Cherry Falls

Down in the cosmetically idyllic suburban town of Cherry Falls, somebody is pissed at the teens and bumping them off - but not, as is usually the case, for wantonly mating with one another.  This killer bucks the trend because he/she is bumping off virgins.  The investigating sheriff faces anger from the town's parent population whilst becoming increasingly concerned for his own innocent daughter's welfare as she protects her cherry in the good old fashioned way that few bother to anymore.  There are secrets to be uncovered along the way, as well as clothing - can the sheriff unmask the killer before his own daughter gets it... one way or another?

No doubt triggered by the success of Scream and the consequential revitalisation of the slasher genre, the smartly titled Cherry Falls appeared in 2000 following a 1999 production, kind of under the radar.  Its premise turns one of the genre's established conventions (that of teens having sex leading to their demise) upside down, taking a slightly humorous route in the process.  The writer suggests that the director (Geoffrey Wright of Romper Stomper fame) darkened his script in the act of bringing it to the screen, notably with the depiction of the rape scene, however, the sly winking still shines through (for example, within seconds of the sheriff announcing to the parents at a town meeting that the killer is going for virgins, fighting breaks out among the supposedly mature populace).  The tragic Brittany Murphy is great in the lead role (alongside Michael Biehn as the sheriff), giving you something to care about amidst the mayhem.  The MPAA unfortunately had their own wicked way with this film, making sure it came out in an essentially compromised form - I suspect we'll never see the pre-cut version, which I understand contained much more nudity during the final 'fuck-fest' massacre.  Indeed it's this sequence which really caps the film off with some excitement, and would definitely have been strengthened with an increased chaos factor (I love the bit when the fleeing teens get jammed on the staircase).  All in all Cherry Falls will never be considered a classic of the genre, but it has its redeeming qualities and you get a sense that there was a slightly better film in there had our moral superiors not gotten their way.

101 Films have put this out in the UK in a 1.85:1 edition that largely apes the US Scream version.  The 101 pack contains both Blu-ray and DVD in a neat, distinctive red case.  The picture quality is reasonable although clearly not the product of the kind of full 2K/4K restoration that we've been spoiled with elsewhere.  It looks quite 'digital' (i.e. rather than filmic) but is the best we've had, possibly the best we'll get.  There are options for stereo or 5.1, the latter presenting reasonable sonic spread albeit in a rather odd fashion at times: traditionally dialogue will be fixed to the centre unless there's a good reason to send it to another speaker, whereas here it's quite often spread to the left and right channels as well as the centre.  There's a commentary from the director, and a great 24 minute interview with writer Ken Seldon, who provides just a little insight into the problems occurring during production (e.g. running over schedule to a point where shooting had to be rushed at the end), plus an 8 minute interview with the sheriff's deputy Amanda Anke.  You do get a bit more in terms of extras on the Scream edition, but the 101 dual format release is a cheaper and satisfactory alternative for UK/Europe-based fans to pick up.