This makes Carrie’s prom look like a paper cut! – Will
Brent turns down Lola’s invitation to the prom since he’s already going with his girlfriend Holly but Lola is going to make sure that Brent never makes that date.
Written and Directed by – Sean Byrne
Starring – Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Richard Wilson, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Andrew S. Gilbert, Suzi Dougherty, Victoria Eagger, Anne Scott-Pendlebury, Fred Whitlock, Leo Taylor, Stephen Walden, Igor Savin, Eden Porter, Tom Mahoney, Jedda
The poster calls this Pretty In Pink meets Wolf Creek but I think Carrie would be a better fit here. Of course if you blend blood and the prom you’re already veering into Carrie territory. I didn’t know too much going into this one and I actually thought it was going to be a very dark horror/comedy. Forget about the comedy part, this one is straight up horror madness. The movie isn’t without a few problems and there’s a couple of sub-plots that don’t do anything to advance the story but the main plot is full of disturbing moments and lots of blood.
Brent (Xavier Samuel) was in a car crash which killed his Dad when they swerved to avoid a guy covered in blood on the road. Six months later Brent is trying to deal with the accident while the end of the school year has come. Brent’s girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine) has helped him along and they’re planning on going to the prom together when Lola (Robin McLeavy) asks Brent. He turns her down and heads home to get ready for his big night. After an argument with his Mom, Brent heads out to some cliffs to get high when he’s suddenly attacked and kidnapped. He wakes up to find Lola and her father have tied him to a chair, intent on giving Lola the prom date she’s always wanted.
Holly is going to find that Brent seems to have stood her up for prom tonight!
The main plot following Brent and Lola is great. There are some really demented moments and tons of blood. It eventually leads into some really insane and uncomfortable territory but it does run the risk of being a little over the top towards the very end. Robin McLeavy delivers a truly disturbing turn as Lola, a girl with more than just a few screws loose. A few sandwiches short of a picnic is an understatement for her. Her picnic basket is just full of hammers and power drills! John Brumpton as her Dad is equally as insane and their relationship certainly delivers some really uncomfortable moments.
While that storyline is so great, there’s another storyline running with Brent’s friend Jamie (Richard Wilson) as he heads to the prom with Mia (Jessica McNamme). That story is also well done but really doesn’t make any sense in terms of the movie overall. The characters are all connected but only in the most simple of ways and I just didn’t see the point to their story. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. We end up seeing more of them than we do of Brent’s girlfriend Holly who really plays a much bigger role in the Brent and Lola plot.
Lola and her Dad have some plans for Brent that include more than a dance at the prom.
Despite the two stories really not fitting together, they’re both well done and enjoyable to watch. Lola is insanity in the body of a teenage girl and some of the scenes between her, her father and Brent are sure to make viewers squirm. I was never sure what to think of her and her Dad and it borders on cartoon villainy sometimes but it’s the kind of screwed up mess that had me glued to the screen. There were times I was just frozen in place waiting to see what would happen. If you’re looking for something that’ll make you feel uncomfortable without diving right into torture porn than this is the flick for you. It’s good to see that they can still make a horror movie that’s effective without having to show in graphic detail all the blood and guts.
Under the marquee – Will
