It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

In the small town of Downers Grove, Illinois, there is a well-known curse of one high school senior dying every year before graduation. Chrissie Swanson (Bella Heathcote) fights off football jock Chuck (Kevin Zegers) during a party and gouges out his eye. She has a crush on Bobby (Lucas Till). Her weird neighbor Ian is a friend. Her best friend Tracy is planning to throw a wild party with her little brother. It's days before graduation.Bella is a beauty with striking blue eyes. Her acting ability is functional. The same can be said of Lucas Till. He's beautiful with functional acting abilities. Zegers is growing into his villain phase although he's too old to play a teen. Actually, Bella is almost the same age but she can play younger. I can do without Tom Arnold even if he does fine here. This sets up a teen horror of some sorts. It's not the highest quality but it does have potential. The major problem is that the premise does not lead to a series of kills. The bigger potential is the mystery but it becomes an action thriller anyways. The 'curse' becomes a side issue and the reveal is not that surprising. The central premise might as well be forgotten.

I don't exactly know what I was expecting from a horror film written by Bret Easton Ellis, but it wasn't this. To start with, The Curse of Downers Grove isn't even a horror film... or at least, not the kind of horror suggested by the publicity. Besides, The Curse of Downers Grove is based on a novel written by Michael Hornburg, so Ellis was only in charge of the adaptation to cinema; it's possible that the problems came from the original material. But it's still difficult for me to understand how the movie ended up being such an incongruous hodgepodge of shapes and styles. And the worst thing of all is that The Curse of Downers Grove had the potential of being an interesting film. The shortage of supernatural elements (depending on the criterion from every spectator) doesn't avoid it from portraying horrors of a more daily and realistic nature, such as bullying, sexual assault, police corruption... well; I won't reveal more than that. The point is that The Curse of Downers Grove deals with themes which are much more disturbing than any vindictive ghost or generic tribal curse. That's why I think this film would have worked better as a drama, in which said themes could have been dealt with the necessary maturity not to decrease their impact and social relevance; or maybe, it should have completely plunged into the mystic of the provincial superstition in order to create a darker and more psychological tale. I don't know; I appreciate the intention to deal with so many themes, but I feel that, when bullying and sexual assault are set in the same context as curses and spirits... nobody wins and everybody loses. The raw reality darkens the fantasy, and the fantasy is tarnished with cruel situations which can't be solved with an exorcism, or a sacrifice to some local deity. Sure, there have been films which perfectly mixed horror and social commentary (They Live, Videodrome); but The Curse of Downers Grove is very, very far from that level. On the positive side, the actors make a good work in their roles, highlighting Bella Heathcote, who faces the aggression from her partners and the hypothetical supernatural influence on the events torturing her with equal credibility. Pity that the screenplay constantly destroys her character's consistency; in one scene, she's criticizing the youngsters who make bad decisions, and in the following one, she accepts to attend a party with strangers of very doubtful intentions. That's the narrative laziness I didn't expect to see associated with Ellis' name. In conclusion, despite having some interesting ideas, The Curse of Downers Grove is a tedious and unsatisfactory film whose main problem is not having decided its intention from the beginning.

A teen angst thriller at a high school gripped by an apparent curse that claims the life of a senior every year. Story follows a senior, Chrissie, who is skeptical, and another, Tracy, who believes that she may be the next victim. A complete useless thing to put Tom Arnold and Helen Slater in the movie and do absolutely nothing especially the mother being absent makes no sense also the acting is pretty horrible especially from the main villain Kevin Zegers although Lucas Till and Bella Heathcote killed it they were both badass. But the worst thing about the movie it was the ending probably the worst movie ending i've seen in a long time but other than that an enjoyable flick for what it is.

It amazes me how so many people posting reviews obviously have so little experience in the genres they review. As for winning Oscars and selling out theaters no this is not for you. As an individual who watches almost anything horror or fantasy they can get their hands I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this film. It brought to mind a blend of Donnie Darko and It Follows, not reaching the heights of either film but portraying a feeling of the atmosphere that both did so well. Sifting through Indies of this genre with no prior knowledge of the film you are watching can be very disappointing. I would say that one out of every 30 would come close to the quality of this film. The acting was great all around minus Tom Arnold, if you want to name drop you can do MUCH better even on a small budget. I especially liked Penelope Mitchell (also from Hemlock Grove, great series). IF you are a fan of this genre give this one a chance it may surprise you, If you're an Oscar hoe rewatch The Iron Lady and stay off the boards of Indies