Victimized by Wrong Cuts
Rating: 7 of 10 
Of all so-called teen horror films, this is the one I surely cannot really find an opinion for. I am still sort of perplexed about it, mostly because
of its length, or rather, because of its brevity. 83 minutes of running time is something which almost has to be called an act of bravery in these days. But
I couldn't watch the film in cinemas, for here in Berlin it wasn't shown in English and I refuse to watch an American movie in a dubbed version when there might
be the slightest chance to watch the original as dubbing destroys the atmosphere of a movie. Nevertheless, I got hold of a DVD of the film, and it actually
proved worth it. I really am glad not to have seen it in the theater, the reason being the wonders of DVD technology: More than a dozen deleted scenes,
the original ending and the director's commentary available on DVD.
The movie so both loses and gains with having access to these deleted scenes. It loses for I am totally perplexed how that many really important scenes could
have been cut out; but it gains as these scenes give the film its depth. Brevity is something which might seem a worthy approach for a
horror film, but it only works to increase the suspense in a slasher manner. But both atmosphere and horror can be lost. Brevity is the ideal choice when
the concept behind the movie is simplicity - working well for movies like those in the 'Halloween' series; but with something like this movie, it has
been very much the wrong choice. From some of his commentaries I understand that the final cut was not originally intended by the director, and he is right
- the film fell victim to an act of mutilation. I can clearly see why extensive cutting sessions could be in place with the resulting movie still having
well above 100 minutes of running time, but to truncate it that much - 'nuff said.
Still the movie holds great potential, the acting of the protagonists being extraordinary, only surpassed by the visuals, by the truely X-Filean atmosphere created by this X-Files director. But all of this is even outdone by the main titles, which simply are the utmost best I have ever seen. The theme of the movie though was similar to that of 'The Faculty', and with both movies having come into theaters at almost the same time, this one somehow was on the losing end. That's sad, for it could have done better - it would have been better in a less shortened form.
June 12th, 1999
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