RELEASED IN 2005-2006 and directed by Jeremy Haft, "Tamara" is a Canadian production about an unpopular girl (Jenna Dewan Tatum) at a Winnipeg high school who is harassed by her peers and inadvertently buys the farm in a malevolent prank. Through the dark power of witchcraft, however, she returns as a wannabe seductress to enact revenge. Matthew Marsden and Claudette Mink play a married teacher and administrator at the school."Tarmara" contains elements of "Carrie" (1976), "The Rage: Carrie 2" (1998), "The House on Sorority Row" (1983) (which was remade as "Sorority Row" in 20009), "The Craft" (1996) and "The Faculty" (1998). Yet it mixes its own brew and, surprisingly, has a few original aspects, along with respectable gore, if that's your thang. The movie influenced future flicks like "I'll Always Know what you did Last Summer" (2006) and, especially, "Jennifer's Body" (2009). If you like these kinds of films, you'll like this one.There are some awkward or un-compelling moments in the filmmaking. With just a few key tweaks this could've been great in the manner of "The Rage: Carrie 2." Still, it's good enough and, like I said, has some innovative parts. Marsden and Mink are strong as the adult protagonists. The women are cute (e.g. Katie Stuart as winsome Chloe) but, with the exception of Mink, they look like they're suffering mild anorexia. Please, ladies, eat some food!THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 38 minutes and was shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba. WRITER: Jeffrey Reddick.GRADE: B/B-

Tamara Riley (Jenna Dewan) is the brainy misfit in school who dabbles in witchcraft. She's infatuated with her English teacher and tries to kiss him. He gently lets her down, but she later tries a Love Binding Ritual. She wrote an article on steroid use and angers many of her classmates especially the big jock. Then the kids led by the jock play a cruel joke on her which turns deadly. The kids bury her hoping that everybody will assume that she ran away. Then she wakes up in her own bed and she's the new deadly super vixen seeking vengeance.This horror story is piece together from 'I know what you did...' and other mousy girl turn deadly like Carrie written by Jeffrey Reddick. The concept is relatively sound. It's a small horror directed by Jeremy Haft. Jenna Dewan is unconvincing as the mousy teen. She is all vixen later on without anything more. She needs to be a more impressive actress. Other than a couple of scenes and a passable script, there is nothing worthwhile in this smaller horror.

For some reasons, the reviews do tend to be polarized on this movie. It's not the worst film ever made, but it's certainly not deserving of a standing ovation. It had its ups and its downs to me, and I'll try to lay them out as fairly as I can.Ups: 1. This may be a shallow observation, but I thought most of the lead actresses were pretty cute. Sad to admit it, but that makes it more watchable. I wouldn't mind seeing some of them in other roles. 2. I also liked that the ending wasn't as cliché as it might've been. Not that it was great, it just wasn't as bad as it could've been. I respect writers who don't only kill off the "bad" characters.Downs: 1. Tamara wasn't ugly in the slightest, she just dressed dorky. They could've at least had her wear glasses and switch to contacts, which is sort of standard fare for the "transformation into a hottie" thing. Hell, how hard is it to fake some acne scars?? 2. Some of the acting wasn't really top-notch. It wasn't all horrible or anything, but most of it wasn't great. 3. Biggest Problem: The "moral arc" of the movie was quite bent by my standards. I really, really didn't like how she lumped everyone together and sought vengeance on the most innocent of the people present. I mean, I felt that the characters that were the least involved got it the worst. It's as though the moral of the story is "being bullied and threatened into not reporting a crime is worse than committing a crime" and I 110% do not agree with that.Moreover, I don't agree with some of the judgments that she passed on people. Gonna punish someone for humiliating you and killing you?--go ahead, you've got the moral high ground there. But for having an eating disorder? That's something that you try to help a person through, not in the same galaxy as something like date rape.Mostly because of the last mentioned problem, I had a really had time getting into the movie. I mean, I have no problem sitting through a B-rate, somewhat trashy movie. But at least make a character that I can sort of cheer for as she acts out her vengeance, instead of someone that I quickly start to feel was so morally twisted that the "bad guys" might've done the world a service by killing her.

Tamara is pretty much a Carrie rip-off, even the poster art is almost identical. Whether it was intended to be original or not, I'm not sure, but with a few less clichés and a bit more character development, this could have been a film like May, smart and scary, and eccentric. Perhaps this film is a 'takes one to know one' kind of story. socially troubled girls, may find this emotional but everyone else will see Tamara as what it is, a sexy, but shallow horror movie. Tamara Riley becomes the most hated girl in school after she writes a news paper article which rats out a number of her school mates in a certain way. One night, a bunch of them play a nasty prank on her, but things go wrong and she is accidentally killed. In the panic, they bury her body in the woods, but somehow she comes back from the dead, more cunning and sexy than before, and with a mind for revenge.The trick to enjoying the movie is whether or not you feel engaged enough to root for the protagonist. She was done a major injustice but she is also doing injustice to others. The sex appeal of Tamara is really secondary. Tamara is nothing more or less than amusing in a twisted way, but if you want a similar movie that actually gets you thinking, watch May.