Horror Movie Review: Tormented

Tormented

Starring: Tuppence Middleton, Olly Alexander, Dimitri Leonidas, Alex Pettyfer,  April Pearson, and Calvin Dean

Written by: Stephen Prentiss

Directed by: Jon Wright

Production Companies: BBC Films, Screen West Midlands, Slingshot Productions, Pathe, and Forward Films

Release Date: May 22, 2009



Geeky Darren Mullet gets bullied to the point of committing suicide and the student populace of Fairview High School don't really seem to care, except for equally geeky Jason Banks. Head girl Justine doesn't even remember whom he was, despite giving his eulogy. After his funeral, it's back to normal.

That is until the popular kids start getting texts from Mullet insulting and threatening them. They accuse a couple of the geeky set, including Jason, of using Mullet's phone, but soon the threats become deaths. And is that Mullet is the window?

Justine, meanwhile, finds herself becoming one of the popular kids after Alex begins going out with her, but is being accepted by the popular kids really what she wants?

It's your typical Geeks versus In-Crowd set up, but unlike most versions, there's an uneasy division between the two. It's not all black and white. Justine was not popular, but she was not a geek either. And Mullet's victims don't stick entirely to the In-Crowd.

I've seen this movie labelled as a horror-comedy, but I didn't see any comedy. It's not that they were trying to be funny and I didn't get it either. I doubt director Jon Wright would call it a comedy.

Tormented is a pretty good ghost story that keeps us interested by forcing us to ask, who exactly will Mullet kill? Will Justine also get killed or will she be protected like Mullet's suicide note said? Definitely worth a watch.