| Detention - Trailer |
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
(Liked It)
Netflix* Synopsis: When a past-her-prime prom queen with homicide on her mind shows up at the senior prom, it's not just the kids in detention who miss the big event.
Riley Jones is a cynical and disgruntled high schooler with an opinion on everything, an unrequited crush on the popular boy - Clapton Davis, and classmates that are being offed by someone in a Halloween mask from the horror-movie-within-the-movie movie Cinderhella. Also, there's a kind of high school love triangle. Also, there's a boy that has fly blood. Also, there's a time traveling bear. Also... there's a lot is going on in this flick.
Detention is hard to describe. The Netflix synopsis barely touches the tip of the iceberg, and my own write up just mentions some of the random stuff that happens. Neither relay just how much goes on in the film, and it would take some serious paragraphs to give an adequate description of everything. So, suffice it to say: there's a killer, a bunch of high schoolers way too smart for their own good, and a time-traveling bear. Those are the most important things you need to know. Don't let this confusing or vague summary deter you from clicking on Detention, though. It's actually quite fun. It has an overwhelming amount of material for just 93 minutes, but it's paced well, has innumerable one-liners and some fun visuals. The flick constantly references 90's pop culture and homages/rips off other films, from Roadhouse to Breakfast Club to Vice Versa/Like Father, Like Son/Freaky Friday (there's even a debate on who would win between Patrick Swayze and Steven Segal.), and this is entertaining, despite verging annoying at times. Also, the movie uses stuff like writing on the screen to describe things, breaking the fourth wall, using frames to announce the upcoming segment of the film as "The Lonely Ballad of Billy Nolan" or "The Disturbing Abduction of the Time Traveler Bear", and showing text messages beside their typists written in that indecipherable text lingo that only high school kids actually understand. This kind of material can be one note, and therefore get old quick, but Kahn and Palermo (writers) use an array of actions to entertain us while employing this same humor across the board. The movie becomes bat-shit in the second half as things get more and more far-fetched (and more difficult to follow), but the acting and visuals keep it together and make the film fun. Hutchinson, who plays the young popular guy - Clapton Davis, does a cool high school kid well, and Shanley Caswell (Riley Jones) is good as a pissed off teen. They both have lines like, "You are more concept than reality" and "Good taste is not a democracy", but we are willing to forgive that kind of pretentiousness because the film is still making us laugh. Dane Cook plays a principal, and he's got a couple of good lines but nothing great. (If you don't like Cook, I have a sneaking suspicion you won't like this movie, but you should still check it out - Cook gets his.) All of these things together make the film feel ADD, but it keep its charm and doesn't become annoying, though it gets very close.
One of the films that is mentioned in the movie is Scream and I feel like Detention was very much trying to pull off a modern version of that. With it's meta-fictional opening, insistent movie referencing , and general attitude, it seems Kahn (director) was trying to present something fresh and witty in what the movie calls the "post-irony" era of fiction. I don't do labels well - modern, post modern, post post modern: whatever - but if Detention is a kind of wave of the future for horror movies, I hope it doesn't take off. I enjoyed the movie but not enough to watch several versions of it over and over again.
So, if you wanna watch a fun but busy flick that does a lot of interesting things while providing non-stop pop culture and movie references, check out Detention. It's doesn't have a lot of substance, but it's an energetic film with fun lines and segments all throughout. If you don't believe, find out for yourself - it's on Netflix!
"You let a mass murderer feel your bosom."
___
*Disclaimer: Netflix is TM and copyrighted; all rights reserved. Any material used or stemming from the site is theirs, exclusively. This site is not, in any way, affiliated with Netflix. It's only a horror hound's effort to help consumers find the best (and worse) horror movies available on the website. Happy watching!
The Peeps: Joseph Kahn (director, co-writer); Mark Palermo (co-writer); Josh Hutchinson, Riley Jones, Spencer Locke, Dane Cook
Quick Run Down: All Over The Place, Relentless Pop Culture/Film References, Fun
Worth the Watch: Yeah
Detention is hard to describe. The Netflix synopsis barely touches the tip of the iceberg, and my own write up just mentions some of the random stuff that happens. Neither relay just how much goes on in the film, and it would take some serious paragraphs to give an adequate description of everything. So, suffice it to say: there's a killer, a bunch of high schoolers way too smart for their own good, and a time-traveling bear. Those are the most important things you need to know. Don't let this confusing or vague summary deter you from clicking on Detention, though. It's actually quite fun. It has an overwhelming amount of material for just 93 minutes, but it's paced well, has innumerable one-liners and some fun visuals. The flick constantly references 90's pop culture and homages/rips off other films, from Roadhouse to Breakfast Club to Vice Versa/Like Father, Like Son/Freaky Friday (there's even a debate on who would win between Patrick Swayze and Steven Segal.), and this is entertaining, despite verging annoying at times. Also, the movie uses stuff like writing on the screen to describe things, breaking the fourth wall, using frames to announce the upcoming segment of the film as "The Lonely Ballad of Billy Nolan" or "The Disturbing Abduction of the Time Traveler Bear", and showing text messages beside their typists written in that indecipherable text lingo that only high school kids actually understand. This kind of material can be one note, and therefore get old quick, but Kahn and Palermo (writers) use an array of actions to entertain us while employing this same humor across the board. The movie becomes bat-shit in the second half as things get more and more far-fetched (and more difficult to follow), but the acting and visuals keep it together and make the film fun. Hutchinson, who plays the young popular guy - Clapton Davis, does a cool high school kid well, and Shanley Caswell (Riley Jones) is good as a pissed off teen. They both have lines like, "You are more concept than reality" and "Good taste is not a democracy", but we are willing to forgive that kind of pretentiousness because the film is still making us laugh. Dane Cook plays a principal, and he's got a couple of good lines but nothing great. (If you don't like Cook, I have a sneaking suspicion you won't like this movie, but you should still check it out - Cook gets his.) All of these things together make the film feel ADD, but it keep its charm and doesn't become annoying, though it gets very close.
So, if you wanna watch a fun but busy flick that does a lot of interesting things while providing non-stop pop culture and movie references, check out Detention. It's doesn't have a lot of substance, but it's an energetic film with fun lines and segments all throughout. If you don't believe, find out for yourself - it's on Netflix!
| I wanna see this |
"You let a mass murderer feel your bosom."
___
*Disclaimer: Netflix is TM and copyrighted; all rights reserved. Any material used or stemming from the site is theirs, exclusively. This site is not, in any way, affiliated with Netflix. It's only a horror hound's effort to help consumers find the best (and worse) horror movies available on the website. Happy watching!
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