Hello again, ghosts and ghouls!
If you’ve been here awhile, you’re probably thinking to yourself: “how do these people watch so many horror movies without getting completely jaded by the fact that they’ve seen every storyline imaginable?” Well, dear readers, I have been jaded. I try not to read storylines before screening a film anymore, in fear that I’ll be even more miserable watching it than I typically am.
With the exception of a few (looking at you, INTO THE MUD and SHE WHO MUST BURN), a lot of the reviews I’ve done have exclusively been me complaining about how awful the film was. Some of them were flat out unbearable where I would periodically check my Facebook in-between important scenes to keep my brain from melting out my ears. As you probably understand, without my brain, I wouldn’t be able to warn all of you about these abominations.
Once in awhile, though, a film comes along and blows my mind, and ignites my love for horror all over again. BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY is that film. Originally I told Shannon (Editor-In-Chief) that I would review this movie exclusively because Drake Bell was in it, but by the end, I totally forgot all about him and was fixated on how great this movie was.
BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY is a sequel to BAD KIDS GO TO HELL, based on the graphic novel of the same name. BKGTH was released in 2012, and I have to say, I definitely saw it but I didn’t really remember it. I do remember, though, that it sparked my imagination and I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t more school-based horror films. I wouldn’t necessarily call this horror, though, so much as it is a thriller. It’s just reeeaaaal gory.
On the plus side, you don’t have to see BAD KIDS GO TO HELL before you watch BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY. I know this from experience, because I had no idea this was a sequel until after I watched the movie and then decided to look up some extra information about it before writing my review. However, if you watch them back-to-back, let me know if you see any similarities!
BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY tells the story of Siouxie, an ‘undercrust’ sophomore who purposefully lands herself in detention in order to get proof of how her sister died at a party. While in detention, she finds herself with some of the key kids from the party that night. Also while in detention, everyone starts dying. In really graphic ways. An overdoes where the kid’s puking blood everywhere, and a scalping, just to name a few. Does Siouxie ever find out what happened to her sister? Will she make it out alive? Watch and find out!!
One of my favorite parts of this film is the post-death scenes. They essentially turn it into a graphic-novel-style, which is fitting as the film is based on one. It just added a little dimension to the film that I really appreciated, and it made it more fun to watch than a horror film where you’re on-edge the entire time. Another HUGE selling point for me was the cast. Drake Bell is hilarious, sure, but Sammi Hanratty was STELLAR as Siouxie. Everyone is very convincing and fun to watch, but this girl blew me away. She’s just…great. Not enough good things to say about her performance. She’s just SO fun (and her facial expressions are incredible). Also, Sean Astin is in this movie and for those of you that know me, I’m one of the biggest LORD OF THE RINGS freaks I’ve ever met. I have a tattoo in Elvish. So I was OVERWHELMINGLY excited to see him as Headmaster Nash.
This film reminds me a lot of CABIN IN THE WOODS, in the way that it’s unpredictable, but once things start to click, it feels like your brain is exploding. It’s so entertaining, you’re never sure what’s right around the corner (even though you probably think you do), and the characters make it all worthwhile.
I genuinely don’t have enough good things to say about this film, and if you’re a fan of BAD KIDS GO TO HELL or CABIN IN THE WOODS, or you’re just generally looking for a new horror film that’s (finally) not like everything else you’ve ever seen, go do yourself a favor and watch BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY. Is it going to give you nightmares? No, but you’ll have a shitload of fun watching it!
BAD KIDS OF CRESTVIEW ACADEMY will be in select theaters, On Demand and Digital HD on January 13

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