THE PLOT THUS FAR
When Brent turns down his classmate Lola’s invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
High school senior Brent Mitchell is enjoying a leisurely drive with his father, when a mysterious figure appears in the road, causing Brent to crash directly into a tree. His father is killed instantly. Six months later, Brent has found himself in a pit of grievance. Obsessed with suicide and slowly withdrawing from his mother, he finds solace only in marijuana and his caring girlfriend, Holly. When meek wallflower Lola Stone asks Brent to be her date to the end-of-school dance, he politely declines. Huge mistake. Before the end of the night, Brent will be abducted and bound, and discover that he has become a most unwilling guest to Lola’s very own dream prom, hosted by her doting father. The party favors? A rusty fork, a syringe, a hammer, and a power drill.
While there’s potential for a cult classic here, what puts this film just a few notes shy of perfection is it’s uneven script and a counter-narrative involving Johnny’s friend, which intends to be a reprieve from the house of horrors but just feels gratuitous. It would be much stronger if it just focused on it’s central predicament, squeezing out every bit of pshyco-sexual tension possible. “The Loved Ones” could’ve very well just burst the audience like a bubble at the end, but instead it ends up having to spend up too much picking up the story pieces and fitting them back together before it’s hurried climax.
The DVD comes with interviews, featurettes about the FX and a digital copy. The Dolby 5.1 track is pretty smooth for a foreign horror movie. However, I found the transfer really went up and down in terms of clarity. Uneven isn’t the word, but it falls somewhere in the mix. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
