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Bad Reputation (2005)
In this day, and age. It seems like with the technology blessed to us, a lot of would be film makers are dishing out their own nod to Romero, or re-treading stories that we have seen a million times. I do find enjoyment out of some of these films if they’re done right. However, there are a lot of DTV movies hitting store shelves, and on line stores that lack a certain charm. Bad Reputation is such a film that not only catches that charm. But it also takes some tired old revenge formula, and turns it around with a slasher-esque pattern. Before I get into this review, I want to discuss a couple things that we all can learn from a film like Bad Reputation. One being that it doesn’t take a million dollars to make an effective film, and the other being that if you can capture a certain charm in your film. It will set you apart from the slew of DTV garbage that seems to hit shelves more often than not. Having said that...Let’s move on.
This High School story follows Michelle (Angelique Hennessy). Michelle is an outsider, who is shunned out by her schoolmates. That is until one day she is approached by a fellow named Aaron (Jared Anderson). Now Aaron catches Michelle by surprise as he seems to come out of nowhere to ask Michelle to come to his house party this weekend. Michelle accepts, and gets her best dress out. Before getting to the party we see a glimpse of Michelle’s home life. It’s not much of one really. Her mother is miserable, and has a “glass is always half empty” approach on life. After Michelle convinces her mother to let her go to the party at Aaron’s. The mother reluctantly approves, but not before making a point that Michelle’s dress makes her look “slutty”.
Michelle arrives at the party, and for the first while this is where we meet the rest of the cast. This is a rather refreshing take on the generic high school cast actually. Most of the characters don’t really fall into that standard slasher mold. Each character has been well thought out, and for the most part actually confirmed that I was not stuck with some other DTV shit. As the party ensues, Michelle falls victim to a vicious rape. After this act is done, the other girls at the party find Michelle, and begin to humiliate her even further branding her a “slut”. The terror doesn’t end there though. Michelle makes her way to school where everyone who is anyone is talking about how nasty Michelle is. This is where we watch Michelle break down, and I really give credit to great writing here. Hennessy’s performance is outstanding as she convinces the audience that she is at wits end in life, and is convinced that life has no meaning for her anymore. It’s shortly there after, that Michelle uses her new found “Bad Reputation” to her advantage, and the film takes a whole new turn.
I went a little further into the story of this film for my review because I honestly fell in love with it. I can’t count how many times I have watched a DTV indie film that just lacked that certain charm that Bad Reputation has managed to capture. Having said that, this film is not without it’s flaws. First, and foremost. Director Jim Hemphill really needed to turn on up the volume of violence, and it would have been nice to see a little nudity here. Now don’t me wrong as that is not what I base my criteria for reviews on here. But Bad Reputation is way too safe in it’s execution. I realize that budget restraints, and I’m sure ratings board approval play a big factor here. But the truth is that those who seek out a film like this, are most likely the same audience that have an admiration for the slew of Vestron Video slashers of the 80's. There is no nudity that I could recall, and the violence more often that not is implied as opposed to exposed...Got me? For a film of this caliber that to me is kind of a let down. Now don’t get me wrong as I enjoyed this film. But I felt that it really could have been pushed a little more in the nasty department. A story of this caliber, and the low budget would not have played this film down at all. As a matter of fact I think it would have increased the effectiveness of the film seeing as it’s a pretty nasty little story.
Overall I’m going to say that I did enjoy this film. However, as I mentioned it was a little too safe in it’s execution. I tip my hat to some great writing, and great performances. But I stand in disbelief of how tame a story like this came out.
Rating - **1/2
- Jeff Wardle
