All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

... that is how much the Boys love Mandy Lane. But of course this is not another teen ... I mean romantic movie. Nope this is a horror movie. A slasher to be precise. Now slashers do live with two premises: Either a great twist or original killings. In this case, you kinda have both. At that is what makes this movie worthwhile watching. Of course it is aimed more at the teen/twen audience, but what slasher isn't. The really illogical things that do happen, stay at a minimum, which is a good thing and the actors fit the bill(their roles), no more, no less than that. If you don't like slashers at all, you should of course stay away from this movie!

I expected a decent horror movie, the slasher sort of type. What I got was a piece of garbage, an awful attempt at making a movie. To start off with, Mandy Lane is the only "good looking" female in the whole movie. The rest are poor, especially Whitney Able playing Chloe. The acting is poor. When Edwin Hodge (Bird) is speaking to Mandy Lane as they have to walk to the ranch, it just feels so silly and fake it's unbelievable. When Emmet shoots Marlin in the face with the shotgun in the barn, we clearly see her head blown off for a moment. Later on she is sat there and her mouth is merely bleeding! Now that's a goof isn't it! The word 'boring' seems to follow us throughout the whole movie. The parts where the group are all getting high on drugs in the ranch... I can understand they are supposed to be portrayed as high, but seriously that's about 30 min. of the movie wasted. Also, some sort of explanation as to why Mandy in the end turns out to be Emmet's partner and kills Chloe would be nice, because from their conversation all we can do is guess that they are mentally unstable. Awful, awful movie.

At first glance this seems only 'teen slasher' (but a professionally filmed and acted slasher). However on reflection, the film clearly is an 'east of eden' story of true evil. Steinbeck would have been thrilled with the treatment which may turn out to be more terrifying on reflection than most teens are prepared to handle. One wonders if the story will be developed in a sequel to evil. Although the ending is unexpected, the film is fair to its audience in providing adequate clues along the way to the source of evil rather than providing only red herrings to miss lead the audience. The movie was beautifully filmed in a striking location in dry land Texas. The movie is worth seeing for the vistas alone.

I saw the trailers of this movie and found the cinematography and what was presented interesting. I saw the IMDb rating and 6.8 confirmed it to be an above average movie. Thus went to see it. The story is about Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) – a beautiful girl in high school who is a subject of male sexual desire. Mandy's friend Emmet's (Michael Welch) provocation to another fellow student to show his love for Mandy, leaves the fellow student drunk and jump down to death. Nine months pass and Mandy is invited for a summer weekend to a secluded ranch by her teenager friends – three girls and three boys go there! There is a security guard Garth (Anson Mount) who works at the ranch. During the first night itself the killings take place – one by one the members of the group are killed. Who is behind the killings? I wont tell here to spoil sports… Did I like the movie? NO. After usual interesting opening – the movie takes a downward turn with every unfolding of event. By half-time when the killer is revealed, one looses all interest in the remaining proceedings. There is a last twist in the tale to shock viewers, but rather it made me shake the head in dis-belief and laugh! All this for suspense? Huh…! Amber Heard acts and plays her role well as a shy and conscious girl – who is aware of her beauty and men's desire for her. The remaining cast are usual – nothing to say about. There are so many movies made of teenager boys and girls going to a secluded place and slowly someone killing them one by one – that it does not interest me anymore. Director Jonathan Levine tries hard to make the movie interesting by using contemporary chat talks of teenagers, loaded with sexual overtones, but does not allow the movie to rise above the mundane. The only and the most appealing saving grace of the movie is its cinematography by Darren Genet – who captures beautiful picture perfect images! (Stars 3 out of 10)

I attended the world premiere of "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" at the Toronto Film Festival. From that night on, I couldn't stop talking about it. This film is a gem in so many ways. Young first time director Jonathan Levine has crafted a brilliant twist on the "old school" teen slasher flick. With a script by Jacob Forman, who clearly has a passion for the genre, Levine assembled a frighteningly talented cast of young actors who made these characters so real that it seemed improvised. As it turned out, much of it was, as pointed out in the Q&A which followed the screening. When they partied, they partied. And it results in a natural, carefree ensemble performance that makes this film what it is – pure fun. The production values belie the film's meager budget (500K?). For example, the effective use of neutral film stock, under-processed at times, gives segments of the film a home movie look a la "Blair Witch." The selective use of slow-mo and freeze-frame add to the "big movie" feel of this little indie. As with all good horror films, Levine infuses the film with an appropriately foreboding score. And as an added bonus, the soundtrack features 80's classics which enhance the "old school" feel, especially if you're "old" enough to have been "in school" then. There's plenty of blood and gore here, of course, but tongue is also firmly planted in cheek. File these names under "people to watch": Michael Welch, Aaron Himelstein, Luke Grimes, Edwin Hodge, and Whitney Able. Amber Heard is Mandy Lane (she also shines in "Alpha Dog"). Anson Mount rounds out the cast and is a familiar face to many. Many of the cast were present at the screening, also seeing it for the first time along with the audience. Those I chatted up afterward were humble and gracious, and worthy of all the attention this film deserves. I don't consider myself a horror fan, but of the 30 plus films I saw, this is among the cream of the crop. Or should I say cream of the chop. Put "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" at the top of your list.

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source: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

Unable to get a distributor, this film went unreleased for some time and after having to sit through it recently, I don't think it was worth it. The film just feels lazy. The acting is terrible, the story is slow moving, the twist is painfully obvious from the get-go and the movie quickly starts to make itself a parody as it wants to make sure, every second of the film, that you know that everybody and their mother wants Mandy Lane. A moment won't go by where she isn't being eyeballed by someone, talked about by someone or even just told, straight to her face, that she is the hottest thing to ever exist. When the film isn't obeying the supposed rule of "tell, don't show," the film will make sure to objectify Mandy by constantly filming every inch of her body in slo-mo and making sure that the light is always cascading around her like she's in a calendar shoot. It gets even worse when Amber Heard thinks that acting like you are the most desired female in all of existence means just look at the ground, smile weakly and play with your hair. That's the most acting you get out of her. It's clear this movie wanted to be one of those iconic teen slasher films from the 70s and 80s but it just didn't feel like finding the energy or desire to do so. Hi! My name is Rev. Ron and I love movies! So much so that I write a blog where I review whatever movie I am watching at the time. You can read a more in-depth review of this film (and others) at revronmovies.blogspot.com.

I struggled for most of this film; the archetypes were cliché ridden empty vessels. If Mandy uses her beauty to attract attention that's a hell of a long game and a pointless objective. Why was being an orphan relevant to this script? Why was being beautiful such a distraction for a whole school? Why was the dowdy aunt even in this film? Why did the edgy male in the gang show us he could fire a gun at a clay pigeon? Why do whippets and drugs have a five minute high in this film? Why do I care about any of the characters? Too much of this film is subjective; some shots are excellent and stylised but the content leaves a lot to be desired; some of the gore is well done; in the q & a on the DVD the lead actress talks about awkwardness in Mandy Lane's character as she took her clothes off to join the group in a lake - I saw a classic playboy disrobe shot of a pretty girl. So much potential was overlooked in the script from a very good premise.

While it is all well and good to do "clever" films like Cabin in the Woods that de-construct the genre, the real challenge is to the film right from the getgo. Here I think the very talented director Jonathan Levine succeeds. Possibly the best slasher flick in decades. Aside from a really tight script, and direction/cinematography on par with a Hollywood "A" flick, we also have generally top-rate performances from the young cast. Of particular interest is Anson Mount, five years before Hell on Wheels, stealing every scene that is not otherwise nailed down. Years ago a reviewer said that the test of a good slasher film is whether, in spite of the body count, the viewer would want to be in the film because everyone seems to be having a good time time. This film passes that test.