User Reviews

This kid kills himself and we immediately follow up afterward, the funeral as one of this guy, Darren's friends calls out everyone of the high school students in attendance as hypocrites. It seems the one who committed suicide was one of the ridiculed, Darren Mullet(Calvin Dean) was called fat and ugly by the popular snobs of the school. Justine(Tuppence Middleton)stood and talked at Darren's funeral despite not even knowing him. Justine chooses to dump her nerdy friends for the popular kids and their toxic personalities. Jason(Olly Alexander) is Darren's only friend, another kid looked down upon by his peers. Justine is smart and pretty, accepted to Oxford for a law scholarship, and takes a shine to Alexis(Dimitri Leonidas). Brad(Alex Pettyfer) is the jock leader of his "snotty twats" and enforces his will on all the nerds and undesirables of the school.

There's this scene that rightfully infuriates me..Justine bypasses her usual desk next to her smart friends and sits with the popular girls. This movie features bullying, a topic that permeates with me intensely. I passionately loathe bullies who use their size and aggression to torment those smaller than they are. Jason is a constant target of Brad and his bigger pal Marcus(Tom Hopper) who are always a nuisance to the weaker students. We get a scene specifically designed to draw an angered response..Jason is chased down, given a wedgie, and punched in the face(not to mention, kicked on the ground), with Brad and Marcus' soccer coach letting them go without a hitch while criticizing the victim. Justine is in over her head as the pack of hyenas she now associates herself with(in this case the bitches)Sophie(, Khalilla(Larissa Wilson), and Natascha(April Pearson), for they eventually run her life.

A series of text messages are sent to the repulsive bullies warning of their deaths to come from Darren Mullet's cell phone(their nickname for him was "Shrek"). They think the messages were sent from the nerds, and pick on them because of it..they'll soon realize he's very real, and dead serious(emphasis on dead) about getting even. Mixture of slasher and zombie movie, TORMENTED is ultimately an indictment on bullying. The "death texts" have become a familiar mechanism to use in horror movies these days going back to One Missed Call, forewarning future victims of a fate most unkind. I won't lie watching movies where bullies get their asses handed to them is pretty gratifying, better fiction on the screen than in real life. Hands taken off with a paper cutter, head lopped off with a shovel, paddle across the face forcing an eye to bulge(not to mention the victim gets his own wedgie, before his neck is impaled on a sharp gate), screwdriver through the hand and neck, silver crucifix from a grave penetrating through the torso, & a drowning(Darren sits on this victim underwater in a pool!)are ways Darren gets his revenge. There's a twist in the end questioning Justine's psyche. Clever joke after the credits roll temporarily regarding the cruel soccer coach as well. I wish the filmmakers would've went further with the lesbian tension between Tasha and Justine, but alas, this would never be.

"Tormented" is a darkly funny, gory, fun and proudly British horror movie which, in some ways a first for the prolific genre, boldly focuses on the grange hill/skins/twitter audience and introduces the now relevant cyber-bullying craze which is extremely apparent in secondary schools across the UK. Without getting ahead of it's self to much, "Tormented", unlike many other glossed up Hollywood horror's, knows what it is and what it sets out to do. By glancing at the audience around you whilst watching Tormented, you fully take in an array of laughs, screams, and cringing the film obviously sets out to enforce. It isn't a breakthrough for the genre, and neither dose it want it to be-but crucially-this fun rom com issues a bloody good time….with the odd decapitation along the way. With a simplified storyline which is nevertheless clique, it really lets you enjoy the film so much more and cheer when the bullies get what's coming to them. These guys deserve it. Your not meant to moan when blood splats from that overly large wound-your meant to cringe and chuckle-immerse yourself in this bitter sweet issuement of revenge. And bitter sweet it is-as a fantastic showcase of what make-up and FX can do when it meets a cast of outrageously gorgeous teens in the most gruesome way imaginable plays out. There's loads to like here; the hilarious emo's staring apathetically in admiration over the tragic death of Mullet-competing over who lives the most ignored life…the film club geeks who await the participation of the perfect head girl Justine, whilst adoring the difference between commentary on the Atonement DVD and without it…and the outrageously ignorant staff who darkly overlook the blood shed and bullying around them (one teacher tries to-this made me laugh out loud-explain to a cotton candy sweet teacher that the dead girl lifelessly floating in the schools pool is simply "swimming"!). But more seriously (although, as I said-not to seriously), the theme of bullying plays a pivotal role in the film which is Tormented-as the apparition of the fact that bullying effects all becomes apparent. The bullies slowly cripple, so wound up and ignorant to the pain they've caused to many, and the nerds are stereotypically seen to live with the absurd characteristics of staff and classmates who daily torment and snigger. To me, the most interesting aspect of Tormented is that of Justine..the supposedly perfect prefect. With a clever twist (favourite part of the film), the prefect every once once adored stares in disbelief as she is flung into the backseat of a police car-in realisation that she (although she tragically did not), issued the brutal massacre the audience overviews throughout..(I must point out here the films fabulous soundtrack-with the ghostly closing rhythm of Desert Sessions-Dead in Love playing out over this gleeful climax). "Tormented", however, isn't without it's faults. With an at times slightly corny script which sheers far from realism and what one would expect to see and hear at an ordinary British secondary (being a school boy of the age of 15 going on 16, let me tell you that Fairviews students differentiate heavily from me and my group of buddies at my school!), and at times seems atentivly American. This is a bit of a shame, as the film really could of stood out a lot more had the script undertaken a much more British-school life manor rather then Final Destination high school attitude. The characters have their witty moments of dialogue, but to be brutally honest (and we were asked for honesty!) I found myself cringing sometimes at the wink-wink-nudge nudge attitude in moments of vague and (only rarely), awkwardly delivered bits of dialogue. And some moments stood as just embarrassing (I found myself asking why a very much indie boy with a trendy haircut and skinny jeans issued the lines "What Blad?!" at a DJ after he offends his present girlfriend…I'm sorry but I had to suddenly block my ears!). But apart from this (which is entirely due to the script-the cast obviously appeared slightly awkward delivering lines heavily out of their character and the place they stood in..), the cast deliver solid and realistic performances throughout (especially Dimitri Leonidas and Tuppence Middleton-who I found myself standing next to by outrageous luck the day after at the Shakespere Globe Theatre-I almost fainted after receiving a very nice handshake and convo-thanks so much guys by the way!). I overall throughoutly enjoyed Tormented and it's darkly funny British take on the horror genre, and even after a second viewing (just got back), it never failed to entertain and me make cringe with the guiltily offerings of blood flying from left to right! Funny, scary and serious when it wants to be; "Tormented" isn't just a slasher for the Skins generation-it's a slasher for the proudly TEENAGE generation!!

8.9/10!

(Don't think however that I didn't notice the two film club geeks carrying LOVEFILM.COM DVD's…cheeky product placement for you there haha!)

Prior to watching this film I was looking forward to it, also I was curious because of the title. Tormented is your typical teen horror film, with a twist. It begins with the funeral of a bullied overweight school kid, Darren Mullet who committed suicide and soon turns into a situation that nobody would expect. He comes to life again to torment his tormentors. His only mission was revenge and payback. Interestingly everybody can relate with a person that they know who your typical overweight kid looks like Darren Mullet. He becomes a serial killer with the violent hunger for the taste of revenge. The victims are a bunch of your popular, athletic and preppy teens. They meet their fate in the ways only you imagine in your head. We have all thought of having been dropped from a distance onto metal fencing. The imaginative deaths give the film a comedy look as well as being horror. This is a big plus to the film as it makes your cringe and smile at the same time which is pretty rare. The acting I was impressed with, a quick fact I found was that the suffocation of Kalila was not CGI it was done in real and wasn't edited. This shows the commitment into the film. The negatives are the fact that the film is very stereotypical. Schools in Britain are not like the film. This is coming from a 16 year old who attends an academy school which ranges from the ages of 11-19. The stereotypes bring the film down. All together it is a decent film, but unfortunately not a "must watch".

(MINOR spoilers) This film was made locally (I know people who work at the school in which it's set, and my niece was married in the church where they hold the funeral) so I thought if I didn't support it, nobody would - low budget indie comedy horror is a bit of an acquired taste.

I went in knowing only that it was about a teenager who came back from the dead to get his own back on the bullies who'd made his life hell, and that it was a "comedy-horror".

I could make a very long list of where this film failed to impress, but I can summarise them in three words: plot, characters and dialogue.

The plot holes are big enough to drive a cart and horses through. To call the characters stereotypes is a dis-service to every cheap television sitcom, and the dialogue is risible.

One element I found delightful were the constant references to the malfunctioning art-room guillotine - it's obvious that it'll come in handy, and the payoff could have been bigger, but it's well drawn-out.

The film sells itself as belonging to the slasher horror tradition and two of the dispatches work very well, others less so. And of course where there's teenage slash horror, there has to be sex and we are given a couple of fair sex scenes, although for my money Tom Hopper's shower scene tops them both for erotic content.

If I had to come up with a short tagline for this mess, it'd have to be "A lesson in how NOT to make a teen slasher movie!"

I have to say that this movie went the extra mile to prove something it wasn't. Wasn't enough gore to call it a gore fest, wasn't enough comedy to call it funny (I didn't even giggle once), and not enough horror to call it a horror movie. This movie did indeed struggle to keep my attention and that's for sure. I only watched it for Alex Pettyfer and seeing him in a villainous role was indeed odd. He is a good actor with the right script but this just wasn't it.

But let's look at what it wasn't starting with gore; there just wasn't enough to please any hardcore fan. What they did have was a few scenes that could have been better with one that actually made me wince. The rest was already done too many times but I can not omit the suffocation scene, they really did suffocate her though not fatally for a movie. I don't know where the comedy was cause even the one liners were blank. The horror just in my opinion wasn't there. The mystery however is puzzling cause we know and see who is killing the tormentors. Had they had a actor doing the killing and the tormentors visualizing the killer okay then that's a mystery but that wasn't the case here.

The cast does get on your nerves and stay there throughout the movie. By the end you already know who is going to be blamed. Was the cast good, Lord no I thought they stunk in the acting field to where Alex Pettyfer couldn't help it. It was just one issue after another yet NO BODY even hinted on friends turning up missing. That alone was crazy because all they cared for was bullying tormenting other kid's.

The story was weak, the plot used too many times and the real tormented one was the one watching it.

Before you even enter the cinema, you have a fairly good idea in your head of what Tormented is not. It's not a critically acclaimed masterpiece with a cast-list of A-listers as long as your arm. It's not a film for the faint-hearted or those with weak stomachs and squeamish tendencies. It's not something you've never seen before and it's not particularly 'deep'. But that's all okay, because it isn't trying to be. The film embraces the black comedy/ horror genre; a good old British slasher flick with a sneaky underlying anti-bulling message. Perhaps then, that's what makes it so likable. It's not prestigious or pretentious, and it doesn't try and trick you into thinking it's anything you haven't seen before. You are more than welcome to make that decision for yourself. However those who write it off as merely another disposable gore-ridden horror are probably missing the entire concept of the film. The concept that perhaps earned this flick its meagre 15 certificate despite gore and guts galore. The message that is focused entirely around anti-bullying. Happy-slappers beware. Led by a hip and 'up and coming' cast of rising stars including Stormbreaker's home-grown heartthrob Alex Pettyfer, like you've never seen him before as ringleader Bradley; the arrogant jock who you love to hate. His antics are seconded only by his malicious girlfriend- Skins' April Pearson in full vain Queen Bee top form. The popular crowd are crude and terribly self-centred; amusingly ridiculous in their own special ways, leaving you rooting for the poor boy with whom they released their full terror-reign upon, and who is now back from the dead to wreak revenge in any number of excruciating methods imaginable. Welcome to Tormented. You'll laugh, cry, and just might possibly puke into your popcorn. Don't say we didn't warn you. Often "old-fashioned" horrors seem boring or generic to the myspace generation, but this is refreshing in its own right. Any modern-day filmmaker writing a teenage-based movie must realise they are competing with mobile phones for the audience's attention, even in the cinema. Well then, why not use against the characters the very things all of us have in our pockets? The technology itself being used as a weapon is rife throughout the film, succeeding in winning the viewers full attention, if only for a few minutes at a time. Tormented is indeed what would be unleashed upon the world if you mixed Skins with Scream or Friday 13th… Self-obsessed, angst-ridden teenagers being picked off one by one. As the film continues, and the bullies are getting what they deserve in stomach-churning ways, you begin to wonder that, if they do deserve this fate, then who is the real monster in this? The scorned, rejected undead victim who is 'getting his own back'… Or the cruel and intimidating bullies themselves, forcing the latter into a hell he can't escape. Although the zombie Darren Mullet is the obvious choice for horror villain, if the perspectives are rearranged, is he really the one to fear? This conclusion is only reached if you think about it, and it's possible to choose not to and accept it all simply on face value; a winner for those who watch to analyse, and ones who don't. Every teenage flick should have the typical 'good girl gone bad', and this one is no exception. Adventurously named Tuppence Middleton eases into this role and somehow between gore scenes, the writers find time to fit in a potential clichéd romance between her character Justine and Dimitri Leonidas' shady bystander character Alexis. Fighting through all of the horror and deaths, a blossoming dating scenario ensues between these two lovebirds… Only to be thwarted by the sinister James-Corden-alike, who also had a crush on Jus... who knew prefects were so sought after amongst the undead?! Whilst he wreaks righteous havoc and revenge everywhere else, you find yourself wishing he'd just leave those two alone long enough for some sort of relationship to fully have chance to flourish. Evidently, like so many tragedies, this is not to be. Tormented is at first just a blood-laced slasher film, but at second glance an original take on the issues of teenage life. Interspersing the genuine scenarios of school cliques, wild parties, sex and bullying with a more sinister horror backdrop... So that if you're between 15 and 20 and don't wanna have to think too hard, want to make out with your significant other in the back row, or just fancy something to giggle and gasp at without much of a plot, then Tormented is for you. Often the dialogue seems a bit too much like the writers are trying too hard to make it 'teenage', as all the more posh and middle class kids utter overly-enunciated common slang in respectable accents… Well-spoken slang? Surely a bit of an oxymoron. This sometimes veers from laughable to completely cringeable, and although it could be argued that it was meant to sound odd or out-of-place in order to be satirical, that isn't always so apparent. Poking fun at the cliques and clichés of high school with emo puns and believable characters, Tormented is a film that has a little bit of everything; horror, comedy, romance and a serious message beneath all the far-fetched shenanigans. How effective these aspects are when used all at once is debatable, and the obviously fake blood and somewhat low-budget gore scenes leave something to be desired. But overall it does its job well, and that is to shock and involve its teenage audience through whatever means necessary. Hopefully this achieved its purpose and the majority of viewers left the cinema thinking twice about bullying and its consequences. Enjoyable- although corny in parts- it is worth a watch for teenagers who like a laugh alongside some gore. I did like it, and for what it is it's more than watchable and easy to understand and identify with.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. In my opinion: if you want a horror comedy watch "The Cabin in the Woods, The Final Girls, Tucker and Dave vs. Evil, The Babysitter & The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, You're Next, Ready or Not, and The Scream film and tv series."

2. This could have been a fantastic film but was poorly directed and written.

3. This is not a funny or scary film.

4. There is nothing funny about a kid being severely bullied and basically tortured at school who commits suicide.

5. This would have been better as a drama-thriller-horror and of course with a different director, writer, and editor.

6. There are a few great "kills" but they happen to the least cruel characters.

7. If a horror film is about revenge call me crazy but I want the bullies to suffer and not just drown in a pool.

8. The revenge kills in the "The Last House on the left (original and remake), The Final, and even The Rage: Carrie 2 are far more satisfying.

9. The characters are mostly cardboard and extremely irritating.