This tale of revenge seems to spring from other exploitation films like I Spit on Your Grave. However, some unintentional comedy takes it down a peg but it does feature some decent acting and a compelling storyline.
Michelle (Angelique Hennessy) is a shy girl in high school. It comes as a shock to her when one of the popular boys invites her to a party. She decides to buy a new dress and thinks that this might be her ticket to a finally being accepted. She goes to the boy’s house and begins a night of what she thinks will be a newfound popularity. The beers flow freely and the boys are pushing it into her hands.
They also push her back to the host’s bedroom and he and another boy rape her. The girls at the party think that she seduced the boys and humiliate Michelle at the party. The next day she finds that she has moved to a new social level – the school slut. At first Michelle is embarrassed and humiliated, but she discovers that her new status has a certain power and she decides to use that power to avenge herself against those that wronged her.
Bad Reputation isn’t too bad of a little film, but it requires some forgiving and I don’t mean the jerks that abuse the main character. The performance of Angelique Hennessy is really pretty good. However, some things are there to unintentionally amuse. Such as when revenge is on the menu that there are some really terrible sound effects that accompany several stabs and other acts of revenge.
Michelle stabs a guy and there’s a slurping, splashing sound like I’d expect in a karate movie. It really tends to make you laugh instead of having the effect that it’s supposed to. The ending also features a bit of reconciliation between Michelle and a former fat girl (another outcast like Michelle) who lost the weight and got popular. This scene at the end of the picture had me rolling my eyes. The flick plays like a mash up of Carrie (without the supernatural element) and I Spit on Your Grave.
Bad Reputation is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The only special features are a collection of trailers for other DVDs. (My review copy said that it was supposed to have a director’s commentary but it appears that it got dropped on the final release)
Bad Reputation would’ve been a better film and a decent performance from the amount of awards from indie film fests on the back of the box. (The strangest one is the win at the Dark Romance Movie Awards. I wouldn’t say that the film had a great deal to do with romance in the slightest.)
The strange sound effects don’t do the film any favors but the storyline was oddly compelling and Hennessy did have a decent performance (except for that bit at the end).
Bad Reputation is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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