Tormented

I saw it last night at a special preview. I will admit I only wanted to see it because of Alex P, but I was pleasantly surprised. I hate Horror films, but this was much more of a slasher film, and very funny in parts, which allowed you to relax and enjoy it.

The deaths are rather imaginative and only one was quite obvious what was good was that for most you could laugh through each death . The acting is good on a whole, but a couple of the main characters do need some acting lessons, the whole cast is quite young but they have been able to develop each character well.

This film will not be for everyone. It is very 'Skins' (teenager) orientated,as it uses a lot of slang and such. The plot is rather unrealistic but thats what makes it fun, anything could happen, and most things do.

I would recommend this to someone who isn't too bothered about what they are watching, who is up for a good laugh, but doesn't mind a bit of blood and guts.

Tormented is directed by Jon Wright and written by Stephen Prentice. It stars Alex Pettyfer, Sophie Wu, April Pearson, Calvin Dean, Dimitri Leonidas and Tuppence Middleton. Music is by Paul Hartnoll and cinematography by Trevor Forrest.

A bullied teenager at Fairview High School takes his own life but appears to have come back from the dead to take revenge on his classmates.

Gruesome, fun and flavoured by pinches of satire, Tormented is a far better film than the internet ratings suggest. The serious subject of bullying makes its point, particularly late in the proceedings, but the makers are more interested in capturing the spirit of the techno teen times while focusing on the antagonists in their natural habitat. They are a dislikable bunch, not only in how they treat those they view as inferior to themselves, but also to each other. Even the central "couple" at the core of the plotting, the closest the film has to someone for us to side with as they strive to survive, come with bile baggage that reveals itself as we hurtle towards a deliciously spiky finale. There is much self-absorption and crudeness, sexulisation and ignorance, it's a bit of a kicker is this, but we are firmly on the side of the recently departed Darren Mullet (Calvin Dean). The cast performances are a mixed bunch, but this hardly hurts the picture, while serious gore hounds will lament the lack of close ups for the "killer" scenes. But this is more than a generic slasher, it has psychological smarts and nifty observations on modern technology's usage for cruel intimidation. It also knows how to have a good time, and you should too. 7/10

The best thing about Tormented is the opening and closing credits, which were original and interesting. The opening 10 minutes weren't bad, but from then on things go downhill and rarely pick up.

The main problem with this film was the poor storyline and script. Direction and acting were okay, and quite stylish at points, but the storyline itself wasn't sufficient to tread a path between horror and comedy.

The bullying is over-the-top and unbelievable, certainly for the age of people involved; characters were kept paper-thin; and the script riddled with clichés. You simply didn't believe what was happening, nor that, when events turn nasty, the protagonists greet them with such an indifferent attitude. Logic is out of the window - a school with 3 recent deaths, an unexplained accident, and a disappearance - yet no sign of the police, and the school still open ... hmmmmmmm.

The bottom line is, this is another film that seems incapable of representing British school students as they really are, and opts for cliché which doesn't go far enough for parody. The result leaves the viewer too detached to show much interest in the events, and there aren't enough laughs to retain interest on a purely comedic level (the only laugh coming from the discovery of the 'full condom', and we have to wait an hour for that).

Of interest to those who might like Skins, if only to see something much worse. A shame.

'TORMENTED': Three Stars (Out of Five)

This BBC Films production is another tormented high school student revenge tale. It's directed by Jon Wright, written by newcomer Stephen Prentice and filled with a cast of relatively unknowns (although they could be bigger stars in the UK). A young actress by the name of Tuppence Middleton is memorable and strikingly attractive in the lead and the rest of the cast is adequate and fittingly cast. The story is routine and has been done many times before but it is filled with witty British dialog (as well as sometimes confusing slang). The directing is impressive for this type of low budget genre film and the soundtrack is very effective. All in all it's a pretty well made comedic slasher film.

As the film opens a bullied fat asthma stricken outcast named Darren Mullet (played by Calvin Dean) has just committed suicide. Class favorite Justine (Middleton) speaks at his funeral although she doesn't remember who he was. She later learns that the boy had a crush on her. The popular clique that made fun of Darren now accepts Justine into their group, with some resentment from the girls, and one of the boys (played by Dimitri Leonidas) has a romantic interest in Justine. As Justine falls in love with her new found popularity, and starts to forget her old friends, her new friends start dieing one by one. It appears as though Darren has risen from the dead and is exacting his revenge.

The film is touching and sad at times but it is a little heavy handed as well. Although I felt sorry for Darren and the way he was treated I had trouble routing for him as he viciously killed his tormentors. The death scenes are creative and at times humorous though and as far as low budget slasher films go this one is pretty well put together. It's got that dry British humor that's a riot at times (in this film) and the characters are all at least somewhat interesting. If you're a fan of the genre this is one worth checking out.

Watch our review show, 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU_O9yN8W_E

Weak script and storyline, not much to keep you hooked, easy to follow. A few creeps and laughs. I have no idea what type of audience this is for...maybe for guys who have a kink for school uniforms because they were the most unconvincing bunch of school-kids ever, I hate modified uniforms made to look like they were from a porn movie or St Trinians. And as far as I know thigh high socks,fashion tights, mini skirts and huge earrings are banned from schools...pi-sh, plus the fact they are too old. And probably the first rule when making any sort of film is character sympathy...I didn't warm to any of the characters, apart from Justine(poor girl) so who cares if anything happens to them?