A Maldição de Downers Grove

I knew this movie was co-written by Bret Easton Ellis but didn't expect much - I really hated the title, the IMDb score for this film was very low (which in retrospect seems really sad) and for a host of reasons I thought it was just a journeyman project for Ellis and it would be some kind of standard forgettable slasher.

The first thing I noticed was that screenplay was very literary and contained a lot of recognizable deliberate sentences and mean humor of Bret Ellis (sometimes it got a little too much, i think meth is mentioned like 3 or 4 times in the first 10 minutes of the movie). Then I noticed how surprisingly good the acting in this movie was. In the end a lot of elements in this movie were familiar but delivered with a slight twist and hence worked for me.

The mix of lo-fi look, acting style, dark humor and menacing atmosphere reminded me most of Gregg Araki movies like "Nowhere" but more plot-driven (another reviewer mentioned some stylistic similarities to "Donnie Darko" and "It Follows", but I think Araki movies are the closest comparison). Araki, of course, was influenced by Bret Easton Ellis and was probably the closest cinematic analogue of his prose.

I think it's a shame that in our age of faceless mass-produced genre movies this one, which has a discernible style, has such criminally low IMDb rating and recommend it.

It amazes me how so many people posting reviews obviously have so little experience in the genres they review. As for winning Oscars and selling out theaters no this is not for you. As an individual who watches almost anything horror or fantasy they can get their hands I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this film. It brought to mind a blend of Donnie Darko and It Follows, not reaching the heights of either film but portraying a feeling of the atmosphere that both did so well. Sifting through Indies of this genre with no prior knowledge of the film you are watching can be very disappointing. I would say that one out of every 30 would come close to the quality of this film. The acting was great all around minus Tom Arnold, if you want to name drop you can do MUCH better even on a small budget. I especially liked Penelope Mitchell (also from Hemlock Grove, great series). IF you are a fan of this genre give this one a chance it may surprise you, If you're an Oscar hoe rewatch The Iron Lady and stay off the boards of Indies

Every year a senior dies before graduation. This is the curse. A girl living in Downers Grove gets into an auticattion with another student on the lead up to graduation.

This has good production, good characters and great acting. The problem? It is as boring as hell.

The story is one of the most pedestrian I have ever come across. Yet despite its dullness manages not to be believable.

Without spoiling I would say that the supernatural element is very light.

The director and actors deserve more but this is just to dull to contemplate.

In the small town of Downers Grove, Illinois, there is a well-known curse of one high school senior dying every year before graduation. Chrissie Swanson (Bella Heathcote) fights off football jock Chuck (Kevin Zegers) during a party and gouges out his eye. She has a crush on Bobby (Lucas Till). Her weird neighbor Ian is a friend. Her best friend Tracy is planning to throw a wild party with her little brother. It's days before graduation.

Bella is a beauty with striking blue eyes. Her acting ability is functional. The same can be said of Lucas Till. He's beautiful with functional acting abilities. Zegers is growing into his villain phase although he's too old to play a teen. Actually, Bella is almost the same age but she can play younger. I can do without Tom Arnold even if he does fine here. This sets up a teen horror of some sorts. It's not the highest quality but it does have potential. The major problem is that the premise does not lead to a series of kills. The bigger potential is the mystery but it becomes an action thriller anyways. The 'curse' becomes a side issue and the reveal is not that surprising. The central premise might as well be forgotten.

I always look at the other reviews before I make mine, not that it influences my review, but just to see what others thought. First off, this movie bombed so hard, it hit the basement. 2 Mil to make and worldwide, it made a little over 33 thousand. Yikes. As far as putting this movie in the horror category, Eh, no. I'd have to agree with some reviewers that this more of a revenge movie. I'm a big fan of Lucas Till, who plays in one of my favorite shows, MacGyver. It was good to see at least one person I recognize in this film. I've seen much worse, let me tell you. I was at the very least surprised by the ending. Gotta say, I did NOT see that coming. All in all, it wasn't terrible, but not something i would recommend to a friend to watch. Peace. P.S. I don't normally do this, but I LOVE one reviewers comment about "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye." That was freaking funny!