Story: With her mom sleeping with the father of the high school queen bee, Faye’s life has become a hellscape, with bullies pranking her nonstop. So why not summon a demon from hell to end all love at her school? Better get those hip waders on, it’s gonna get bloody.
Scares: Mostly fun chills, with touches of gory scares.
Splat factor: Plenty of blood. PLENTY. And some top notch FX as well.
Closing scene “shocker”?: A comedic twist, but otherwise the story is wrapped up tight as the end credits roll.
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Very loosely based on the Roman god, but spins the mythos to pitch black.
Trick or Treat?: Yeah, this is a cool premise that ultimately gets left by the wayside like stale candy hearts. What starts out as a cool revenge-gone-horribly-wrong idea turns into a regular ol’ vengeance demon picking off randos one by one. Anyone in the school can be Cupid fodder, regardless of how loving (or unloving) that character is, which makes the killer Cupid just another killer with a particular set of weapons.
A bit more work on the script could have blended this interesting spin on the Cupid and Psyche myth, but instead it’s your basic Unstoppable Killer Of Doom…with wings and a bow & arrow. Fine; he throws cards, flowers, cookie cutters into the mix, and of course his arrows are hilariously on point. (badum-tish)
That’s not to say that this isn’t a good time. The cast is much better than this film deserves, and so are the inexpensive yet effective bloody FX. Special shout out to Sarah T. Cohen for playing such the delightfully bitchy queen bee I loved to hate.
I watched this on Prime, then scooted over to Vudu and bought it for four bucks. This’ll be a yearly watch on Valentine’s Day, and I may even sneak a peek this time of the year as well. Fun flicks are hard to come by, so I’m gonna enjoy this one for quite a while.
Score: 4 out of 5 pumpkins.
Atomic Fangirl 