A collection of terrifying tales from America's most haunted school - Middleton High.A collection of terrifying tales from America's most haunted school - Middleton High.A collection of terrifying tales from America's most haunted school - Middleton High.
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Featured review
Cover art is misleading.
Directed by the relatively innocuous Zack Lorkiewicz, responsible for titles such as "The Knock," "Jupiter Ascending," and "The Ball," and Produced by Count the Clock Productions, Tales from Middleton High is a horror anthology not quite like any other.
From the comfort of her home, our host, none other than the prankish principle Clemens (Roxanne Saylor) of Middleton High, regales us with 5 preternatural tales: Pep, I Love Lucy, The Cheerleader Trials, The Ball, and Loveless, involving dastardly cheerleaders, perilous prom queens, poetic justice, and sordid grudges.
Overall, this is a pleasant experience that is mostly devoid of horror, yet is entirely filled with lots of love, charm, and humor that is propped up by strong directing, pointed performances, top-notch sound design, and splendidly diverse cinematography. It almost feels like a playwright's Frankenstein-vision for "Not Another Teen Movie" meets "Scary Movie."
P. S. I absolutely love the opening/credits theme. The entire soundtrack is spot on. Catherine Yang is an exceptional composer!
So, let's jump into this thing one story at a time.
Pep: It's time for the 85th Annual Pep Rally, and this year we have the Pom Poms and the the Cheerleaders competing in the grand finale: the beloved Pep Rally Dance Off. The Cheerleaders, the crowd favorite, seem sure to win. As for the Pom Poms, the underdogs, they aren't afraid to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.
This quirky short achieves one of the most magical feats ever: perfectly capturing the gamut of eccentric humor ranging from Nickelodeon to Adult Swim, and then blending it with the stylized awkwardness of Napoleon Dynamite and the offbeat pantomiming of The Tim and Eric Awesome Show. And for me, it works! I definitely found myself chortling on more than one occasion - that ending is just good clean family fun.
I Love Lucy:
On track to become prom queen, and beloved by all, there's something special about Lucy. On prom night her boyfriend discovers just what that special something is.
I recently saw another anthology in the same vein as this one, Spooky+, and I had jokingly described it as A Midsommar Night's Dream. Well, I'm considering taking it back. The symbolism is just so tastefully pithy, and the finale is so damn surreal that you'll most certainly find yourself asking, "what the f**k?!"
The Cheerleader Trials:
Poor girl. It's her final performance as lead in the most illustrious stage show Middleton High has to offer. But there's an ominous air hanging about, what with all the students that have gone missing recently. To make matters worse, her final performance ends before it can begin when an accident occurs that shuts down the play and puts the building on lockdown, pitting the distinguished actress against 4 other young performers in a bid to find the culprit.
It's a regular who-dun-it, with thespian flare. Playing out like an entr'acte, the entire thing is shot in a dark room with a single spotlight, as 5 girls converge on one another with spurious accusations in their attempts to sniff out the culprit. Indeed, artistic flare - this piece is less of a screenplay and more of a playscript.
The Ball:
The winter ball is upon her, but this young woman seems to be harboring a dreadfully dark secret; a secret that, should her forlorn sister have anything to do with it, she'll take to her grave. But, "love is war, and war is art, and to the victor goes the heart."
A performance poetry piece. This one does a hell of a job telling the story with its diabolically eloquent rhyme scheme and prompt pacing. It really is quite a brilliant achievement to possess so much flow, especially with such"lit" bars in tow.
Loveless:
The Middleton Manor; the final resting place of "Mad Malinda," a young woman who, many years ago, stabbed herself in the heart, and the perfect place to hold a seance. . . . or to exact one's revenge.
Loveless is arguably the only actual horror story. Cladded in the essence of the "V/H/S" found-footage-feel, it consistently and softly alludes to its deeper, more sinister plot, but puts in a modest effort to misdirect the viewer by interweaving moments of backstory and general unease.
For the most part it is a wonderfully executed blend of jump scares and tense refrains, but in the end it ultimately falls a bit flat due to the excessive use of clumsy special effects that boil down to cheap jump cuts used to move the story along.
From the comfort of her home, our host, none other than the prankish principle Clemens (Roxanne Saylor) of Middleton High, regales us with 5 preternatural tales: Pep, I Love Lucy, The Cheerleader Trials, The Ball, and Loveless, involving dastardly cheerleaders, perilous prom queens, poetic justice, and sordid grudges.
Overall, this is a pleasant experience that is mostly devoid of horror, yet is entirely filled with lots of love, charm, and humor that is propped up by strong directing, pointed performances, top-notch sound design, and splendidly diverse cinematography. It almost feels like a playwright's Frankenstein-vision for "Not Another Teen Movie" meets "Scary Movie."
P. S. I absolutely love the opening/credits theme. The entire soundtrack is spot on. Catherine Yang is an exceptional composer!
So, let's jump into this thing one story at a time.
Pep: It's time for the 85th Annual Pep Rally, and this year we have the Pom Poms and the the Cheerleaders competing in the grand finale: the beloved Pep Rally Dance Off. The Cheerleaders, the crowd favorite, seem sure to win. As for the Pom Poms, the underdogs, they aren't afraid to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.
This quirky short achieves one of the most magical feats ever: perfectly capturing the gamut of eccentric humor ranging from Nickelodeon to Adult Swim, and then blending it with the stylized awkwardness of Napoleon Dynamite and the offbeat pantomiming of The Tim and Eric Awesome Show. And for me, it works! I definitely found myself chortling on more than one occasion - that ending is just good clean family fun.
I Love Lucy:
On track to become prom queen, and beloved by all, there's something special about Lucy. On prom night her boyfriend discovers just what that special something is.
I recently saw another anthology in the same vein as this one, Spooky+, and I had jokingly described it as A Midsommar Night's Dream. Well, I'm considering taking it back. The symbolism is just so tastefully pithy, and the finale is so damn surreal that you'll most certainly find yourself asking, "what the f**k?!"
The Cheerleader Trials:
Poor girl. It's her final performance as lead in the most illustrious stage show Middleton High has to offer. But there's an ominous air hanging about, what with all the students that have gone missing recently. To make matters worse, her final performance ends before it can begin when an accident occurs that shuts down the play and puts the building on lockdown, pitting the distinguished actress against 4 other young performers in a bid to find the culprit.
It's a regular who-dun-it, with thespian flare. Playing out like an entr'acte, the entire thing is shot in a dark room with a single spotlight, as 5 girls converge on one another with spurious accusations in their attempts to sniff out the culprit. Indeed, artistic flare - this piece is less of a screenplay and more of a playscript.
The Ball:
The winter ball is upon her, but this young woman seems to be harboring a dreadfully dark secret; a secret that, should her forlorn sister have anything to do with it, she'll take to her grave. But, "love is war, and war is art, and to the victor goes the heart."
A performance poetry piece. This one does a hell of a job telling the story with its diabolically eloquent rhyme scheme and prompt pacing. It really is quite a brilliant achievement to possess so much flow, especially with such"lit" bars in tow.
Loveless:
The Middleton Manor; the final resting place of "Mad Malinda," a young woman who, many years ago, stabbed herself in the heart, and the perfect place to hold a seance. . . . or to exact one's revenge.
Loveless is arguably the only actual horror story. Cladded in the essence of the "V/H/S" found-footage-feel, it consistently and softly alludes to its deeper, more sinister plot, but puts in a modest effort to misdirect the viewer by interweaving moments of backstory and general unease.
For the most part it is a wonderfully executed blend of jump scares and tense refrains, but in the end it ultimately falls a bit flat due to the excessive use of clumsy special effects that boil down to cheap jump cuts used to move the story along.
helpful•63
- genowhirl
- Dec 23, 2022
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By what name was Tales from Middleton High (2022) officially released in Canada in English?
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