It makes 97 minutes of your time seem like forever
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
The Holy Angels School for Girls, a high class catholic school, is filled with a mysterious and terrible past.
After a group of three popular girls play a nasty prank on a school mate, they return to their school and are met with secrets and betrayal as a suspended history teacher returns and corners the young girl in attempt to change her story which originally got him suspended and facing trial as a rapist, yet it does not stop at a simple conversation as he once again tries to attack the girl, forcing her to retaliate which causes the candles to fall and set alight to many gas canisters which in turn cause a huge explosion which rips through the school, killing over thirty girls. The only known survivors are the four girls and the school security guard.
The film then skips five years down the line and we once again meet the four girls as a ruthless Hollywood agent is determined to bring them all back together to exploit the buildings mystery and the truth of what happened that night.
The building has been empty for five years, though has been reconstructed, as the towns folk are not at all pleased to find the four girls, one being who they blame for the fire, back in their community.
As the film continues, the film crew and the four girls uncover more than they bargained in the derelict school as they unlock secrets of the past and uncover more betrayal, vengence and jealousy amid the ashes that haunt the corridors and classrooms
*****Film Overview*****
My first reaction when the opening scene began was that of surprise, and I do not mean a good surprise, and the feeling did not leave me throughout the rest of the showing.
The film opens with the young girl awaiting her first date with a boy who is extremely late. He eventually pulls up and claims he is sorry and utters a disastrous line 'You look so good I could die for you'. Suddenly what we first believe to be gun shots shoot at him and then at her. There is pathetic screaming until the three girls uncover their black masks and their paint balling guns as we realize it was all a prank.
This might seem like an alright opening, but to be honest with you, I was left open-eyed in complete astonishment.
The acting was the main aspect which caught my eye. It was as if I was back in primary school. There was no feeling or emotion and it simply felt as though they were reading their lines and being told stand here, mover three steps...It was simply terrible.
I continued to watch in the hope that the acting would get better, but in fact, it simply got worse. Most lines were static and at the points which really needed some emotion, had none. My three year old sister could have done better, and that is no word of a lie!
I don't think that I can review the acting any more than that as there really is not anything to praise. I shall now move on the story line itself.
A typical chase, a bad guy who is masked to protect his identity chasing the group around the empty school which is conveniently locked up to prevent escape and killing them off one by one in extremely unimaginative ways. Sounds thrilling doesn't it! (Please note the sarcastic tone in my typing)
Along the way, we are privileged to have many flashbacks to help tell the story of what really happened, yet even these are dull and boring and really do not add anything to the story.
There are a few small surprises along the way, yet I could see them coming a mile off, and they did attempt to bring in a couple of twists at the end, something that viewers love, yet even these were static and really not necessary to the story line.
Finally when the film had wrapped up, they did the classic of making the dead bad guy vanish to leave it open for a sequel, but I certainly will not be watching any sequel as the only thing which I feel that was a plus to watching this film was that it past approximatly 96 minutes of a boring afternoon for me.
*****Special Effects*****
There were none! Even the killing with a small dagger gave the sound of hitting a lump of cheese with a wet fish! The explosion of the fire was perhaps the only decent effect in the whole movie, yet even this did not aspire too much.
*****Sound and Picture Quality*****
The sound was as perfect as it could be, sometimes slightly quiet in places which I thought would have been much better louder to create the non-existent jumping factor, yet it was not a big of a let down as the film itself.
The picture quality was slightly dark and grainy in many areas. A few shots were taken as if through the video camera on the set which was extremely off-putting and very shaky. Other instances were filmed through the eyes of the killer, using a green light to enable you to see in the dark. This was again really off-putting and became quite annoying, though they only did this a couple of times.
*****Scene*****
The film took place in a school, a massive and wealthy looking building from the outside, but the inside sets were plain and dull and really did not bring anything into the film. It gave me the impression of a very low budget movie, something which you don't generally expect to see in modern day films.
*****Extra's*****
I love extras and was extremely disappointed that there was nothing on this DVD except for a scene selection menu. *****Other Information*****
Actors: Michael Ironside, Cassandra Bell, Elly Fairman, Jeff Fahey, Esme Eliot
Format: PAL
Language English
Region: Region 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: 15 (although some had rating of 18 on there so I do not know what is going on there!)
DVD Release Date: 13 Nov 2006
Run Time: 97 minutes approximately
Main Language: English
Chapter Selection
# Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22,371 in DVD
*****Costs*****
Originally sold at £15.99, yet you are able to buy this DVD used from around £11.00. Personally, I think if you pay more that £5 for this film you are wasting your money!
*****Overall*****
I was extremely disappointed in both the actual film and the lack of any extras on the DVD.
The story was static and unimaginative, the characters had little depth to them, the acting was amature and there was nothing to bring my interest up.
I would not recommend this DVD to anyone, although each to their own. What is not a great buy for me may be a brilliant buy for others, though I would recommend you rent it before buying it if you are still interested in watching it.
More details
Soundtrack
Unmemorable
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Not applicable
Value for Money
Poor
What format are you reviewing?
DVD
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