Steve Clark and his family have moved to Cradle Bay from Chicago to leave behind a family tragedy. He starts his first day of school the next day and that's when he meets a couple of misfits - the fidgety Gavin and rebel chick Rachael, where he learns that the school is made up of groups and the one called the Blue Ribbons catches his eye as they seem a little to perfect. Soon enough Gavin has become one of these Blue Ribbons. In shock of his transformation, Steve and Rachael dig dip into this mystery of these A-grade students who seem to get violent when they get urges they know that are wrong.
I must've been brainwashed into watching this messy rubbish! What we've got here is a hyperactive, flashed up film that's void of imagination in its sloppy story telling and it doesn't evoke much in a way of tension. Being a fan of the X-files, I thought that it wouldn't have felt out-of-place in an episode of the series. Which, the ironic thing is that the director David Nutter has directed many of the episodes on 'The X-files'. You could say it's a movie length version without the FBI agents and his TV origins come to the party with it feeling overall like a made for TV picture. Obviously they know their target audience here, by catering for the needs of the younger generation with it focusing on its flashy details, rollicking rock soundtrack and a cast full familiar young faces like James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Katharine Isabelle and a small appearance by Ethan Embry. Other names that appeared from the older generation were Steve Railsback, Bruce Greenwood and William Sadler. Sadly they couldn't help this film from sinking fast as the performances were pitiful (headed by Holmes) and the characters themselves were your usual paper-thin stereotypes. The only redeemable performance that added anything was that of Stahl's spaced out Gavin whose paranoid reactions and quick replies make the viewing easier.
The gimmicky plot which mixes everything from 'The Stepford Wives', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and even to a extend 'Village of the Damned' doesn't eventuate up to much, but instead it becomes a really disjointed and cliché-ridden paranoia thriller that ends up being incredibly stupid and unintentionally laughable. So many things are brought up that are never clearly expanded on and these aren't pointless avenues either, but they do become that when they seem to skim on building on those ideas to keep the story moving. At least the running time seems to go by quick enough even if it drags a bit during the mid-section. The choppy editing might've helped the pacing, but it didn't do the flimsy plot any favours. The useless dialog is so bluntly one-note and lethargically bland. The bloated score doesn't sway that far from the same chords with it becoming rather monotonous. Where the film really nose dives is that there isn't anything remotely creepy about it and it's trying to be so. Nothing is hip about all of this posing about with forced murky imagery (oh how spooky!) and the undemanding mystery phase isn't much of one.
No matter how much I bag it, I found it hard to look away, like that of a horrible car accident. Although, what we see here is far from disturbing.
I must've been brainwashed into watching this messy rubbish! What we've got here is a hyperactive, flashed up film that's void of imagination in its sloppy story telling and it doesn't evoke much in a way of tension. Being a fan of the X-files, I thought that it wouldn't have felt out-of-place in an episode of the series. Which, the ironic thing is that the director David Nutter has directed many of the episodes on 'The X-files'. You could say it's a movie length version without the FBI agents and his TV origins come to the party with it feeling overall like a made for TV picture. Obviously they know their target audience here, by catering for the needs of the younger generation with it focusing on its flashy details, rollicking rock soundtrack and a cast full familiar young faces like James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Katharine Isabelle and a small appearance by Ethan Embry. Other names that appeared from the older generation were Steve Railsback, Bruce Greenwood and William Sadler. Sadly they couldn't help this film from sinking fast as the performances were pitiful (headed by Holmes) and the characters themselves were your usual paper-thin stereotypes. The only redeemable performance that added anything was that of Stahl's spaced out Gavin whose paranoid reactions and quick replies make the viewing easier.
The gimmicky plot which mixes everything from 'The Stepford Wives', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and even to a extend 'Village of the Damned' doesn't eventuate up to much, but instead it becomes a really disjointed and cliché-ridden paranoia thriller that ends up being incredibly stupid and unintentionally laughable. So many things are brought up that are never clearly expanded on and these aren't pointless avenues either, but they do become that when they seem to skim on building on those ideas to keep the story moving. At least the running time seems to go by quick enough even if it drags a bit during the mid-section. The choppy editing might've helped the pacing, but it didn't do the flimsy plot any favours. The useless dialog is so bluntly one-note and lethargically bland. The bloated score doesn't sway that far from the same chords with it becoming rather monotonous. Where the film really nose dives is that there isn't anything remotely creepy about it and it's trying to be so. Nothing is hip about all of this posing about with forced murky imagery (oh how spooky!) and the undemanding mystery phase isn't much of one.
No matter how much I bag it, I found it hard to look away, like that of a horrible car accident. Although, what we see here is far from disturbing.