mediocre. I feel like the creators had no idea where to go with the plot. thats why they have piled up whatever they had to make it neither horror, neither suspense,maybe another tasteless teens drama. Don't waste your time. I didn't understand why they state that it is based on true events even though it is obvious that it is a loose adaptation of the book with the same name. I was hoping that Brett Eston Ellis would make a screenplay worth his name but dissappoiningly i bought into his name, which was the only good part about this flick. i would give it ero if this option was available

source: The Curse of Downers Grove

Firstly,I do my best to Not give any spoilers away yet not label it as possibly havin any "Spoilers",so I stick to not saying much more than the film description.I ALSO used the terms "summed up",to kind of indirectly give others the general gist(in my opinion)of just a portion said by Steve Pulaski,in the review,that was a rather long one.But he made a valid point of whether or not this film is to be "labeled" as a Horror movie,rather than just a Mystery Thriller Drama.It was really the only thing I either missed,or that in my opinion it didn't meet the Horror.I will say that we all have our opinions also of what Horror film "guidelines"they should at least meet,&also at least a minimal that makes'em Horror flicks-good or bad when it comes down to movie making&how well the horror parts were as well. Although,Throughout this whole movie it definitely was not bad,And the actors did rather good as well,too!When I'd read the description & thought it potentially seemed to be a good movie.I wasn't entirely disappointed in thinking while watching the film had a good story line,it was well done movie,not all over the place but flowed rather well.I did really find it to be entertaining to watch! That all being said without giving anything away,I do hope other give this a try,as everyone's opinion is different.You may agree with me,or not,but I hope you watch and enjoy it at least alittle too!!

Chrissie's last week of high-school in Downers Grove, is a paranoid trip through a small Midwestern town gripped by a 'curse' that claims the life of one high school senior every year. With only five days to graduation, Chrissie is beginning to wonder if she will be the next victim of the Curse of Downers Grove......... Bret Easton Ellis was something of a wonder in the eighties. His novel American Psycho, is a modern masterpiece, and the film is one of the greatest movies ever made. It seemed that anything he written that was set in the eighties, was, for the lack of a better word, acceptable, even Less Than Zero. Even The Informers... But then he had a helping hand in last years The Canyons, one of the worst films of 2014, and now this, which is beyond bizarre. Remember that Mark Wahlberg film made in 1996 called Fear? Well imagine that film, without any style or flamboyance, but it's set on an old ancient Indian burial ground, that supposedly releases a curse every year...... So our heroine is almost assaulted by the recognisable teen in the film, she almost pokes his eye out, and he goes nuts, or does he? And then if it couldn't get anymore bizarre, Tom Arnold turns up as an abusive father, Supergirl from 1984 proves she's still around, and there's the always nerdy best friend who is giving her the wrong advice.......or is he? Add a cut price Heath Ledger as the wannabe boyfriend, and you are left with a below average film, form a once great literary genius, with a twist ending that makes no sense whatsoever........ Or does it?

First, let me start by saying the only reason I watched this movie is due to the fact that I grew up in the town next to Downers Grove, IL. I've spent a lot of time in Downers Grove and was excited to see a movie with a local connection. That being said, I don't think anyone involved with the movie has ever set foot anywhere near Downers Grove. I know that's a bit nit picky, but since that's one of the main reasons I watched the film, it irritated me. Second, there is no curse of Downers Grove, so the "true story" angle is nonsense. On to the actual film. The film is about a goody two shoes girl Chrissie (Bella Heathcoate) who is in to studying, religion and her family and her sort of slutty friend. The two attend a party together and a football player attempts to rape Chrissie. During her struggle to get away, she pokes his eye out and he loses his ability to play football. The rest of the movie is him stalking her and her family and boyfriend. This isn't really a horror movie at all, it's a revenge flick with some semi graphic death scenes. The ending didn't really make any sense and seemed to be tacked on to just to make the title be true. On a positive note, it's a very short movie. The acting is overall pretty decent and Bella Heathcoate isn't difficult to look at, but overall I wouldn't waste your time checking this out.

All right so in my understanding these is a movie about a curse that takes the life of one senior graduate each year. But this time it skipped or what? Because I could not see it. After a promising start the movie slowly becomes a big yawn. We follow the story of a teen girl who was abused at a party and manage to escape from the hands of her aggressor and not only that but leaves him with one eye. Now the guy torments the girl and seek retaliation. He wants to punish her for what she did to him and to hurt the people around her and also the ones who are trying to protect her. I chose a bad movie to watch tonight simply because it's a mockery for the viewer. At the beginning we expect to see a story then the film deviates from the topic and we see a completely different story. This is horror? Maybe for like ten seconds or so. Don't waste your time with these one, it has everything that we all saw in another movies and has nothing new to offer.

This movie had potential, but this potential was murdered by the curse of incoherence, such as countless other potentials in countless other movies. The story starts out well, and then you wait for something to happen, and you wait some more, but nothing really happens. At the end, your brain tells you that things make sense, but they really don't, the ending would be suitable for another movie. The acting is below average, the lead actress is cold and distant, which makes it hard to identify with her. The "villain" is weak and unconvincing, and Tom Arnold, well, i have no idea what he's doing in this movie taking this role. The directing is promising, maybe if the director makes another attempt with a better script, he would probably avoid falling for the curse of incoherence. I don't recommend this film to anyone, unless they want to study it as an example of faulty filmmaking.

In many ways, this is the kind of horror movie that Wes Craven's "Scream" was supposed to put on notice, making the case that you can't get away with stupid, thinly drawn, overly sexualized adolescent characters who seem not to have a clue about anything around them. I guess no one told director/co-writer Derick Martini or co-writer Bret Easton Ellis how ridiculous making such a clueless film would be in 2015. Not that the film itself would have been any better in 1989, but the act of creating it wouldn't have seemed so inane. There is, at least, an intriguing premise -- that the curse of Downer's Grove is the death of one graduating high school senior each year. Exploring whether the curse is real, in horror movie terms, might have been interesting, or whether it is connected to some kind of revenge of the natives who once occupied the land. This is hinted at but never explored. But this film is too scattered to do that, instead dropping vague references to drug problems (never really explored or taken seriously) and thwarted ambitions of abusive fathers (never really explored or taken seriously). Everything and every character here is a cliché. It would be one thing if they started out as clichés and developed into characters we might care about, but they don't develop at all. It is perhaps unfair to criticize the performers because, really, what could they do with this junk?, but they are mostly pretty bad. Some of those whose work I'm a little familiar with, like Kevin Zegers, Lucas Till and Tom Arnold, have been much better elsewhere, so I'm prepared to believe that most of the rest can be better than their work here would indicate. Hopefully, this will be a resume low-light for them, rather than a career suicide. But if the pedestrian direction in any indication, Martini himself shouldn't get many more chances to badly mishandle any material at all.

I seem to be one of the few who really enjoys this movie, even its editing, which others seem to hate. 'The Curse of Downers Grove' has a quite unique style of story-telling and doesn't fit into any traditional genre. It's a mixture of mystery, high school dramedy and revenge action thriller with an appealing cast led by the ever charming Bella Heathcote and a terrific Kevin Zegers. The whole cast was assembled aptly and it includes a couple of well-known faces. 'Downers Grove' seems to be advertised as a horror movie, but it's not, although there are a couple of quite gory scenes in it. This movie definitely is different from most others in many ways, much like director Derick Martini's previous effort 'Hick.' The latter movie is also one that polarizes very much. Many love it, many hate it. I enjoyed 'Hick' a lot and think that 'Downers Grove' is equally good and even more ambitious in some ways. The movie is a bit on the short side for my taste, but that is only a minor issue. I really don't understand why 'Downers Grove' is generally rated very low. The ludicrous score of 4.5/10 on IMDb at the moment certainly does't do the movie that I have seen justice. I very much look forward to Derick Martini's next project, whatever it may be.

This small film provided a nice surprise by rising above expectations & being totally different than how it was sold (spoiler: its not a supernatural horror movie). The film is a pretty real look at a town of high school teenagers on the verge of graduating & starting their summer vacation. The catch: every year during these final days of school leading up to graduation, someone dies. Although this "curse" is on everyone's mind, teens will be teens; so parties & what results from these parties will continue. During one such party, the main character is set upon by a gang leader & she fights her way out of the attack; maiming her attacker in the process. This leads to her & her friends/family being stalked by the gang until the final confrontation during a house siege. The actors do a very good job in creating likable characters, the setting is picturesque & the action is viscerally strong. The closing moments are surprising, but in my opinion, were not necessary. Overall, an enjoyable waste of time. Fans of the following movies (I'm dating myself here): The New Kids, Massacre at Central High & the updated version of The Town That Dreaded Sundown should seek this one out. Happy Hunting.