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2000
Cherry Falls/Terror Tract Alliance Atlantis Canadian DVD
Before it came out Cherry Falls was getting lots of press in genre magazines and online. Rumors said that the first cut of the film got a NC-17 rating. So it was edited five times until it got an R rating. For some reason it didn't get any kind of theatrical release and finally after what seemed like years made it's premiere on the USA network in a heavily edited version. I saw it when it first aired on USA and even with it edited for cable could see that it had potential to be a pretty good modern slasher film. Well I kind of forgot about the movie until around 2005. When I heard it had gotten a DVD release. As a double feature DVD along with Terror Tract,an anthology horror film starring the late John Ritter. Well I could never find the DVD. It seems like it quickly went out of print. And when I would find a copy online for sale it was selling for way more than I was willing to pay. So I just gave up on owning a copy. Then earlier this year my Aunt had asked me to make a wishlist of stuff I wanted for my birthday. I was making the list at Amazon and discovered that someone was selling this DVD brand new for about 10 bucks. So I threw it on the wishlist,thinking that if my Aunt didn't buy it for me I would buy it for myself. Well since she is such a great lady,for a midget,she got it and some other DVDs for me. One thing I noticed about the copy I have is it is a Canadian release and it comes in one of those stupid ass new eco-amray cases. So I have no idea if this is a new release or maybe a bunch of copies were found in some warehouse and repackaged. I am just happy to finally have a copy.
Set in the quiet town of Cherry Falls Virgina,the film starts off with the late Britney Murphy in a car with her boyfriend. Britney gets in trouble for coming home after curfew and is grounded by her father who is the town sheriff. Turns out that same night two other teenagers that go to the same school as Britney are killed. After being checked out by a medical personal it turns out that the girl was still a virgin. And the killer has carved the word virgin into both of the victims bodies. Word quickly gets out about the killer and their apparent M.O. and the teenagers plan a huge orgy at an old abandoned house. Figuring that the killer is only killing virgins,so if there is no virgins the killer will have no one to kill. We also find out that Britney's dad and some of his old high school buddies have a dark secret. And maybe this secret has some connection to the murders.
I love how this movie takes the slasher tropes of only the sexually active teens being killed and turns it completely around. Plus I have always thought Britney Murphy,before her personal demons got the better of her, was a very good actress. The cast is pretty good with Jay Mohr,DJ Qualls and Michael Biehn being the stand outs. The FX work is well done and best of all it is all practical FX no fucking CGI. I would love to see the original cut of the movie released. But it looks like that isn't going to happen. At least the DVD is the R rated cut. Cherry Falls gets a B-.
