project, All Cheerleaders Die, got a coveted spot amongst the 10 films picked as part of the Midnight Madness series at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where it will be making its World Premiere.

The title sounds rudimentary, but the film is anything but. Maddy (Caitlin Stasey) is an outcast amongst her High School peers and she has a particular hatred for the cheerleading squad. That leads Maddy to try out for the team in an attempt to infiltrate and ultimately bring down the all too popular clique of good looking teens with great looking adult breasts. The opening scenes before the title card set up a plot device that really comes full circle by the film's final shot and the audience at the packed Bloor Cinema collectively gasped and clapped with the first fatality.

Fans of horrors films would likely yawn at such an introductory synopsis. But the movie hardly heads in directions one can foresee and before long, Maddy, school friend Leena (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) and the whole squad of short skirt/white sneaker females are battling the opposite sex with a supernatural element under toning the struggles.

McKee and fellow director Chris Sivertson throw the proverbial kitchen sink at the audience and I can best describe All Cheerleaders Die as a movie which if the creative makers behind Heathers, Carrie, the television Charmed and Jennifer's Body all took a big dump in a blender and the resulting mixture was then baked into a soufflé would be the result.

Most of what is being cooked works. The comedy surely does with High School verbal jibes thrown at a Mean Girls pace. And the acting is definitely there to back up the promise of the script ideas. Unfortunately, the film ultimately just falls short of hitting a triple. Man, there is a lot to ingest. Witches, evil quarterbacks, zombies, walking dead, supernatural, conjuring…like we said, "the kitchen sink" I liken All Cheerleaders Die therefore to last year's Monster's Brawl. It's a lot of fun with an audience and there are some elements of originality, but if sitting in a darkened basement screening the film by one's lonesome, you might not enjoy the audience effect fun-factor that can sometimes elevate a reviewer's response.

McKee is definitely out of his downer-phase. Most of the director's earlier work was depressing and dry. But with All Cheerleaders Die, he dug deep into his inner cheerleader to bring a labor of love to the big screen (McKee and Siverston made a video All Cheerleaders Die in 2001 to launch their careers).

The ending to the film more than hints that this is just the first installment of what may be many more Cheerleaders Die films if this entry hits the market running. We are hopeful, yet skeptical. It would have been a great AMC movie, but as a theatrical release, we are not sure this effort is worth the hard earned dollars wearing away in our wallets.

www.killerreviews.com

I didn't expect to have such fun watching this. It obviously aims to be for an adult audience with all the blood and sexual situations the characters get themselves into. Having Lucky McKee doing a movie like this might be the biggest surprise though. I never thought we would see a light side of this director, but obviously I was wrong. And that is a good thing, because the movie works.

Giving the cheerleader to do what they want and making this all about women/girls was a really good decision, even if at one or two moments I thought some of the guys where painted to dark, without some shades. But this is about having fun, so don't let that distract you from some obvious flaws