A Disappointing Continuation

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I don't know enough about the person who made this to determine if they are an actual film maker. But, as I watched this, I found a movie that didn't know what it wanted to be. This was a complete mess. It tried to be suspense, then, in the end, it tried for horror movie gore. If you watched this, think really hard about the end. It made no sense at all. Timelines were messed up, no resolution to the story, just a garbled mess.I will refrain from the so obvious comparisons to BREAKFAST CLUB, and focus on SCOOBY DOO. It looked like a very very weak version of a BREAKFAST CLUB knockoff with some suspense. It ended up looking like an episode of SCOOBY DOO. There was a good concept hidden in this movie, but the maker appeared to work very very hard at burying that concept.I don't know who made this movie. If it was a high school film class project, it was OK. If it was meant to be a real movie...........it was truly horrible. I didn't even mention the terribly weak attempts at slapstick humour. This movie had no business being made.

On a stormy Saturday afternoon, six students from Crestview Academy begin to meet horrible fates as they serve out their detentions. Is a fellow student to blame, or perhaps Crestview's alleged ghosts are behind the terrible acts? The best thing about this film is probably Judd Nelson and his awesome beard. Since they were sort of starting with the "Breakfast Club" as inspiration and going from there, it makes sense to get a nice cameo from Nelson -- well played.I have some complaints, such as this film having some old high school kids -- one girl being particularly wrinkled. But there are also some awesome brief moments, such as the wheelchair incident that make the film as a whole decent. And the music is not bad, either.

"Bad Kids Go To Hell" is Director Matthew Spradlin's dark, twisted homage to 80's teen movies, as only Americana contemporary film can. Co- written with Barry Wernick, the story follows a group of teens from the complete color wheel of personality mind-f**ked. It is an obvious sinister retelling, or new vision, on Hughes "Breakfast Club" where teens personal, and social turmoil's are exposed and forced into resolution. Only in "Bad Kids Go To Hell" the forced realization comes at the hands of one hell of a twisted, sinister story. The plot follows this group of elitist offspring serving detention for, well-you know- being a teen with too much privilege, without supervision, just trying to deal with school and life sh*t! Cause hey, that sh*t is hard-we all have been there! The film stars Amanda Alch, Chanel Ryan, Marc Donato, Augie Duke, Roger Edwards, Ali Faulkner, Cameron Deane Stewart, Ben Browder and Judd Nelson. The official plot goes like this: Six prep school kids from Crestview Academy, home to the spoiled offspring of society's elite, find themselves stuck in detention on a frightfully dark and stormy Saturday afternoon. During their 8-hour detention, each of the six kids falls victim to a horrible "accident" until only one of them remains. I am not going into detail as to the depth of how or why they fall victim as to not give away any spoilers. Just my review and thoughts on the movie.Everything about "Bad Kids Go To Hell" is almost perfect in it's utilization of nostalgia it tries to capture, with all the tribute images and backdrops that so epically scream "John Hughes". From the library, the character traits of the kids, (only more modern and less wholesome), who make up the cast, right down to the awesome Judd Nelson cameo as Head Master. The flaw (which is minor) is that it seemed to go hardcore in referencing the 80's high school flick but sadly no real dialogue reverb from the movie, what - not one kid could have found a way to declare "I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need, is a lobotomy and some tights". Okay, I know new decade , new social commentary. The film does have some very awesome quotable moments that I loved, my fave "I don't worship the devil, I just promote him". The cast where killer in their role and all had more than enough back story and depth of personality to bring the characters to life. I did want a bit more bravado, overt-expression from a couple of the characters. I thought they where more subdued than they should have been, but still the acting was stellar. Plus a hot cast can hardly ever go wrong. The movie's "spooky" element was a nice premise to keep the plot stimulated, (remember I am not giving any details away here), which seemed to put the kid's paranoia in overdrive, and the ending twist was cool. Although it almost came off as lame, thank god it was the ending, and not revealed earlier or the film would have failed, much like "Cry Wolf". The effects and gore are there but not really allowed to be the focal point of the moment which is kind of a bummer but still it didn't detract from the movie. "Bad Kids Go To Hell" is a fun, dark satire on High School life as well as basic social discourse that we all have to endure. Plus the subtext of how, based on generation gap and over extended lives, adults tend to view life and young people with a very distorted view outside of the reality that teens or young people in general experience (and vice versa). All in all this film is pretty excellent and a great addition for fans of 80's throwbacks or contemporary American movies, although technically it isn't a horror film it does have some pretty thrilling moments in true Draconian fashion. The real meat of the story lies with the way they reveal how each kid got sent into detention. The flashback is totally 90's "here is how…" stylization. Plus for some reason I got an early Rodriquez vibe from the film.

I saw the movie at a special exclusive "Hell Night" screening on October 27 at one of the Studio Movie Grill locations that must have signed a deal to get an exclusive to show it in advance of the theatrical release date of December 7. I knew Judd Nelson was in it and I also knew that it had a really cool title. I'm not a comic book fan, but knew it was based on a really popular comic book series. I really didn't know what to expect. But, I'm so glad I went. It had my friends and me on the edge of our seats until the very unexpected ending (stay for credits). The acting was superb and not just from Judd Nelson and Ben Browder. The "Bad Kids" were cast exceptionally well. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the future. And one of the most surprising talents was Jeffrey Schmidt, who played Dr. Day and until I saw the movie, I hadn't heard anything about him. His quirky character was hilarious, as were any of the unexpected music video style flashback scenes that had the whole audience laughing out loud. This is definitely one of those movies that you'll want to see with others. My friends and I left the movie not just quoting some funny memorable lines, but also asking questions about how some of the issues the movie addresses are really relevant to society today, especially in respect to young kids and their sense of entitlement. This movie is rated R. But I'd recommend it for teenagers and their parents. Go see this movie!