Stupid Teenagers Must Die!
Encyclopedia
Stupid Teenagers Must Die! (early title Blood & Guts) is a 2006
spoof
film directed by Jeff C. Smith and written by Smith and Curtis Andersen. During production and initial festival screenings, the film was titled Blood & Guts, but before sending it to distributors, the change to the current title was made to better reflect the humor intended by the filmmakers, as they thought the original title implied more carnage than the film supplied.
. Smith shared that it was during their employment at the park, and when the group had collaborated on an earlier project, he learned that Jovan had skills he wished to include in a future project... the one which became Stupid Teenagers Must Die. Even before the film had entered post-production, the crew had optimistically scheduled its premiere as Blood & Guts at Cinespace
in Hollywood, California for July 13, 2006. However, the film was not ready and director Smith was compelled to screen the incomplete rough-cut he did have, as a "test screening". The audience panned the project. Taking the lesson of premature release to heart, Smith spent the next several months finishing the film's editing in preparation for its subsequent screenings.
and Halloween
films and Sleepaway Camp
.
A group of teens has decide to meet in a haunted house to hold a seance. The characters are stereotype spoofs of other 80's film characters: the cool hero guy (Jovan Meredith), the naive girlfriend (Ashley Schneider), the goth girl (Renee Dorian), the tough guy (Devin Marble), the ditzy blonde girl (Lindsay Gareth), the shy geek in love with the blonde (Matt Blashaw), two big nerds (Cory Assink & Jonathan Brett), and a pair of lipstick lesbians (Jamie Carson & Christina DeRosa
). Expected before it even begins, and just as in 80's horror style, strange things begin to occur... outrageously corny deaths, gratuitous nudity, obvious pitfalls and traps, inane dialog, and the teens themselves being one-by-one stabbed and sliced... with the cool hero working to save the day before every stupid teenager is dead.
Full cast listing available at Piczo.
where the film won Best Film Title and actress Lindsay Gareth won the prestigious "Best Breasts" award. It was offered for release on DVD in the US
by Vanguard International Cinema and internationally by Singa Home Entertainment on September 25, 2007. Three weeks prior to the DVD release, director Smith shared that the distributor allowed them a maximum of 125 minutes on the DVD, so he had chosen to include a 30 minute "making of" documentary titled Movies Are Bullshit! The Making Of Stupid Teenagers Must Die!, with commentary by director Jeff C. Smith and actor Jovan Meredit, an audience reaction track from the premiere, and an interview with cast member Will Deutsch.
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
film directed by Jeff C. Smith and written by Smith and Curtis Andersen. During production and initial festival screenings, the film was titled Blood & Guts, but before sending it to distributors, the change to the current title was made to better reflect the humor intended by the filmmakers, as they thought the original title implied more carnage than the film supplied.
Background
In an early interview with Unbound, director Jeff C. Smith revealed that he and co-producers Sara Parrell and Curtis Andersen, as well as actor Jovan Meredith all at one time worked together in the Entertainment division at Disneyland in Anaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. Smith shared that it was during their employment at the park, and when the group had collaborated on an earlier project, he learned that Jovan had skills he wished to include in a future project... the one which became Stupid Teenagers Must Die. Even before the film had entered post-production, the crew had optimistically scheduled its premiere as Blood & Guts at Cinespace
CineSpace
cineSpace is a color management solution for the film and television industry. It addresses the two major aspects of color issues faced by companies working in the industry:# Ensuring that all displays throughout the facility look the same; and...
in Hollywood, California for July 13, 2006. However, the film was not ready and director Smith was compelled to screen the incomplete rough-cut he did have, as a "test screening". The audience panned the project. Taking the lesson of premature release to heart, Smith spent the next several months finishing the film's editing in preparation for its subsequent screenings.
Plot
Set in the 1980s, the movie is a tongue-in-cheek homage to classic 80's horror films such as Night of the Demons, the Friday the 13thFriday the 13th
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year...
and Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
films and Sleepaway Camp
Sleepaway Camp
Sleepaway Camp is a 1983 cult classic slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik—who also served as executive producer. The film is about teen campers getting killed at a summer camp...
.
A group of teens has decide to meet in a haunted house to hold a seance. The characters are stereotype spoofs of other 80's film characters: the cool hero guy (Jovan Meredith), the naive girlfriend (Ashley Schneider), the goth girl (Renee Dorian), the tough guy (Devin Marble), the ditzy blonde girl (Lindsay Gareth), the shy geek in love with the blonde (Matt Blashaw), two big nerds (Cory Assink & Jonathan Brett), and a pair of lipstick lesbians (Jamie Carson & Christina DeRosa
Christina DeRosa
Christina DeRosa is an American actress.-Early life:DeRosa is the daughter from the second-generation of Italian parents Thomas and Antoinette DeRosa.-Movie career:...
). Expected before it even begins, and just as in 80's horror style, strange things begin to occur... outrageously corny deaths, gratuitous nudity, obvious pitfalls and traps, inane dialog, and the teens themselves being one-by-one stabbed and sliced... with the cool hero working to save the day before every stupid teenager is dead.
Partial cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jovan Meredith | Kane |
| Ashley Schneider | Julie |
| Devin Marble | Alfie |
| Lindsay Gareth | Tiffany |
| Renee Dorian | Madeline |
| Cory Assink | Geek One |
| Jonathan Brett | Geek Two |
| Will Deutsch | Ryan |
| Jamie Carson | Sissy |
| Christina DeRosa Christina DeRosa Christina DeRosa is an American actress.-Early life:DeRosa is the daughter from the second-generation of Italian parents Thomas and Antoinette DeRosa.-Movie career:... |
Jamie |
| Matt Blashaw | Michael |
Full cast listing available at Piczo.
Reception
Intended by the director to appeal to "movie geeks", the film has received mixed response from genre reviewers. Dorkgasm Senior Staff Writer Kenneth Holm felt that with it being a low budget film, he began his viewing with lowered expectations but opined that he should have lowered them even more. After panning it in his review, he concluded that he would recommend it only as an "exercise for other budding filmmakers to see what missteps to avoid when making their first movie." Conversely, the reviewer for Dead Lantern found the film to be to be worth watching and great fun, remarking that he enjoyed the "back story" of why the house was haunted in the first place and feels that it would be a great prequel, and concludes by recommending it as a "comedy that will make even the most jaded horror elitists smile," and Fatally Yours called it a "film that knows how to have a good time!" in a review that acclaimed the film as "one of the most fun and enjoyable low-budget films I’ve seen in quite some time"; however, a reviewer for The Movies Made Me Do It, decided that even with touting itself as a low budget spoof, the filmmakers lost track of the fact that they were making a spoof, resulting in them trying too hard at the wrong goals and taking the film too seriously, when it could have remained funny throughout, leading to them "basically creating a slasher film from the eighties minus the things that made those movies so appealing in the first place: massive body counts, T&A, and a neat villain for the heroes to contend with", concluding that "It's never even remotely scary", and "it's simply not funny either save for a couple of one-liners." The film had a major write-up in the October 2007 issue of Fangoria Magazine.Release
The completed film was first screened October 14, 2006 at the Movie Nation Festival and then shown at many additional festivals. Most notable among the screenings was the Backseat Film FestivalBackseat Film Festival
The Backseat Film Festival is an independent film festival organized by Doug Sakmann, Nick Esposito, and Zafer Ulkucu.Beginning in Park City, UT during the winter of 2003 as one of many alternatives to the Sundance Film Festival it quickly transformed into a touring festival that continues to the...
where the film won Best Film Title and actress Lindsay Gareth won the prestigious "Best Breasts" award. It was offered for release on DVD in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Vanguard International Cinema and internationally by Singa Home Entertainment on September 25, 2007. Three weeks prior to the DVD release, director Smith shared that the distributor allowed them a maximum of 125 minutes on the DVD, so he had chosen to include a 30 minute "making of" documentary titled Movies Are Bullshit! The Making Of Stupid Teenagers Must Die!, with commentary by director Jeff C. Smith and actor Jovan Meredit, an audience reaction track from the premiere, and an interview with cast member Will Deutsch.
External links
(Original title)- Official website
- Stupid Teenagers Must Die! at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
(not rated)