I didn't go into this film with any real expectations - most of the reviews I'd read were good but as any veteran of this site will know, the first reviews submitted for any film don't tend to be very reliable! It turns out that is the case here too, as despite a couple of good ideas; this is nothing more than another tired teen slasher flick. In 2005, Australian horror flick Wolf Creek attempted to bring back a seventies Grindhouse style to the slasher movie, and this movie does too. Ironically, they both suffer from the same major problem - that being that it's far too long before something finally happens. As the title suggests, the main player here is a young girl called Mandy Lane who, believe it or not, is fancied by all the boys at her high school. Apparently, she suddenly got hot over the summer and the film starts out with a sequence that shows how far some of the male population will go to impress her. Some time after, some of the kids at this school are going for a party at a secluded ranch and they decide to invite Mandy along...and after a while; they start being picked off one by one.
It seems obvious that director Jonathan Levine was trying to make a movie in the seventies style, and for that reason it's a real shame that this wasn't better as I'm a big fan of the stuff that this takes influence from. The director packs the film with pop songs, which is OK; but it soon gets tired and he could have chosen better also. As mentioned, the film is far too slow; after the opening sequence, it seriously is about an hour before anything of interest happens and I was already turned off long before it got to the end. The cast is obviously made up of young actors and despite the fact that all the characters in the film are completely one dimensional; they do manage to put in good performances as an ensemble. Amber Heard is good enough in the lead role...though doesn't really stand out much which is a shame considering she is the lead, and the one that the film is all about. When the killings finally do happen, they're not bad and there's some gore on display. It all boils down to the token slasher twist - and it's not a good one. It can be seen coming a mile off and there's not a lot of justification for it either. Overall, I don't rate this film much at all - it's not a complete disaster, but not far off.
It seems obvious that director Jonathan Levine was trying to make a movie in the seventies style, and for that reason it's a real shame that this wasn't better as I'm a big fan of the stuff that this takes influence from. The director packs the film with pop songs, which is OK; but it soon gets tired and he could have chosen better also. As mentioned, the film is far too slow; after the opening sequence, it seriously is about an hour before anything of interest happens and I was already turned off long before it got to the end. The cast is obviously made up of young actors and despite the fact that all the characters in the film are completely one dimensional; they do manage to put in good performances as an ensemble. Amber Heard is good enough in the lead role...though doesn't really stand out much which is a shame considering she is the lead, and the one that the film is all about. When the killings finally do happen, they're not bad and there's some gore on display. It all boils down to the token slasher twist - and it's not a good one. It can be seen coming a mile off and there's not a lot of justification for it either. Overall, I don't rate this film much at all - it's not a complete disaster, but not far off.