KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

thesar-2 I can see why they changed the title...even for 1981, the 'Dead Kids' title (that I actually saw in the film's opening vs. 'Strange Behavior') seems a tad morbid.What a creepy early 80s horror film I never heard of before 2 hours ago. And strange, indeed. An almost dead-even half of the movie is solid with unique gore, thrills and cinematography while the other 50% is amateurish at best and contains plot holes wide enough to jump through.Immediately into the film we get our first kill. Extremely effective and original as in they try to shadow the killer - a staple of the never-ending Red Herring string of 70s/80s horror movies - only to turn around and reveal the killer. Not long after, the plot, or most of it, is fairly easy to grasp.Kids are disappearing at an alarming rate in a small town and the weirdest police "force" or what you would expect to be the police "force" in an Ed Wood/MST3k movie, sans an actual police uniform, are lazily putting the pieces together before the next murder takes place. Meanwhile, the scientific office from the also 80s-set 'Stranger Things' is taking new patients. Coincidence?Since some of the scenes are genuine and highly effective, I really want to grant this a higher rating. But, the movie starts to fall completely part in the last act almost to the point it felt like huge chunks were edited out for no reason. Not to mention it had an odd, out of place opening nude scene with the lead kid/teen (well, 25 in real life) and his dad and the ending felt rushed.But, it had the always awesome Louise Fletcher (even though she seemed lost on what her character was supposed to do or how to react,) a character named Peter Brady who was friends with Superman's Jimmy Olsen and a delicious femme fatal, Fiona Lewis, who stole every scene and you just couldn't take your eyes off her.Rare "gem" and despite my just-lower-than-average rating, I'd recommend it for diehard 80s horror fans, like myself.***Final thoughts: Man, I'd like to see this remade. Only, with a finished script, the title "Dead Kids" kept and more gritty - ah-hem, fleshed out.

GL84 A string of strange deaths in a small-town lead the sheriff to a rather obscure mystery he was involved with years earlier that has resulted in several youths running rampage over the residents that may have a more ghastly ulterior motive.Not really too sure what to make of this one, as there's a lot to work with that really shines through. The initial part of the murder mystery is pretty decent with a couple fun and admittedly enjoyable stalking scenes that definitely give off a tense vibe from time-to-time, and the finale offers some pretty interesting revelations that are definitely unnerving, but the fact that the film is just so slow-going and dragged-out that it really loses a lot of it's steam just by dragging out the investigation and doing nothing with what should've been a tense scene beforehand. Add to that a low number of kills which result in a tame amount of blood, a lot of broad comedy that really isn't funny and shouldn't be in the movie and a far more complex plot that normal really doom this one significantly.Rated R: Language and Violence.

TheHrunting This came out during the slasher boom around the early '80s, except "Strange Behavior" dodged the norm from the infamous films of the heyday such as "Halloween," "Friday the 13th" and "Prom Night," as there isn't one killer at large and the murderers aren't cold-blooded psychopaths with twisted pasts, even if their bizarre motivations make them act like maniacal blood fiends.The continually annoyed and stressed looking local Chief of Police--who never dons a traditional uniform as everything is usually hunky dory--must investigate these mysterious deaths. The strange part is the audience hardly ever witnesses the small town in the grip of fear. Some innocent gets sadistically killed and others go about their lives as if the grass is always greener on the other side with frivolous humor and their regular routines intact. This is the type of plot where there's an "elephant in the room" and only one man detects it, as this focuses on a connection between the Chief, experimenters at the local college and the Chief's late wife fitting right smack in the middle. The story thickens when the Chief's son opposes his stubborn father to make decisions as his own man but gets ensnared by the affiliation."Strange Behavior" throws in some distractions to lighten the load from watching violence and blood, such as a subplot between the Chief's son and the newly met, easy-going, blond secretary, as well as the chipper step mother who wants to fill the role of late wife. This takes cues from "Halloween" type killings meets "Altered States"-esque mad science meets "Bond"-like villains meets small town TV mystery/sitcom/love connection. This had the makings to be an esteemed film, though the filmmaker's ambitions were aiming sky high in an attempt to appease a viewer with scenes of the surreal and macabre, as well as the person who wants established, down-to-earth characters, though both sides bump heads to compete and this hardly feels steadily creepy or like it could actually happen as it doesn't fully come together and keep one on the edge of their seat. Even a potential for one last scare wasn't capitalized on. This could have learned from the weirdness that "Dead & Buried" had: to keep the atmosphere alive by feeding throughout. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

morrison-dylan-fan In the last few weeks I've been passed one or two (what looked like) low-budget horror DVDs.Im surprised to find out that this is the first film by writer Bill Condon.While it has some slight "slasher" parts that defined the 1980s horrors,thankfully this films doges most of these things (no sign of groups of "dumb teens"),and thought flawed,this is still a very good under-rated horror: The Plot:Pete Brody finds out that hes been offered a place at some top colleges (includeing the same one his dad,the head of police,John went to.)But he unable to afford the cost of going to them,Pete gets some advice from a friend,so he decides to go to an "animal testing" lab,and offers himself as a human guinipig.What Pete does not know is that his dad blames the death of his mother on the lab,and with killings starting to happened by teens who are on a "weight loss" pill made at the lab.So John decides to look deeper into the workings of the lab... View on the film:The score is by famous electronic band Tangerine Dream,who give a very good ambient score,and there's also song by before-he-went-solo Nick Caves band The Birthday Party.The screenplay by Bill condon,one of the things thew film looks at is animal testing,thought sadly Condon does not fully build on the very interesting issues,thought he thankfully does include some good horror scenes (the best one being in a mens toilet!)The odd thing is for some scenes it seems that someone has pressed "mute" on the sound-effects!Final view on the film:A good horror film,with a good cast,score and screenplay,thats sadly let down by the low budget.