Bad Girls from Valley High

I watched this movie circa 2005/2006 and didn't think I wasted my money on the rental... it was enjoyable.

Do not take it too seriously. It was filmed just off the mark from the 90s/00s boundary in 2000 (which is why it gives off that 90s vibe) and apparently ran into financial difficulties during post production and thus did not get released to the general public until 2005.

It's a typical high school teen comedy flick except with a supernatural / curse theme. The movie is pretty mundane in its use of the "bitch girl" clichés but if you are seriously just looking for a way to kill some time and the chick flick genre is your penchant... this movie isn't half bad.

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.

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.

I wanted to watch this movie because it was Jonathan Brandis' "last movie" so to speak. Well it has very little to do with him or his acting. They don't even test his acting. Here are my main observations on this movie.

1) This is a movie just reeking of mid to late 90's culture and it was released in 2005?! That had me rolling. I'm sure this was only released to the public based on the death of Brandis and Leigh which is sad. But dude, is this valley girl type movie dated or what? even for 2005 the people who saw it were shocked to see how much fashion had changed. Nobody cared about Valley Girl crap anymore. It was 10 years since Clueless! I think one girl had a cell phone, it was 2005. This is what happens when you release movies years later. The world goes and changes on you.

2) Julie Benz as a high schooler? She was 28 playing a 17 year old and when you first see her on film there is no getting around the fact she does not belong in high school. Neither does Brandis for that sake. It's so sad. **It's funny to note a year after this came out on DVD she plays Dexter's girlfriend in the hit Showtime show of the same name. That's how dated this movie was, even then.

3) Christopher Lloyd. His pratfalls were relentless and pathetically hilarious. If he died right after this movie we would have felt so bad for him when we saw this. Maybe he was really in the red that year and had to do what it took. Why cast him in the first place? Way too qualified.

4) Chris D'Elia and Aaron Paul are actually very funny in a sub moronic way. Aaron's character is insanely hyperactive to say the least.

5) The end is just cruel and goes against the grain of this thing. Give it a try, it has be seen to be believed.

However, I do like that this movie doesn't take itself seriously and the director clearly used a light hand with this one.

I rate this movie a 5 out of 10. It's just too pitiful and funny to hate this popsickle stick movie. Watch it for Aaron's performance alone.

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