All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Jonathan Levine

Writer:

Jacob Forman (written by)

Release Date:

August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

There's something about Mandy all the boys love.

Plot:

A group of high schoolers invite Mandy Lane (Amber Heard), a good girl who became quite hot over the summer, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop quite mysteriously.

Plot Keywords:

Party | Slasher Flick | Fireworks | Psychological Horror | Texas

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Amber Heard	...	Mandy Lane
Anson Mount	...	Garth
Whitney Able	...	Chloe
Michael Welch	...	Emmet
Edwin Hodge	...	Bird
Aaron Himelstein	...	Red
Luke Grimes	...	Jake
Melissa Price	...	Marlin
Adam Powell	...	Dylan
Peyton Hayslip	...	Aunt Jo
Brooke Bloom	...	Cousin Jen
Robert Earl Keen	...	Keg Trucker

MPAA:

Rated R for strong disturbing violence, pervasive drug and alcohol use, sexuality/nudity and language - all involving teens.

Runtime:

Canada:88 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:18 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:18 | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Occupant Films

Trivia:

Writer Jacob Forman and production designer Thomas S. Hammock play the firework salesmen.

Goofs:

Continuity: Chloe's hair style changes several times during her topless scene.

Quotes:

Red: [to the freshmen potheads] There she is boys, Mandy Lane. Untouched, pure. Since the dawn of junior year men have tried to possess her, and to date all have failed. Some have even died in their reckless pursuit of this angel.
Jake: I can see your nipples.
Chloe: Obviously.
Marlin: How do you get them that hard?
Chloe: It’s a secret.

Soundtrack:

Free Stress Test

Plenty of stuff beside horror going on in this movie

I approached seeing "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" with caution. I had heard a rumour that the Protection Of Punters From Horror Movie Cliché's fast response squad (a subdivision of the Committee For Protection Against All Hollywood Movie Clichés) were sweeping UK cinemas and arresting anybody caught watching bad movies about good looking teens being slaughtered by evil forces unknown in remote and eerie locations. The punishment, I heard, was 30 years hard labour watching Martin Lawrence comedies.

I was OK. The squad didn't catch me. Anyway, despite being based on well worn movie clichés, "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" was really rather good, not a bad movie at all, so the squad would have been forced to let me go.

My interest in a film like this lives and dies on outside of what is going regarding the horror content. Horror is boring in and of itself. Luckily there is plenty of other stuff going on in "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane".

"All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" boasts really great, stunning cinematography. Just beautiful work, dreamy and atmospheric, utilising all sorts of time lapse effects and film stock. I think the work is as as good as anything you might see in a serious art house film. "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" also has a really good soundtrack of melancholy pop music, culminating in a song that everybody knows: One of the creepiest pop songs of all time. (You will know what it is. It is in the trailer.) There are good performances and an inventive script, touching on interesting issues such as sexual attraction, jealousy, the school hierarchy, peer pressure and rivalry and the problems of the modern body image.

Hey! Don't worry! The filmmakers do not forget that "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" is supposed to be a horror movie. Add to all of the above some particularly bloody, hands-over-your-eyes, murders.

The eventual identity of the killer was no surprise to me, but that is just the way it goes. I have seen a lot of movies. Suffice to say that "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" is a superior horror film. One of the best I have seen in years.