A
troubled girl named Ginny Wainwright
(Melissa Sue Anderson) is recovering from
a freak accident that happened to her
last year on her Birthday which caused
the death of her mother Estelle (Sharon
Acker) as well as having a regenerative
brain surgery which has blocked her
memory.
Before celebrating her 18th Birthday
during her grad year things seem better
for her as all her friends promised to
attend to her party unlike the year
before.
However, her friends are mysteriously
being murdered one by one as Ginny thinks
that she is losing her mind wondering if
she is responsible for all of this when
her friends have mysteriously disappeared
but her shrink Dr. David Faraday (Glenn
Ford) assures her that she is totally
sane and nothing bad is happening to her.
But Ginny is also plagued by tramautic
blackouts and her memory is slowly coming
back to her on what happened on her 17th
Birthday when the horrible incidents
started to happen to her and how her Mom
died.
Then on the night of her Birthday party
start to wonder if she will be the next
to die or is she the killer herself with
a split personality?
One of those cult
favourites that was in the same year
as those other low budget slasher flicks
like Graduation Day, My
Bloody Valentine, The
Burning, Friday the 13th
Part 2 and Halloween II
which gained a similar status to the fans
of those movies.
The poster will always be remembered with
the shishkabob murder.
The film is quite cheesy but yet very
mysterious whodunnit type of flick which
was done in good taste but yet the story
is a little stale.
It carries on with the slasher tradition
though like Halloween the
final terror happens and the same with My
Bloody Valentine and Black
Christmas.
The acting was
well performed for it's time although it
looks a little dated while watching it
now. We have former Little House
on the Prairie TV child star Melissa
Sue Anderson playing the title role
in the film as she can pull her part off
not too bad and could easily be billed
with Jamie Lee Curtis and Linda
Blair during this time period.
Glenn Ford seems to come across
nicely as the shrink in this film with
his caring and concerned attitude.
Frances Hyland can be well
remembered for her role in this film as
she does well with her scrictness as a
headmaster at the school.
Sharon Acker played a great crazy
drunken mother in the film having the
most energy out of everyone.
Matt Craven of course had the
perfect role playing the outgoing
boyfriend in which he pulled off quite
well.
We've got an effective small supporting
role by Lesleh Donaldson who
does well playing a spoiled snob and the
first victim in the movie.
Ginny's head is
operated in a surgery room.
A guys face is bloodied by a wheel of a
motorbike.
A violent bloodshed over some walls and a
carpet
Some slit throats
Gruesome looking corspes sitting around a
table.
There's a nice and
impressive dialogue between supporting
actress Lesleh Donaldson and Frances
Hyland in the neighborhood at night.
Donaldson does well later on
with a mocking remark behind her back
after being scolded by being out late at
night as she comes across well by acting
spoiled.
There's are good shots on Donaldson being
strangled by a killer with black gloves
in a car as well as later on showing her
cried scared emotions when she sees a a
razor blade about to strike her throat as
this leaves off to a good start for a low
budget teenage slasher film.
We have a good scene with the partying
teens at a bar pulling pranks as well as
good shots on them driving their cars
trying to jump over a bridge that is
opening up for a boat as there's perfect
shots on the camera looking up with the
vehicles jumping over the open
cracks of the bridge
Melissa Sue Anderson did well
freaking out when this happened as well
as a good shot on her jumping out of the
car and running away.
We have a good scene with Anderson
talking to her mother's gravestone as
well as a good camera angle shot on the
killers gloves pulling the branches away
to show her in a distant with the
tombstone.
There's a nice dark scene with supporting
actor Michel-René
Labelle at the graveyard
speaking coldly towards Anderson
as it leaves an impression that he could
be a suspect.
Anderson does well by snapping
at Lawrence Dane when she arives
home as it's a daughter and father
discussion and also does well showing
their loving emotions towards one another
afterwards.
There's perfect close up shots with Anderson
shutting an outdoor window and lamp.
She also does well by looking nervous
afterwards along with a shot on the
window open again. Plus she screamed
quite well after losing her balance.
Hyland was great at scolding
Anderson in her office about the
disappearance of one of the students
showing good straight forward attitude.
A nice flashback memory with Anderson
lying on a table in a surgery room and
slowly rising up with a stunned
expression.
We have a perfect moment with Jack
Blum showing a serious and
intimidating attitude towards Anderson and
Tracey E. Bregman in a science
lab with a good dark setting.
There's a good close up camera shot on
David Eisner playing socccer.
Great angle shots on Anderson and Eisner
running up stairs and wandering through a
church tower. Eisner acts goofy with his
dialogue towards Anderson during this
which seems a little silly. Later he
shows a good intimidating attitude
towards her when he slowly walks towards
her with a jack knife as well as a good
close up shot on the knife shining in the
light too.
One of the most effective directions was
with supporting actor Richard
Rebiere bench pressing and
the killer comes into the room as he asks
for more weight and realising he is
lifting too much than he can handle with
the killer pulling away the metal bars
that holds the bar bell which you know
that the terror is about to occur as he
is struck between a rock and a hard place
not being able to hold the bar bell for
long as it slowly goes down towards his
neck.
A good shot
on Eisner hanging upside down trying to
goof around at a library and a good
creeped out reaction on Anderson.
Anderson shows great intense emotional
crying towards Glenn Fordwhen she thinks
that she is losing it when he tries to
help her with this issue.
We have good shots on Blum at
night stalking Anderson at the
graveyard as well as him slowly
approaching towards her when she is
kneeling down at a tombstone.
We have the most memorable direction of
all which was a scene between Anderson
and Craven sitting near a
fireplace with Anderson feeding Craven
a shishkabob and then a deadly moment
occurs.
A perfect camera shot circling around Anderson
while taking a shower and looking tense
as well as a good close up shot on the
shower head with the water pouring down
which leads to a flashback memory.
During this flashback memory we spot a
perfect close up shot on supporting
actress Sharon Acker drinking
and driving in her car on a stormy night
with her close to losing her sanity as
well as Anderson in the seat
panicking when they drive over the bridge
ready to open for a boat. A great car on
the car landing in the water 3 times
along with the shot on Anderson's face
in the shower remembering.
We get a disturbing moment between Anderson
and Acker in the car together
underwater when Anderson has no
choice but to struggle out of the car to
save herself as it looks even scary
trying to swim ashore.
Anderson is terrific screaming
intensely after spotting a corpse in a
bathtub as well as Ford being
forceful and aggressive to her trying to
force her back to the bathroom.
A good shot on Anderson's barefeet
slowly walking as well as the back of her
head with a sharp metal object from a
fireplace.
Another perfect flashback moment that
involves Anderson and Acker with
the upsetting news of no one showing up
at the party.
Acker does well losing her
sanity at the front of a gate where a
party is occuring demnading to let them
in.
Dane reacts perfectly after spotting
what has happened and in utter shock not
knowing what to do.
Perfect shots on the dead bodies
surrounding a table with Anderson
walking up to the table with a Birthday
cake.
She does well acting monstrous and
menacing during a death battle moment.
Bo
Harwood and Lance Rubin compose some
great classical music in this film with
some sharp and screechy violin music for
the suspenseful moments such as the
killings as well as some clarinet playing
with the theme song being played in some
parts of the film as well as some
mysterious music too.
We also
have a cheesy depressive sounding ballad
during the rolling credits performed by
Motown artist Syreeta performing
the title song which did nothing for me.
Steve Maxwell (After
eating a bite on a shishkabob fed by
Ginny): MMMM, delicious
Ginny Wainwright: Well have some
more (Rams the shishkabob in his
mouth)
|
