Cherry Falls (2000)

Directed by: Geoffrey Wright

Starring: Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr, Michael Beihn, Joe Inscoe, Gabriel Mann and Natalie Ramsey

Genre: Horror / Slasher / horror-comedy

Rated: R

Someone is killing the teenage virgins in Cherry Falls, Virginia. As the killer inches dangerously closer to his daughter, Jody, Sherriff Marken realizes he must face the past in order to protect her.

Originally, this film was supposed to be a major studio release, but it was dropped due to the content of the plot. Instead it was picked up by the USA television network and reworked to fit its specifications. That is a shame because so much had to be cut from the original script, elements that would have made the film much better in my opinion.

Being turned into a made-for-TV movie, much of the violence had to be cut – so the viewer doesn’t see what happens to most of the victims. I know I’ve said that violence doesn’t necessarily have to be shown in order for a film to be scary, and that is true – however, when you’re working with a modern teenage slasher, it comes to be expected. If there is no creepy atmosphere and very little suspense, there had better be some exciting kill sequences. This film lacked all three.

Having read the original script, I feel the film butchered it – going for a far more comedic route and higher body count. In the script, we really get to know the characters a lot better, while in the movie only Jody and her father are really depicted as multi-dimensional. Her best friend, Sandy is barely more than a background character and her boyfriend Kenny is a dimwit – however, in defense of the final product, he was just as big of an idiot in the script.

As I said before, the violence was heavily cut. The audience mostly sees quick glimpses of the aftermath, but nothing of the actual kill itself. The scripted kills were very brutal and spliced in such a way that there actually could have been some suspense, but alas the first scene was entirely altered and the other scene depicted like that was cut altogether.

Instead of depicting the scarier aspects of the script, the filmmakers decided to focus more on the humorous aspects of it. It was already a Scream knock-off, but the funny bits are amplified. Some parts were truly, darkly funny, like the killer getting knocked over by a giant swinging plastic shark and pretty much anything that came out of Jay Mohr’s mouth – but a lot of it could have been taken down a notch.  

At least we were treated to some decent acting from leading lady, Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr as her teacher and Michael Beihn as the Sherriff. Gabriel Mann was decent as Kenny the dimwit boyfriend, but his character annoyed me. The rest of the characters, as mentioned above, faded, unmemorable, into the background.

Overall: It’s not a terrible flick – it’s amusing in places, and the original script held a lot of promise. It’s too bad the producers decided to take it the route they did. In the end, it wound up being a fairly average horror comedy.

5/10

Link to original script: http://scifiscripts.name2host.com/msol/cherryfalls.txt