the audience applauded

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Sent to a Christian reformatory school, a young teen finds that the other women there are just like her, gathered together by an ancient prophecy to open the long-closed gates to other dimensions home to ravenous demons, and that they have to stop it before they can arrive on Earth.This one was a really above-average film. One of the finer aspects of this one is the fact that this one changes the way a possession takes place which is a nice specialty. Rather than being able to take control of anyone, this one stipulates rules that the incredibly religious are off-limits, for it won't work on them. Through the use of voodoo, a pentagram and Latin spells, the demon comes forth and the victim becomes possessed which is quite different, and although it doesn't really go together since all of them conflict with each other, they do make for a fantastic scene. The location of the fighting also works, since the place is really creepy. The majority of this comes from the backstory given here that offers up a rather strong and impressive religious-based storyline that works in not only regular religious outcomes but also brings together several different setups into the main setup. Including the voodoo aspects of the scenes in the attic featuring their battle with the various students possessed by the demons which not only has the payoff from the beginning but adds in some more fun to be had with the final showdown being a long, action-packed feature that contains so many different ways to stay enjoyable that the film ultimately gets incredibly fun and exciting. Added together with the fine makeup on the ghosts as some of them can be quite shocking and get a few jolts, these here really make the film enjoyable. This one doesn't do a whole lot wrong, but there are a few problems with it. The first flaw is that the film doesn't capitalize on several key areas as well as it should. The fact that most of the gore comes from non-lethal wounds or aftermath is slightly puzzling as there's a whole amount of deaths that result from the demon jumping into another body and the previous host collapsing with nothing graphic happening. This really should've been the case where it really amps up the gore to detail the different outcomes of the demons' attacks, which really could've provided this one with some more fun to be had with the more obvious destruction of the bodies. That really could've helped the few actual deaths even more. The other missed opportunity is the closet lesbianism on display. There are a few nods here and there towards it, but hardly anything occurs of it and a little extra sleaze would've been fine. The last flaw is that the body-hopping demon is such a cliché and done to death. This little trick comes into play in other films way too often, and this one is just the same. These here keep the film down somewhat.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity

5ive years after the strange and bloody disappearance of teenager Elisabeth at St. Mark's Catholic School for Girls, 5ive delinquent students—Alex (Jennifer Miller), Mara (Jordan Madley), Cecilia (Terra Vnesa), Leah (Barbara Mamabolo) and Connie (Tasha Quintas)—arrive at the establishment for some corrective education. Locked in, the girls—who all seem to possess supernatural powers—begin to notice sinister occurrences, and decide to investigate, ultimately discovering a plot by their headmistress Miss Pearce (Amy Lalonde) to trade their souls for that of Elisabeth, her sister, who was taken by the ancient demon Legion.Just 5ive minutes into 5ive Girls and it was clear to me what sort of film this was going to be: a dumb piece of mainstream horror-lite aimed predominantly at a teenage audience. For the girls, there are 5ive cool, attractive, spunky characters with whom they can identify, while the guys get to drool over 5ive pretty actresses in their early 20enties dressed as Catholic schoolgirls. The film delivers very little in the way of genuine scares or decent gore, but does offer plenty of naff CGI effects and frequent inappropriate use of rock music, plus quite a few chances to ogle the young ladies: all 5ive wear knee high socks and thigh length skirts, Jennifer Miller bares some side boob, gets her bottom spanked with a ruler, and has a girl-on-girl kiss with Madley, while a topless Tasha Quintas gives viewers an eyeful while trying to drown Barbara Mamabolo in the bath.Lending a modicum of star power to this cheesy Satanic nonsense is the unmistakable Ron Perlman (Hell Boy) as priest Father Drake, who winds up impaled by several crucifixes (it might have been 5ive, but I wasn't counting).

Other reviewers have already pointed out the various flaws that plague this film but I still feel compelled to write my own review after having just finished watching this terrible movie. The Good: the initial opening, before the girls start to chat...the ending; it's rare that when a movie begins to fall apart shortly after the introduction that we have a decent ending. I was relieved that Alex does die and we didn't get a clichéd "my healing power saved you!" resolution, which would end with the two heroines walking off into the sunset. The reappearance of Elizabeth and the twist with her father was also a rare bit of good writing in this flick.Miss Pearce: some have said they thought she (or her acting) was terrible. I can understand that viewpoint, although to me, Anna Pearce was the ONLY genuinely interesting character in the entire story. She was neither an imbecile like the five girls, nor too quietly dispassionate (i.e. boring) like the men (not to knock Ron Perlman's performance whatsoever, but his character really doesn't end up doing anything other than being fodder for Legion).the nudity: A friend and I once joked that you know a movie is absolute crap when the only thing positive you can point to as a heterosexual male is it had some female nudity, because otherwise watching it truly would've been a COMPLETE waste of time. The Bad: - most of the movie; I must single out the writing and dialogue which is absolutely atrocious. It makes George Lucas seem like Shakespeare in comparison. While Pearce and Father Drake's dialogue are fine and bearable, it's the inane and imbecilic chatter among the five girls that drives a stake right into the heart of this movie. I can't even count how often I shouted out loud "Are these girls total idiots? Who wrote this piece of garbage?" as I watched this. The writer turns these girls into morons. They aren't particularly likable, which they need to be if you want the audience to at least care about their survival, and they never seem to bond in a way that doesn't feel forced by the writer for the sake of plot advancement. There's no chemistry between any of them. the direction; I didn't realize until visiting IMDb that the writer and director are one and the same. That's unfortunate. A good director can sometimes compensate for bad writing, or a good writer can sometimes overcome a bad director. When both are one and the same and the writing isn't good, nor is the direction, you have a disaster. The main problem here is that there are no real scares in this movie, nor is there even any tension. 5 girls are trapped in a school, supervised by people who seem to have an agenda (or are indifferent to something sinister affecting the students), it should feel claustrophobic and tense. Nope. Part of the problem is that any tension that might develop is ruined and undermined by the stupid choice of music - 6 times I said to myself "WTF? Why did the director pick this music to play?" taking me right out of the story. You don't play casual guitar if you want to ramp up the tension. Perhaps the idea was to foster an atmosphere of camaraderie and relaxation whenever the girls are together? If so, it was a dumb idea - because it doesn't work. the acting; this criticism is really only aimed at Jennifer Miller, who was either miscast or not putting much effort into the role. She's fine when whining to her dad, but in every scene afterwards, especially when trying to seem afraid or worried, it was excruciating to watch. I simply did not believe a moment of it - the fear wasn't there, the worry wasn't there - nothing. Again, it didn't help that the dialogue she was given to speak was just terrible, but the other actresses seemed to do a better job at being at least convincing (although the blind girl probably had even worse lines).Legion: while the "split face" effect is nice and you get a hint at what Legion looks like, once he escapes out of the human host, and we see him full-on, he looks dull and bland. He isn't remotely scary!the various "powers" of the girls: a pointless addition to the story because they really don't do much at all for the characters. They aren't used in an effective way, they don't even serve as much of a lazy "deus ex"; the goal seems to have been to copy "The Craft" but only in the most superficial and pointless way possible. Using tk powers to set up the cross to stab Pearce/Legion thru the head is fine, but it could've been all done without powers at all. Having 5 girls all with some special power happen to attend the same school didn't make sense; how could such a massive coincidence happen, or if it was somehow prearranged, then why? It couldn't have been Pearce's doing because you'd want five easy victims to sacrifice, not girls with powers who might put up a fight no matter how imbecilic they were. I truly wanted to like this film but could not. It had a promising start and a decent end, but sadly it was the content between which just sunk the whole thing. My only advice for the writer/director next time is to spend more time on the writing and hone your skills there first. If the foundation is weak, then regardless of the talented cast or decent special effects or even gratuitous nudity (lol), the final result will disappoint.

from watching the trailer i expected some mystery thriller with religious aspects like e.g. stigmata and i have to say... judging by the first 25 minutes (i couldn't bear more), it seems like it really is that kind of movie. which is all the more reason for disappointment for me because i enjoy these rarely done stories.i also liked ron perlman and while the tension caused by the head mistress felt a bit uncomfortable, it was still promising.but already during the first "private" conversation between the girls i was like "what the hell?". they throw around statements as if they are as stupid as they look good. everything else is at least decent but when the girls are on their own, the dialogue gets pathetic. someone here compared it with buffy... being a big buffy fan myself, i can't share that opinion. the dialogue in buffy might have been a little cheesy sometimes but it still was quite a bit more intelligent than that of 5ive girls.would've looked forward to seeing how the story unfolds but with that dialogue i just can't watch it. i'm really wondering why ron perlman signed up for this...