Sexed-up British teens get a scare

BBC Films’ recent teen horror, Tormented, is a ghastly black comedy about a student who commits suicide and then returns to torture and take revenge on his ex-classmates.

Starring several throwbacks from the Channel 4 programme Skins, Tormented wastes no time in jumping straight into the story, beginning the film with the funeral of student Darren Mullet. It is clear from the outset that Mullet, or Shrek as he is perpetually referred to, was invisible to most of his classmates and those that did notice him subjected him to bullying hell. The popular kids that offered Mullet nothing more than torment, headed by wannabe bad-boy Bradley (Alex Pettyfer), disrespectfully throw a shindig to celebrate his demise.

We don’t see Mullet’s super-freaky ghost until about half-way through the movie, but prior to that quick snapping frames and rather shaky camerawork is employed for us to see through the eyes of Mullet.

Mullet’s first victim is the idiot DJ at Bradley’s party. This may because he thinks he’s a mini-gangster or perhaps, more likely, that when deviating from the party he decides to void his bladder on Mullet’s grave. Bloodily impaled by a wooden cross, this DJ definitely isn’t gangster. Sorry.

Several unsettling appearances in windows and mirrors later, Mullet launches full speed into taking out the entire group that caused him to kill himself in the first place. Mullet racks up a multitude of different killing methods, including drowning, decapitation, impaling, whipping and rather strangely, forcing pencils up someone’s nose a *little* too far. Head Girl Justine is one of the only ones he does little harm to as according to his suicide note; he was madly in love with her. Unfortunately being the last one standing does her no favours, as she quickly gets all the blame for the serial killings and ends up in the back of a police car.

Key black comedy points include:

• A girl being drowned in the swimming pool by Mullet; he does this by using his weight and girth to sit on her, pinning her to the floor of the pool. Worth noting that he wears goggles. Since when does a ghost need googles?!
• A bunch of stereotypical goth kids at the school who think ‘death is so erogenous’ and wish they could be just like Mullet. They also want to do a mash-up of the funeral march.
• Mullet’s ghostly force is powered by his inhaler.

Tormented is a typical Brit horror-flick with sexy romps and an unhappy ending, but offers a plotline that has some decent substance. Not only that, but despite its comedic nature, the film does well to highlight the seriousness of bullying. Hats off BBC!
Gets 5.5/10 from me (1/2 a brownie point just for being British. England ahoy!)

Also, just an aside: unlike most US films set in schools, it’s nice to see teens playing teens, rather than actors in their late twenties playing young-uns! I loved Dawson’s Creek but it just wasn’t realistic.