Tormented (2009)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Jon Wright

Writer:

Stephen Prentice (writer)

Release Date:

22 May 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

A New Class of Terror

Plot:

A bullied teenager comes back from the dead to take revenge on his classmates. |

Plot Keywords:

Teenager | Revenge | Male Rear Nudity | One Word Title | Male Nudity

Cast

Alex Pettyfer	...	Bradley
April Pearson	...	Tasha
Dimitri Leonidas	...	Alexis
Calvin Dean	...	Darren Mullet
Tuppence Middleton	...	Justine
Georgia King	...	Sophie
Mary Nighy	...	Helena
Olly Alexander	...	Jason
James Floyd	...	Nasser
Sophie Wu	...	Mai Lee
Hugh Mitchell	...	Tim
Larissa Wilson	...	Khalillah
Ruby Bentall	...	Emily
Tom Hopper	...	Marcus
Peter Amory	...	Head teacher

Runtime:

UK:87 min (DVD) | UK:91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bishop Vesey School, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

During the credits the song 'Lesbian Roadkill' is credited as being performed by Tantric Dwarf and being licensed by Crying While Wanking. This is in reference to the song being played by the character Nasser in the film. The song was in fact written especially for the film by Christian and Joe Henson.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Helena asks Justine over to watch Atonement, but she instead goes on her 'date' with Alexis. When the scene cuts to Helena and Emily watching the film, its actually The Duchess.

Decent horror-comedy

I was quite impressed with this low budget horror effort. While it adds nothing new to the overfilled horror genre it holds its own against comparable product and possesses an energy and sense of humour that eludes many mainstream Hollywood flicks.

The story is as hokey as they come: a bullied school-kid returns from the dead after committing suicide to gain revenge on those who hounded him to his death. The dead schoolboy is suitably memorable (and looks worryingly like my brother-in-law) and his dependence on an inhaler from beyond the grave is a typically quirky touch. His victims are the usual bunch of obnoxious teens, and there's no real regret at seeing them meet their fate in various imaginative ways. Of these potential victims it is Alex Pettyfer who makes the biggest impression; with his winning demeanour and vaguely Cruise-like looks he looks as though he could go far. The film's attempt to blend humour, horror and social conscience isn't always successful but, for the most part it should manage to generate enough goodwill on the part of the audience to see it through.

It's a shame, however, that there isn't more support for low-budget domestically produced films like Tormented. I saw this with my girlfriend and we made up one-third of the entire audience...