Tormented
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, April Pearson, Dimitri Leonidas, Calvin Dean, Tuppence Middleton
Dir: Jon Wright
Rating: 3/5
Things couldn't be going much better for Justine Fielding (Middleton), a bright and beautiful student at Fairview High.
She's just won a place at Oxford University and school heartthrob and in-crowd kingpin Alexis (Leonidas) has asked her out on a date.
But Alexis and his clique aren't quite as cool as they seem. They mercilessly bully students who don't match up to their exacting standards - one such victim was overweight, asthmatic geek Darren Mullett (Dean), whom they victimised so relentlessly that he killed himself last summer.
But now he's back from the dead and ready to settle some scores. Darren sets to work dealing out punishment in a variety of bone-crunchingly brutal and blood-splattering ways as the in-crowd discover, much to their displeasure, that there's simply no reasoning with a dead geek on a mission.
Right lets get one thing straight this movie is aimed at the teenage market, not that it cannot be appreciated by the older viewer, and it does this very well.
Jon Wright has produced a movie that hits the nail right on the head by looking at the different social groups within school, it's something that we can all identify with.
Ok so it's a little predictable and we have seen this slasher story a thousand times over but there is something incredibly appealing about Tormented, it could just be the fact that see a bunch of very cruel people get what they deserve.
But the movie mixes horror, comedy. sex. relationships and life at high school through in a bit of Alex Pettyfer, it's to see him taking on a character that you wouldn't expect him to play, and you have a good movie on your hands.
The film touches nicely on all the cyber bullying that we have been hearing about over the last couple of years, not that this movie tries to preach or deliver a message, that really will reach it's target audience.
Ok so the movie doesn't explain how a dead boy manages to come back and kill those who bullied him but that doesn't really matter, it's just nice to see British filmmakers tackle this sort of movie that's so often associated with America.
While it's not exactly brimming with originality Tormented is a fun ride that's well worth the ride.
Tormented is out on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw