Cherry Falls

Sound familiar?

The only twist is that this killer slays only virgins, so the local kids organize an orgy to take themselves off the endangered species list. Apparently this is meant to be a witty reversal of the usual slasher film, where kids normally seem to be slashed as penance for sexual activity. Further evidence of this scintillating Wildean wit is to be found in the subtle title, which is the name of the town, but of course is also synonymous with the loss of virginity ("Tonight, your cherry falls"), and with the actual falls for which the town is named. By the way, guess where the kids of this town go to park and make out and lose their virginity? Oh, the cross-references just never stop, like an especially complex theme in Finnegan's Wake.

DVD info from Amazon.

no features, no widescreen

Despite graphic violence, torture, sex, and an obviously hard "r" rating, the film has almost no nudity. All the kids have sex with their clothes on, and whenever the film pictures any scene where clothes are coming off, the camera cuts away at just the right time.

So awful and predictable that you would want to boo the film when it ends, except that nobody is likely to watch it that long.

The Critics Vote

Two stars. BBC 2/5 (released theatrically in the UK). Inexplicably, Apollo rated this 72/100!
Rotten Tomatoes summary. 26 articles

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters (over)rate it at 5.1. Apollo users 35/100

With their dollars ... Although budgeted at $14 million, it was never released theatrically in the USA. It made the rounds of a few European countries, plus Singapore and Hong Kong.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D. If you don't like teen slasher movies, you'll hate this unpleasant, unimaginative one. If you like them, you have seen every minute of this one already. Tuna's comment: It is a solid genre film, and deserves a C, but has nothing to distinguish it.