Great premise. Troubled teen goes to group home that mistreats children. Disappointingly, the movie has so many scenes that lack realism and common sense that the movie is totally unbelievable. The overriding discrepancy occurs when our heroine, Ellie, finds a girl tied up in the attic who is thirsty and starving. But when she has a chance to tell her detective friend who can help her, Ellie neglects to report that a girl is dying in the attic. This, in spite of the fact that she is rebellious, unhappy, and wants to leave. Instead, she tells the cop she is sure there have been many runaways! That scene alone ruined the movie for me, but there were other discrepancies. For example, after the custodian chops off a runaway's hand, he keeps it in a visible suitcase in a room that the kids have to clean. Also, when the woman who runs the group home finds out about an inspection, she moves 3 dead bodies covered in sheets from a walk-in freezer in order to find a better hiding spot. Of course, an unlocked room is the best spot! The 3 dead kids with dead-white complexion, bleeding gashes, and bloody sheets are laid on beds and not even covered! At one point, our main character, Ellie, walks into this room and proceeds to question the dead corpses; never realizing that they are bloodied stiffs! In another hole in logic, some of the kids during the dinner-table scene speak of the place as if it wasn't so bad. This, in spite of 3 missing "runaways" and hello! ... a girl tied up in the attic! You would think at least one of them would have been close enough to care what happened to the 3 "runaways" or the poor sod in the attic! Of comical value, most of the "kids" in the home are well into their 20's and at the time of the movie, the character Bunch, who was supposed to be 16, was actually 24! Finally, the monster at the end of the movie looks like a guy with a rubber mask over his head. Not scary, just laughable. In conclusion, while some of the acting, the production, and the premise are good, the movie is burdened and ruined by a dumb and totally unbelievable script. 4.5 out of 10
Review of Blood and Lace
