Such a good recipe. Nothing was out of place. I was stunned when I saw it - the ads had me expecting some stupid clone of "we created a monster out of our heads" movies, or I Know What You Did Last Arbor Day. Instead, it's more like classic Hitchcock, just with very short plaid skirts and SLIGHTLY more gore.
This is one of the best suspense movies I've seen in years. I wouldn't even really call it a horror movie, since it's much more of a psychological thriller.
A group of students at a private boarding school let "the new kid" into their private clique/game - which is, they try to manipulate one another into revealing things. Then the girl behind the game decides to take it up a notch - there's been a murder in town, and she proposes that they create a rumor that this killing is related to a similar (fictional) killing at another school elsewhere, and they create all sorts of details about the imagined prior incident, and send it around in an email as "fact".
This starts off various chains of events, including mysterious appearances of the killer (as described in the email), not the least of which is a dozen or so copies who show up for the Halloween dance!! Well-painted and well-played portrait of manipulation going on on MANY many levels at once, without ever being so muddled that you can't figure out what's going on and WHY it's going on. And a very well-crafted portrayal of a surprisingly believable, yet very downplayed sociopath - both in the acting and the little clues in the writing. Kudos to the writer(s).
Oh, and it has Jon Bon Jovi in it. And he's not a bad actor. That was a surprise too.
This is one of the best suspense movies I've seen in years. I wouldn't even really call it a horror movie, since it's much more of a psychological thriller.
A group of students at a private boarding school let "the new kid" into their private clique/game - which is, they try to manipulate one another into revealing things. Then the girl behind the game decides to take it up a notch - there's been a murder in town, and she proposes that they create a rumor that this killing is related to a similar (fictional) killing at another school elsewhere, and they create all sorts of details about the imagined prior incident, and send it around in an email as "fact".
This starts off various chains of events, including mysterious appearances of the killer (as described in the email), not the least of which is a dozen or so copies who show up for the Halloween dance!! Well-painted and well-played portrait of manipulation going on on MANY many levels at once, without ever being so muddled that you can't figure out what's going on and WHY it's going on. And a very well-crafted portrayal of a surprisingly believable, yet very downplayed sociopath - both in the acting and the little clues in the writing. Kudos to the writer(s).
Oh, and it has Jon Bon Jovi in it. And he's not a bad actor. That was a surprise too.