Bad Kids Go to Hell

It's a very entertaining movie that me on the edge of my seat 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. One of the most surprising talents was Jeffrey Schmidt, who played Dr. Day. His quirky character was hilarious, as were many of the unexpected music video style flashback scenes that had the whole theater laughing out loud. This is definitely one of those movies that you'll want to see with others. Instant cult classic!

Found the film to be much better than the comic it was based on. Since I only have so much space to review, Id defer to the VARIETY review which Joe Leydon hit pretty much on the nose: Fast, fun, and not too serious. It's dark, but not depressing. And the end is KILLER. And a GREAT soundtrack.

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.

Although the acting in this film was quite good; its writing was really lacking. Despite the fact that there were several amusing scenes as a "horror movie" it failed to be fully satisfying. Several characters that were detestable lived and the film had two twists. The first of which wasn't bad but the second twist (which occurred in the scene directly after the previous twist) was just plain silly. The film had potential but the writing (and fake looking roaches and rain) really held it back from being achieved.

I can't quite even understand how anyone can make a feature-length film and let it be that sloppy and poorly written. Everything from the total lack of continuity, relevance or even understandability in the storyline and character motives, to the soul-crushingly low end CGI and effects that never fail to grate horribly, to the sheer nonsensical or impossible actions and events in the film... The film is quite literally an utter mess. The only thing that kept me watching it was that the actors were hot (and actually decent at acting - shame about the atrocious script though) - but the film even manages to screw up (ha ha, pun unintended) the sex scene, which felt squeezed and unnecessary, and highly glossed over considering the amount of time they spend hinting that it was going to happen. This film makes me sad, because it could have been a fun guilty pleasure flick if done even mediocrely. But instead the sheer number of lazy mistakes, totally impossible occurrences and massive overuse of inane disco remixes for the plethora of appalling slo-mo sequences annoyed me far too much to let me overlook them and enjoy the film for what it was trying to be.