I kept waiting for this to turn into a groan-er, but ended up very surprised. There's some very dark twisted humor woven throughout, and a good choice of newbie casting gives it a solid base to build on. After all the garbage horror I'm finding on Amazon Prime, this was a delight. I had an expectation of some degree of quality when I saw Gershon, Astin and Browder (who also directed!), and was waiting to be let down by the 'teens' but they held their own which saves the movie. Funny without being silly or campy, gory but not ridiculously so, and a solid script that stayed on point. The blending of the graphic novel scenes was a cherry on top to be sure. I usually prefer my horror to lean more supernatural , but this was a solid choice, and THANK HEAVENS none of that found footage garbage.

There's nothing better than going into a movie with very low expectations, only to be blown away by how much you enjoy it. That was very much the case for me with 'Bad Kids of Crestview Academy'. It's so rare today that I enjoy anything horror related, let alone the low-budget, barely heard of films that are a sequel to an original that I have never heard of either.The film's biggest strength is that it is just straight up fun. It finds an almost perfect balance between being light-hearted and comical and yet at the same time taking itself just seriously enough so that the convoluted story never becomes tedious or boring. Say what you will, but that is a very hard balance to find that some very good film makers have failed to achieve over the years.The synopsis and opening scene (a scene that is a flash-forward to near the end of the film) imply that this will be a very simple film in approach. This really couldn't be further from the case. There are a couple of times when you think to yourself "OK, that was the film's big twist", only to find out (more than once) that that is only the beginning of things.I was really impressed by this film. It's easy for these types of films just to be lazy and do the bare minimum to keep their audience happy. 'Bad Kids of Crestview Academy' never takes the easy road though and the result is an audience that is going to thoroughly enjoy themselves. A great effort by all involved.

I just wasted 100 minutes of my life on this and these are the words that came to mind when I thought about describing it:disjointed, senseless, illogical, asinineThe cast was fine, but if you stick an accomplished actor like Gina Gershon in a load of crap like this you still wind up with a load of crap. The screenplay and plotting were what killed it. I really liked Farscape.

.... which, depending on your POV, may or may not be a compliment.Here is the scoop -- there is a theory in the biz that if you deconstruct enough films in the same script, you may possibly trigger a paradox in the (Hollywood) time-space continuum, Star Trek style, and end up with a film which is actually a legitimate successor to the genre you were trying so hard to satirize.Which is what I think happened here.Ben Browder seems to have learned a LOT of valuable lessons from his first "Bad Kids" attempt -- just a rambly B movie which gained cult status because of some clever tropes -- and came back with a film which (I kid you not) has a remarkably tight script, good performances and good production values.Which is not to say that the Coen Brothers are nervous, far from it. But the script is so interesting (with sly hints of Scream, Friday the 13th, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and even No Country For Old Men) that it actually engages and holds the attention.And Sammi Hanratty gives what can best be called a bravura performance, biting into each line of dialogue and each piece of mayhem like she actually believes what she is saying ... like her career depends on it (which it probably DOES!) ... and essentially picks the film up and carries it to the finish line.Gina Gershon does little more than offer a parody of herself, but her character ironically provides a "political angle" to the film which conveniently comes at a time when the world at large is starting to see politicians as potentially more dangerous than serial killers.Recommended. And I predict there will be more in the series.