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Starring: Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Margo Harshman, Audrina Patridge, Caroline d’Amore, Carrie Fisher, Julian Morris, Matt Lanter, Maxx Hennard
lthough the screenplay was originally written in 1983 (entitled ‘Seven Sisters’) it has been adapted into an edge-of-the-seat thriller for the new millennium. Allegedly the new version has pleased not only the producers, but originator of the screenplay - Mark Rosman. “The new film features a central prank as my film did,” he says. “But instead of the housemother accidentally dying, the victim became a sorority sister. What they retained in the new version was the very contemporary idea of the sisters pulling a prank and having it go awry, keeping them feeling culpable and then being killed for their crime. But that is just the new film’s launching point, as they go a direction that is both more violent as well as more humorous than my film.”
“The big thing that drew me to the film was its character development,” says director - Stewart Hendler, who had also directed the suspense thriller ‘Whisper’. “So many recent horror films start the slashing and killing right away, torturing characters no one can possibly get to know amid the gore and violence. In our film, we spend the first twenty minutes getting to know our characters before anything happens. I think today’s audiences are ready to see a film like this that goes back to the heart and soul of horror movies, which are supposed to be fun!”
Although some of the characters are stereotyped this leads to the ‘reality’ of the situation. Jessica is the cool, bitchy blonde who rules the roost and Claire, the girl who so wants to be like Jessica that she follows her lead without thinking twice. Ellie is the brightest, but she’s nervous about life in general; Chugs is the party animal (nothing is going to spoil her life) and Cassidy’s conscience plagues her over the tragic consequences of their actions.
However, it’s Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, who takes on the role of Ellie that sends the shivers up the spine. The director explains: “Some girls can scream and some cannot. Rumer Willis is definitely the cream of the crop. She would go on to scare many a crew member with that scream when we shot the film.”
Allegedly after winning the role, Rumer actually researched some celebrated screamers of the past in horror films she admired to get a feel for what would be needed. “I definitely worked on my scream a bit,” she says. “You have to practice in order to make sure it sounds real. One example I studied was Neve Campbell’s scream in the Scream films. It is like a double-toned scream, very impressive. It is a lot harder than it looks.”
To my chagrin, I must admit, there was a glitch during our screening and at the most tense moment of the movie the screen suddenly went dead and the lights came on in the cinema. And even though we picked up where we left off, the moment was spoilt and the tension never again built up to fever pitch.
For those who enjoy nail-biting cinematic moments – this is film is a MUST SEE! |
