The plot is about a town and a psychotic murderer that has been killing off the virgins at the local high school. That’s an interesting twist for once, it isn’t the kids that are constantly banging that die. Of course the killer is mysterious and they give you tons of red herrings. It took me a little while to figure out who the killer would be, I’m typically bad at this, I never see this coming. Does that mean it is obvious? Maybe, but it was handled fairly well. The killer’s motivation is tied in with a woman that was raped years prior by a group of high school guys. Is it the victim coming back I Spit on Your Grave style? OR…a person close to them coming back a la Savage Streets? Well its the latter, and in a more interesting way. The son born, from the rape seeks vengeance, and Brittany Murphy’s character is the daughter of one of the guys who did it. To add another twist, her dad, played by Michael Biehn was forced to commit the act. Lots of twists here I guess.
The effects were on par with others of the same era, decent blood, nothing too crazy kills wise. The acting is really solid. Brittany Murphy, RIP, was decent in everything she did and truly seemed like a sweet hearted person. Michael Biehn is as great as he always is. Jay Mohr, typically known for his comedy, plays the killer and teacher at the school. It is really odd seeing him in this type of role and I’m not sure he did such a good job of it. Not hating on him, I do tend to enjoy him on sports talk radio and in comedic roles, but he fell a little flat in this.
While this isn’t as memorable as Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, it is above average and deserves more credit. It took a played out concept and added some interesting twists. The acting is good and hte suspense is solid. Movies like this and Valentine kind of got lost in the shuffle at the time and are now getting more attention, and that is nice to see. I give Cherry Falls a good solid B.
