Detention and Punishment: A Movie Review

*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by American World Pictures.

Director: James D. R. Hickox.

Writers: James D. R. Hickox, Stephen Johnston, Michael Muscal, and John Stienfield.

So, here is another entry for worst horror film for 2011 with Detention. This film stars the late David Carradine and Thomas Calabro as two faculty staff of a haunted school. Released on DVD May 17th through American World Pictures, Detention feels just like those days spent after school in a stale classroom, staring at the clock. Full of poor music selections, soulless writing and a plot that takes too long to get there, Detention easily gets nominated to 28DLA's worst horror films for this year (2011). Sorry Carradine, but this reviewer is still a fan.

Detention plays out like a bad offering of Rumpelstiltskin. Instead of offering up the first born right away, several children are hunted down by a vengeful ghost for the sins of the father/mother. You, the viewer, will not know any of this, as the characters are not given any backstory until late in the film. Therefore, you will be rooting for the killer(s) in this film rather than the protagonists, with the supposed heroes and heroines mere shallow caricatures. The flirting between a brother and sister who do not know they are related was a little awkward, but many of the other characters are completely forgettable at best, or annoying at worst. At this point the eye starts to wander to the clock, as Detention goes the usual 90 minute round of horror. But just like real detention, you cannot leave early.

Then comes James McConnel's ear grating music. As the teenagers run about from room to room, there is this sound of scratching on a blackboard. Now, the memories of detention are coming back and not in a good, nostalgic way. McConnel has a knack for repeating certain dreadful compositions over and over again. Soon, this reviewer was wanting to run away from the music, much like the protagonists run from a black misty CGI'ed ghost. However, there is no getting away from this film's grueling extended run time, nor the debilitating noises coming from the screen.

The film stock is also poor and now, something is becoming clear. Detention is a soulless film endeavour and director James D. R. Hickox(Sabretooth) either has no understanding of the horror genre, or he does not care. At 28DLA, we like to be optimistic. So, perhaps, Hickox was having an off two week film shoot. After all, Detention made a whopping $190 on its premiere weekend, so something went very wrong. How did this film manage a premiere? Moving on, Hickox has little experience with the genre and the repetitive action, poor musical selections, and overuse of cliches (isolated locale, teenagers as targets, no cell phones) make this film a cardboard cut out of a horror film. There is no originality here. However, in Hickox's defence, there are one or two surprises in the film.

Detention does have a twist ending, courtesy of the character Ms. Cipher (Alexa Jago). Her name should give you a clue as to where the mystery lies. As well, there is an unexpected twist in the film, which this reviewer did not see; this critic's attention was too focused on the clock. Lastly, there are some good make-up shots and the haunting ghost looks adequate. None of these elements overcome the negatives, which put this film in very dreary company. Skip this one for better horror films, listed in the movie review section here on 28DLA.

Writing/plot/story: 5.5 (not compelling, few thrills, no tension, excitement?).
Pacing/development: 6 (it goes in a lot of circles).

Overall: 5.75 out of 10 (not very good).

Don't take my word for it. Check out these reviews:

Detention Reviewed at DVD Verdict (Judge David Johnson)

The Foywonder at Dread Central reviews this title:

Detention Reviewed at Dread Central

Detention at American World Pictures (trailer):

Detention's Trailer at American World Pictures

Dismal:



A better film from American World Pictures:



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Posted in: 2011,2011 release,david carradine,dvd,dvd artwork,movie review