The Cheerleader Murders

Here's the set-up… Startlingly full-figured 13-year-old Samantha Boscarino (as Ellie Davis) thinks she is cursed. A van full of partying cheerleaders apparently crashes. Next, a young man appears to expire at a party. Finally, another young man enters Ms. Boscarino's house and shoots half her family. The last shot occurs off camera. That could be a suicide, or an unseen family cat. The important part of what you saw in the opening minutes was the murder of Boscarino's father and sister. The other stuff is part of the curse. Three years later, Boscarino is a sweet 16-year-old high school student. Her cheerleader friends mysteriously disappear and it seems like the curse has returned to frighten Boscarino and quite possibly take her life...

The words "Inspired by True Events" introduce this TV movie...

It does not seem possible that a real "curse" was at work here and the story offers no evidence. Now and then, a dead character seemingly offers support. Possibly, the curse and its connection to a ghost or imaginary character were clearer in writer Matt Young's original story. Director David Jackson, with Eric Potter's editing, moves "The Cheerleader Murders" around by artfully positioning characters into scenes with surprise and relating events with quick inter-cutting. There is very little to warrant this attention, however. Boscarino is very attractive. Her boyfriend Austin Lyon (as Nicholas "Nic" Ryder) is stable (until his final scene). Devin Crittenden (as Ben Forester) is sufficiently creepy, but you may be better off watching the eyeliner.

**** The Cheerleader Murders (4/9/16) David Jackson ~ Samantha Boscarino, Austin Lyon, Tessie Santiago, Devin Crittenden