Making a good horror flick is a science today with all the competitors wanting to get into the action to make some bucks from this genre’s massive fan base. It has gotten so competitive, that all those who have tried to work their magic on a low budget using novice actors, mediocre sets, cheesy special effects and a trite script have most often failed. Unfortunately this is the case with Varsity Blood and for me it was hurtful to watch. Direct to DVD, the movie has only value to budding filmmakers that want to watch it for what not to do.
The very loosely written story follows Hogeye High student Hannah Wallace (Lexi Giovagnoli) who fills the gap in the cheer squad that became vacant when Ginny Graves (Chloë Evans) died in a freak accident. It’s been one year since her death and at the pep rally prior to their 5th football game of the season the squad listens as Principal Graves gives a sad reminder. But most of the girls on the squad are not interested in the past as they have their eyes on the football players who treat them like goddesses for their sexual charms.
While Hannah is a goody two shoes, she has had a recent event that has set her heading down a dead end road. Her father was killed several months ago in a traffic accident that switched on her mother Nancy Wallace’s protective mode. She keeps a tight hold on Hannah limiting her curfew and access to boys. With Halloween upon them and game 5 ending with a big win for the players, a special party at a place in the woods becomes the “in” event. When Hannah convinces her mother to let her stay out till midnight with the squad, Nancy hesitantly Okays the extra time. But, when murders start to take place among the large number of students at the party, the affair becomes a bloody mess.
Involved in the film is a side story about the boyfriend of Ginny who tried to commit suicide and is now under guard at a rehab center. This extra bit of knowledge that gets loosely revealed lends to the mystery surrounding Ginny’s death. But the film trips over its own feet with a revenge inference involving key characters. First time writer/director Jake Helgren makes every mistake one can in the film business except for one, his promotional art for the DVD box is perfect to draw in unsuspecting horror flick buyers. His actors are very novice and make huge blunders with delivery, miss cues, often slide out of character, and look like they are reading lines from cue cards. The camera work continues has problems as well with the cinematographers loosing action in low light situations. The whole final act gets so dark that the audience will have a tough time getting any visceral enjoyment from the horror supposedly happening throughout. Even the Hogeye High Warriors mascot can hardly be distinguished with his presence at the party massacre.
The script has way too many plot holes that never get filled or are so out of whack that they become comical. It would take a whole page to point them all out and it would also give too much of the “story” away. People appear out of nowhere in some scenes, flagrant continuity errors are everywhere, the ending reveal is absurd and the killer pops up from out of nowhere within seconds of his last location. The locations aren’t creepy enough and the costume the killer wears never gets messed up with blood from his many gory hackings.
Varsity Blood has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, gore, sex, nudity, teen drinking, teen drug use and language. The sex and the nudity are marginal and gratuitous at best. See below for DVD specs and additional information.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Lexi Giovagnoli, Wesley Scott, Debbie Rochon, Natalie Peyton, Blair Jackson, Elyse Bigler, Jesse Ferraro, Chris Hlozek, Payton Wood, Chloë Evans
Writer/Director: Jake Helgren
MPAA Rating: Unrated, contains violence, nudity, sex, language, drug use
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr 27 min
Video Release Date: August 19, 2014
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 16×9 Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RJL Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
