Amateurish

I was surprised by the mediocrity of this Jason Blum production. The script is in need of glue; it falls apart a lot. Which is a shame, really, because the concept is a good one. Sure, it resonates with other films like Jamie Lee Curtis's "Prom Night", but it does a lot of things wrong. Yet, it does have saving points.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD...

The focus is on a group of black (and one Hispanic) Compton middle school students who play a prank on a stuttering classmate named "Chauncey". As they press upon him with their scary skeleton masks, he nervously reacts and inadvertently knocks one of the kids over the railing to her death. The group of friends blame Chauncey, and he ends up serving four years in jail.

FLASH FORWARD FOUR YEARS

Now in high school, the group of friends are wary when Derrick spots Chauncey. He's been released and people are starting to die.

Writing Quality: The script is good in a lot of ways. We see the hooded killer throughout and it creates a real mystery. Unfortunately, the script is weak in a lot of places. There are too many annoying characters, including some random gang bangers and a pair of students who take "revenge" on the group of friends by spray painting their car and ruining Lisa's Homecoming Queen dress. The worst, though, is Kim (Pepi Sonuga). Her sister is the one who died and we see Kim talking to herself in the mirror in the voice of her sister, yet this is never addressed clearly. She also displays some sexual body language, which was unnecessary. The superstar "Unique" actually agrees to take her to the dance. All I could think about was R Kelly. And then Chauncey is constantly walking around in a black hoodie--couldn't help but think of Travon Martin. And then he tries to choke his drunk foul-mouthed single mom to death. There was so much stereotyping. Yes, we are in Compton, a horrible neighborhood, but aside from Lisa and Derrick, we just couldn't get away from gang-related talk, cap guns, and emotional single moms who will do anything to protect their (guilty) babies, inaccurate in many ways while damaging the image of black communities. Probably the most disappointing part of the cast is the lead character, Lisa, (Jessica Allain) who just doesn't work; she lacks the actress flair and any onscreen presence--just not actress material.

Content (sex, language & violence): A sex scene that we hear for a few seconds, but no nudity. Kim displays sexually suggestive body language. Some foul language. Violence: one scene is a bit bloody, but most kills are done off screen.

Scare Factor/Suspense: The killer's presence is spooky. And when he runs, it's amazing how fast and determined he is, which is even scarier.

Values: None really. With all of the downhill behavior, the script could have really used some uplifting and positive messages. If you're going to put us in a dismal city, don't capitalize on its issues and glorify them.

Twist: In spite of other reviewers claims, I was surprised by the twist. It's a pretty good ending.

The movie had a cool music cue for tense scenes. But there were a lot of moments that played out too "normally"; I felt like I was watching someone who just decided to film a classroom in its natural environment instead of watching a movie. It needed music and good camera precision. As it was, the quality of the film felt quite amateurish in terms of the camera angles and lack of music to punctuate certain moments. There is a large cast of characters and you don't care about any of them. They're not likeable. There's no one you root for. So, that's not good.

#Thriller