Detention (2011)

As a copycat killer named after movie villain Cinderhella stalks the student body at Grizzly Lake High School, a group of co-eds band together to survive while serving detention.

Director:

Joseph Kahn

Writers:

Joseph Kahn, Mark Palermo

Stars:

Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alison Woods	...	Taylor Fisher
Logan Stalarow	...	Taylor's Little Brother
Julie Dolan	...	Taylor's Mom
Shanley Caswell	...	Riley Jones
Daniel Negreanu	...	Male News Reporter
Will Wallace	...	Riley's Dad / Doug Jones
Josh Breeding	...	Hipster Thief
Marco Garcia	...	Janitor
Josh Hutcherson	...	Clapton Davis
Mickey River	...	Punk
Jesse Heiman	...	Nerd
Joseph Keane	...	Metro (as Joe Keane)
Percy Daggs III	...	Jock Kid (as Percy Daggs)
Parker Bagley	...	Billy Nolan
Marque Richardson	...	Toby T. (as Marque Richardson II)

Storyline

This comedy/horror movie centers about a group of teens who go to Grizzly Lake High School. When one of their classmates is killed by someone dressed up as 'Cinderhella' (a character from a popular horror movie), they all fall under suspicion, but when they all get detention, they try to work out who it is.

---

Plot Keywords:

gay | bully | teenage angst | reference to 1984 the novel | time machine | 

---

Taglines:

Cancel Your Future

---

Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence, crude and sexual content, nudity, language, some teen drinking and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cop tells Riley that 'Iron Man was a great movie'. Later when she enters the time machine the HUD looks exactly like the inside of Iron Man's helmet.

---

Goofs

Ione and Sloan time travel by exchanging minds, with Ione's mind going into Sloan's body in 1992 and Sloan's mind going into Ione's body in 2011. However, Ione (in Sloan's body) somehow still has her mobile phone with her.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Taylor Fisher: I'm Taylor Fisher and I'm a bitch - beauty, intelligence, talent, charisma, hoobastank.

---

Crazy Credits

Just past six minutes into the film, cast and crew names appear on, and replace the names of, various brand products, while also appearing in or on various items such as broken plaster, money, toilet paper, an iPod, a door placard, a school jacket, a fire alarm, etc.

---

Connections

References Lethal Weapon (1987)

---

Soundtracks

As Long as You Love Me
Performed by Backstreet Boys
Written by Max Martin

User Reviews

A mess of a movie.

I went into this knowing very little, on the back of seeing Detention mentioned in a horror movie list and attracted by the promise of a very different kind of horror film.

From the very opening line of dialogue (I'm Taylor Fisher and I'm a B**CH - beauty, intelligence, talent, charisma, hoobastank) the film picks no bones in immediately letting you know what you're in for and the satirical, self referential kind of humour we're dealing with. Unfortunately the film misses the mark on this front far more often than hitting it. I have no issue with this kind of humour (see Josie and the Pussycats or The Cabin in the Woods for stellar examples of it done well) but it feels far too much like an exercise in throwing everything at a wall and hoping something sticks in this case (as does the convoluted plot). Admittedly there are a sprinkling of lines that hit the spot but in order for this kind of humour to succeed it has to be razor sharp and Detention just isn't there. Eventually the relentless culture references become tiresome and I found myself disengaging from the movie.

On the plus side the film is acted perfectly well and the cast is obviously giving it their all (Shanley Caswell carries the movie and is particularly watchable) and to be fair you can't say the filmmakers aren't ambitious and tying to do something different, which has to be commended, but assuredness and ambition unfortunately can't save the movie overall as it descends further and further into ridiculousness and leaves you with the feeling that the movie isn't as smart as it thinks it is.

If you're looking to pass 90 minutes without particularly needing to heavily invest in something then you could do worse than Detention, but otherwise it's a film best left in the annals of relative obscurity.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Detention

Filming Locations:

University High School - 11800 Texas Avenue, West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Detention Films (II), Syndrome Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1