All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
*** (out of 4)
After a summer break, Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) returns to high school and has completely changed into a beautiful girl. This here has every guy in the school wanting her but she stays away from them. One weekend she accepts an invitation to a small party out on an isolated farm and soon people start being killed. ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE became "the" horror film that just couldn't be seen. After making the rounds of various festivals and getting very positive reviews, this wasn't enough to get it a release and it ended up taking seven years before it would get a limited theatrical release and eventual home video release. Why this film wasn't given a better shot is beyond me because it's certainly better than a lot of the horror films that have been released between 2006 and 2013 (the year this finally got out). This is certainly a throwback to those 80's horror films where there's a mysterious killer, teens being picked off one by one and of course there's always got to be a twist at the end. I thought the film did a very good job at paying homage to those early slashers and this one here managed to what the best of those did. For starters, the entire cast and characters are likable or at least perfectly worthy of meeting their end. You've got a couple creative kills. There's plenty of blood for those who enjoy that. There's some nudity to be had. Then there's the twist that I won't give away but I thought it worked. The actors all do good work and especially Heard who is just so right for this part that the viewer will fall in love with her just like the boys are falling in love with her character. I will say that the 2.35:1 ratio wasn't really needed as the scope is rarely used to good effect. Another slight problem with the film is that the killer is let out of the bag a bit too early even though it's pretty much who you're going to guess. ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE is one horror film that lives up to the good hype that surrounded it.
*** (out of 4)
After a summer break, Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) returns to high school and has completely changed into a beautiful girl. This here has every guy in the school wanting her but she stays away from them. One weekend she accepts an invitation to a small party out on an isolated farm and soon people start being killed. ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE became "the" horror film that just couldn't be seen. After making the rounds of various festivals and getting very positive reviews, this wasn't enough to get it a release and it ended up taking seven years before it would get a limited theatrical release and eventual home video release. Why this film wasn't given a better shot is beyond me because it's certainly better than a lot of the horror films that have been released between 2006 and 2013 (the year this finally got out). This is certainly a throwback to those 80's horror films where there's a mysterious killer, teens being picked off one by one and of course there's always got to be a twist at the end. I thought the film did a very good job at paying homage to those early slashers and this one here managed to what the best of those did. For starters, the entire cast and characters are likable or at least perfectly worthy of meeting their end. You've got a couple creative kills. There's plenty of blood for those who enjoy that. There's some nudity to be had. Then there's the twist that I won't give away but I thought it worked. The actors all do good work and especially Heard who is just so right for this part that the viewer will fall in love with her just like the boys are falling in love with her character. I will say that the 2.35:1 ratio wasn't really needed as the scope is rarely used to good effect. Another slight problem with the film is that the killer is let out of the bag a bit too early even though it's pretty much who you're going to guess. ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE is one horror film that lives up to the good hype that surrounded it.