HEAD CHEERLEADER DEAD CHEERLEADER
PLOT-The night before the big high school football game, someone's killing the cheerleading squad.
VIOLENCE-Weapon of choice for the mysterious killer is a big axe, so there are chopped-off heads and other body parts. Also of note are some stabbings and shootings.
SEX/NUDITY-I counted at least 2 topless scenes, maybe 3, but no sex scenes spring to mind.
WHY I WATCHED IT-This is an easy one. Debbie Rochon is in it. Need I say more?
THE DOPE-Funny that a movie so obviously inspired by SCREAM would end up playing out just like the movies Craven's film made fun of. HEAD CHEERLEADER not only features the "high-schoolers" that look way too old for their roles (especially one football player who leaves his helmet on because if he took it off, you'd see he looks old enough to be the other actors' father), but contains in-references to horror movies (do jocks really stand around lamenting that they don't make 'em like EVIL DEAD anymore?), and of course the titties and blood. And stop me if you've heard this before...but the female lead character is terrorized by a mysterious killer who keeps calling her at home! HEAD CHEERLEADER also shamelessly attempts to copy the ending of SCREAM as well, almost exactly. But before it sounds like I'm trashing the movie, let me tell you what this thing has going for it. Aside from an appearance by the ridiculously talented Debbie Rochon (whose on-screen time amounts to 5 minutes or so) and a few terrific lines, the two guys who play the rednecks at the stadium are first-rate. Their scenes are hilarious and well-played, and I enjoyed watching them go back and forth. I know people that speak and act just like them. HEAD CHEERLEADER is the kind of movie you sit with your friends and make fun of, and can be enjoyed on a pure camp/cheese level. There's an undercurrent of twisted-ness that I really liked about the movie, but it gets buried under all the "seen it before" material, unfortunately. The answering machine message at the beginning was a great touch, too.
MEMORABLE SCENES-I will forever think of this movie as the one where the tit gets chopped off by the axe! No kidding, the effect is well done too. And later, we see the severed tit again because the killer keeps parts from his victims. I laughed like hell when the bloody boob hit the floor...both times.
DVD NOTES-This disc contains trailers and a photo gallery. Thanks Kristy, my "partner in crime" over at GATES OF GORE for her much-appreciated help in making this review possible.
(June 2003)