Bad Kids Go To Hell (2012)

While it may not be as loaded with gags and references as Detention, Bad Kids Go To Hell is another bit of fun that plays out very much like a version of The Breakfast Club with some added bloodshed.

Six teenagers are bundled together for detention and have to spend their Saturday in the school library, a library that has an alleged murky history and may even be haunted nowadays. Matt (Cameron Deane Stewart) is the relative newcomer to the school, and he always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - something that will become more and more apparent as the movie progresses. Tricia (Ali Faulkner) and Craig (Roger Edwards) are two of the more "popular" students, Tarek (Marc Donato) is the son of a rich businessman, Megan (Amanda Alch) is a seemingly nerdy gal with a wild side and Veronica (Augie Duke) is the cool girl who sneers at them all. These teenagers are left to their own devices for most of the day, but it's not long until their numbers start dwindling thanks to some freak accidents. Or perhaps there's a vengeful spirit responsible for everything.

Directed by Matthew Spradlin (who also co-wrote the thing with Barry Wernick), Bad Kids Go To Hell is based on a graphic novel, also written by Spradlin, and aims to do nothing more than provide some teen-friendly fun for ninety minutes. Hardcore horror fans won't want to rush to see it, but it's an enjoyable diversion if you've nothing else lined up for the evening.

The film has some impressively Scooby-Doo-ish (yes, that is a word, honest) ghost moments, some less impressive CGI cockroaches, a pinch of gratuitous nudity and a fun cameo role for Judd Nelson that's about as far away from his memorable turn in The Breakfast Club as possible.

Cameron Deane Stewart is decent in the lead role, Augie Duke is a likeable tough cookie and Amanda Alch may be stuck with the gratuitous nudity during one scene but I'll be damned if that doesn't make her more memorable than the other three main characters played by Faulkner, Edwards and Donato. Not that those three are bad in their roles, they just feel a bit like the same character spread throughout three physical bodies. Jeffrey Schmidt is enjoyable as a teacher who also uses psychiatric evaluations to work through problems with his students, and Ben Browder does fine in his role as Max the janitor.

If you're after scares and/or decent gore then look elsewhere, but if you're after a few thrills in a film with a nice vein of humour then this might prove to be as entertaining for you as it was for me.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Kids-Hell-Judd-Nelson/dp/B00B2TUI7S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368042862&sr=8-2&keywords=bad+kids+go+to+hell