Cherry Falls Review

Sometimes I get surprised by film that I haven’t seen, especially when I’m at the local video store; that’s where I found this semi-gem, if that’s possible to find. Cherry Falls was coupled with another film, but I haven’t watched the other one, so I’ll review this one first, and the other one, later.

Cherry Falls never hit movie theaters, but it looks like it should. It came out around the time when Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and other films were getting my idiot friends all riled up. The first thing I noticed about this film is how cute Brittany Murphy was when she was younger, and not blonde. The film also stars some other idiots, like Jay Mohr and others, but no one is going to remember the others…at least I didn’t.

The movie’s plot revolves around a mysterious killer that is targeting teenage couples having sex. Once again, the horror clichés abound in this film. A murderer killing teenagers, and especially virgins? Surely that isn’t something that we see all the time is it? When the killer starts to target Jody Marken (Brittany Murphy) the film starts to duck and move towards what seems like an inevitable conclusion, that the killer is who you least expect, or who you do expect. I actually was fooled for a moment, then when the killer was finally revealed, I realized that this thing was just another horror film.

Despite the fact that the Sheriff suggested the teenagers all have sex, and therefore set off a “sex party” where all the teens would do it on one night, there was no nudity. At least not any that I’d write on this blog, as it was lame. I’m just stating, that the film gives you the old bait and switch.

The effects and gore are real yet again. This was before the CG era of blood effects, so there are legit blood and gore effects that are right on par with a lot of other milder horror films. This film does in fact have a body count, but the slashings are quickly edited, cameras are exchanged, which makes me think that this film was made for tv, and not necessarily for large-scale release. Despite a budget of 14 million dollars, this film has some faults, all targeted about the stupid plot twists, and lack of gore. Wait, is that even possible?

Is Cherry Falls a Scary Film? : No.

Once again, teenage horror movies lose me. I’m about a decade removed from these types of horror films, and after all these years I still don’t fully grasp their appeal. I think that the outcome convolutes the film quite a bit, and I don’t like the way that the killer gets his end.

I always seem to have a problem with the logic in some of these films. Consider that the killer was doing quite well up to the final stages, where instead of being smart, cunning, and calculated he gets desperate and in his altered state of mind gets killed by the “dumb” teenager. Yes, this is cliché, and for ¾ of the film you have to assume the killer isn’t as dumb as his demise, but nope, he is dumb.

Cherry Falls suffers from a lot of different plot points, mostly derived from lackluster logical page turns. However, that doesn’t mean that this film is all bad. There are some great moments in the film, and some creative slashings, and clever lines. In fact, the sequences leading up to the reveal of the killer are done in a fashion that I haven’t seen done in a long time. The lines delivered are both sarcastic, and true, and when the tense moments build, this thing takes off into a frenetic pace.

I recommend Cherry Falls for those that love teenage horror films, and are tired of the obvious choices. This film fits quite well with other teen screamers, and while it’s not going to make a lot of top 10 lists, it will match up with a lot of other, more prominent movies in the genre.