Customer Reviews

Bad Girls From Valley High

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BAD GIRLS FROM VALLEY HIGH (aka "A Fate Totally Worse than Death") is a fun teen comedy along the same themes as Heathers and Jawbreaker. Perhaps this film is most notable for featuring teen heart-throb Jonathan Brandis (The NeverEnding Story II - The Next Chapter, "SeaQuest DSV") in his final screen role before committing suicide.

Teen queens Danielle (Julie Benz), Brooke (Monica Keena), and Tiffany (Nicole Bilderback) rule their highschool with an iron fist. When Danielle sets her sights on football captain Drew (Jonathan Brandis), she enlists Tiffany and Brooke to help in eliminating Drew's girlfriend. But just as Danielle begins to make her move on Drew, beautiful new exchange student Katarina (Suzanna Urszuly) beats her to the prize!

Plus, to make matters worse, a strange curse has come over Danielle and her gal-pals. Slowly but surely, they are transforming into ugly old hags and being forced to buy adult diapers at the local supermarket! What exactly is happening to them...and could Katarina be responsible...?

This mild teen thriller-comedy features some good work from Julie Benz (who also ironically co-starred in "Jawbreaker"). Monica Keena (While You Were Sleeping, Snow White - A Tale of Terror) is also fun. Fans of classic movies will be slightly disheartened to see a clearly-unwell Janet Leigh playing Mrs Witt, the zonked-out patient of a nursing home (also her final film credit); and there's Christopher Lloyd in yet another eccentric professor role.

BAD GIRLS FROM VALLEY HIGH is an enjoyable little movie that would be fun in a double feature with "Jawbreaker" or "Heathers". The supernatural elements in the film will also draw comparisons to "The Craft". (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

I love teen movies, no matter how dumb they are - and Bad Girls From Valley High (also known as A Fate Totally Worse Than Death) is pretty dumb. It's also a little bit eerie, featuring both Janet Leigh and Jonathon Brandis in one of their final films - although it should be noted that this film actually dates back to 2000. Leigh actually looks pretty bad here, much worse than she did in 1998's Halloween H20. The presence of Monica Keena was what clinched the deal for me, though, and it's really amazing just how much she doesn't look like the exceedingly fine Monica Keena I saw in Jason vs. Freddy. There are some who might compare this film to Jawbreakers, but Bad Girls From Valley High is really not in the same league as that Rose McGowan vehicle. This movie introduces a supernatural element to the story of high school cliquedom, doesn't always have the wittiest dialogue (although a few real zingers slip in there from time to time), and panders to the lowest, most obvious level of comedy time and time again.

Danielle (Julie Benz) is the leader of a little threesome of arrogant, mean high school girls; she and her rich friends Tiffany (Nicole Bilderback) and Brooke (Monica Keena) care only about their pampered selves (although Brooke has periodic misgivings). Surprisingly, though, they don't seem all that popular. No one really hangs out with them except a dumb jock and the class nerd, and poor Danielle is getting nowhere with Drew (Jonathon Brandis) - even after she and her pals kinda, sorta killed his last girlfriend. It's been a year, and Drew still ignores her - but he doesn't ignore the new foreign exchange student Katarina (Suzanna Urszuly). Since Katarina can't take a hint, Danielle begins plotting her downfall, as well. There's a slight problem, however. She and her friends begin experiencing a level of high weirdness in their lives, and we watch the girls rapidly age before our eyes as the film progresses. This leads to a number of embarrassing little incidents and only serves to make Danielle more desperate than ever. She'll sacrifice anything, even Drew, to get her youth and looks back.

Christopher Lloyd plays a suspicious teacher in the film, and he suffers through a continuing series of falls and spills of a painful and comedic (at least that was the intention) sort. These nonstop gags are just way too obvious and overdone, doing the film more harm than good, in my opinion. The ending of the film is good, though, as it actually manages to pull off a reasonably successful little twist - and doesn't end quite the way you might expect.

I'm pretty lukewarm in my opinion of this movie. As dumb comedy, it has its moments - but far too often the humor is strained, and the story is unconvincing. The supernatural aspects of the story reinforce the superficiality of the script, meaning this film really has nothing much to say about high school cliques or the like. I certainly didn't have any high school flashbacks watching this movie, and I don't think many other viewers will either. Bad Girls of Valley High is reasonably funny, but I can't help thinking that it could have been a much better, much funnier film.

Bad Girls From Valley High is a camp dark comedy that hits stores on March 22nd. Similar to teen flicks "Jawbreaker" and "Heathers," this is a movie that makes a mockery of murder. Julie Benz stars as Danielle, a popular girl with a clique of two friends (sound familiar). Danielle is a mean girl. First things, first, at almost 30 years old, Julie looked far too old to play a high school student, but perhaps she was cast for that very reason. Danielle and her friends are rich and kinda stuck up acting for the most part. One year ago they killed, yes killed, a classmate named Chasity Chase. It was a prank that went wrong. The motive for harassing Chasity is that Danielle has a crush on her boyfriend, who was played in the film by the late Jonathan Brandis. When a new exchange student transfers to the school, weird things start happening to the trio. Things go from bad to worse. Danielle develops incontingence and a hairy mole, and all three girls fall apart. They start to age at a rapid pace.

This film has some funny moments. It is quite camp and ridiculous at times so it's hard to even take the film serious. There are also some very cliche and expected characters like the nerd with the crush on the popular girl, the member of the mean clique which has a soft side, and the white guy who speaks in hip-hop lingo. The late Janet Leigh also stars in the film. It was her last film role. If you like teen films like "Mean Girls," "Jawbreaker," and "Heathers," then you might like this movie.

After I found out that the actor Jonathan Brandis had died, I went looking to get all of his movies that I could find. This was a great movie and well worth watching over and over. It was a little cheesy, but had a surprise ending that made the whole thing well worth watching!

This movie is the last film the late Janet Leigh finished before her death. Appropriately so since Leigh's most famous role was as the victim in the classic PSYCHO. She doesn't have a lot of screen/scream time in this film, but she manages to make an impression. Otherwise, this is a dark little comedy in the vein of such films as THE CRAFT and HEATHERS. Three snooty girls (well embodied by Julie Benz, Nicole Bilderback and Monica Keena) have murdered a hunk's girlfriend and staged it as a suicide, all so one of them can claim the hunk for herself. On the first anniversary of the "suicide" a mysterious stranger from Romania appears and the girls are convinced she is the ghost of the murdered girl. They set out a plot to ensnare this girl and once again claim the hunk.
The movie doesn't live up to its possibilities, but there are some genuinely funny lines and scenes, and a good examination of the cliche class of highschoolers. Christopher Lloyd has a Jerry Lewis/Chevy Chase like bumbling role that he carries out with his usual aplomb. All in all, a fun way to spend ninety minutes.

I love Jonathan Brandis and have most of his work. This how ever was probably the worst movie he ever made. I am proude of him for having the courage for being in this movie.
The actors were good but the movie was not. Sorry Jonathan.
LOL
If you watch this movie please don't hold it against Jonathan.

This is a very good movie! Somewhat like the movie Jawbreaker, but much better. It also stars the late Jonathan Brandis (RIP), you definitely won't be disappointed if you buy it.

This movie was filmed some time ago, and originally titled "A Fate Totally Worse Than Death". It is based on the novel of the same name. This is one of the last films by Jonathan Brandis, and has been eagerly awaited by his fans.