Bad Reputation

A shy girl gets invited to party by a jock, just to get raped by him and his friends. The jock's girlfriends are too dumb to accept that she's a victim and start branding her as a slut at the school. There's gonna be hell to pay. Basically, this is Carrie on a budget. It would be quite good, were it not for the unsubtle interpretation of the lead actress, whose character development is too extreme and rushed to help with her already limited acting abilities. She's never believable and as a result, it's impossible to root for her and relish her murderous ploy for vengeance. The supporting players, though, are almost all uniformly good, and help carry the movie to completion. A curiosity.

Another movie to be avoided. Probably shot on DV, the sound and picture is pretty low quality, along with the unrealistic dialogue, the horrible "effects", plus the amateurish directing, acting and cinematography.

Maybe they were going for some kind of "realism", but it just doesn't work. The script is tedious and boring, the scenes go on forever, the editing (and everything else really) is just so predictable that you'll end up getting thoroughly annoyed and wanting to turn it off. I know I did.

I'm sure they had great fun making this movie, but it's just not worth anyone's time actually watching it. It's not kitch, it's not camp - and if you want to see a good movie about revenge, check out "May" instead.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I really wanted to be in California this weekend to meet the director and cast and see this on the big screen. But, I have to be satisfied with my video autographed by the director Jim Hemphill in his first effort at a horror film.

The story was basic high school revenge after a rape by Aaron (Jared Anderson) after he drugs Michelle (Angelique Hennessy). She gets blamed and duct taped to a tree by Debbie (Dakota Ferreiro and her friend, while Wendy (Danielle Noble) just watches. The whole school is ragging her the next day as a slut, and the school counselor (T.W. Porrill) is more interested in getting in her pants than helping her.

Well, that takes care of all the great people who also autographed my copy of this movie.

Revenge is sweet, as she systematically does them one by one. I won't tell you whether or not she gets away. You'll have to watch it yourself for that.

What I will say is that the acting was good for a Grade B film, the dialog was superb and the direction was great. What impressed me the most was the quality of the tape. The lighting and sour were superb, and that is rare in this type of movie.

My only complaint: It is really a PG, not an R rated horror. They missed the boat there.

First-time writer/director Jim Hemphill has captured the spirit of Roger Corman's New World Pictures in this very entertaining revenge picture. Anyone who remembers Stephanie Rothman's fine work for the studio should run to check this out. Shot on a shoestring budget, the film looks and feels like a classy 'B' picture. The cast of unfamiliar faces does a great job with this tale of a virgin who suddenly finds herself branded town slut. The dialog is clever and strictly first rate and any film that depicts sports and jocktards in such a negative light is to be devoutly cherished. Arguably the most reviled genre of all, Hemphill has a ball spoofing slasher films. But this isn't simply Wes Craven warmed over - this film has loads of style and a great sense of humor to back it up. For fans of the genre as well as those of us who might normally leapfrog over this on a rental shelf.

Do not waste your time. Anyone who gave this film more than one star was a friend of, or paid by, the makers of the film. The girls were cute but that was the only thing this film had going for it. The dialog was horrible, the acting sucked and the casting was laughable. The "Cop" and "Guidance counselor" were the same age as the rest of the "High School" cast and could have easily played those roles. This movie doesn't even have the elements that make a good "B" movie. No nudity, no gore and no suspense. I had to watch all of this movie in order to write a fair review so that you don't have to. Do not watch this film, but if you do, don't say you weren't warned.