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Clinger
USA 2015
produced by Bubba Fish, Michael Steves, Harvey Cody (executive), Todd Smith (executive), Ada Young (executive) for Upstart Films
directed by Michael Steves
starring Vincent Martella, Jennifer Laporte, Julia Aks, Shonna Major, Alicia Monet Caldwell, Taylor Clift, Leah Henley, Paulie Deo jr, Rebecca Gail, Jeffrey Bean, Debbie Rochon, Lisa Wilcox, Sewell Whitney, Victoria Villarreal, Bobby C. King, Elizabeth Jackson, Ben Griffin, Michelle Elaine, April Littlejohn, Bart Stewart, Kyle Sparks, Adrianna Morse, Joshua Steves, Michael Bevan, Mel House, Bubba Fish, Kirby Sokolow
written by Michael Steves, Gabi Chennisi Duncombe, Bubba Fish, music by Misha Segal, special effects by Phil Nichols, edited by Bubba Fish
review by Mike Haberfelner
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High school student Fern (Jennifer Laporte) is hell-bent to make it to
the MIT for college based on being the fastest of runners on her school
... and then she meets Robert (Vincent Martella), the romantic loner with
the guitar, and the two fall in love almost immediately. At first,
everything's great, really, but eventually, Fern cannot handle the
attention she's constantly getting from Robert anymore, as she's crowding
her with gifts she doesn't even want, overwhelms her with gestures that
are just too much for her, and above all crowds her when all she wants is
to train to become good enough to make it to the MIT - which would of
course mean moving to another city and leaving Robert behind. So
eventually, when he has just finished preparations for their "2
months together" celebrations, she breaks up with him ... and somehow
that thing he has created for festivities beautifully doubles as a
guillotine, and it accidently but perfectly cuts his head of when Robert
stumbles into it. So that's a tragic end to Robert and Fern's
relationship, but admittedly, Fern's not all that unhappy about it, being
able to go on with her own life now. And then Robert returns as a ghost
only she can see ... and at first, everything's great again, seems in
death he has learned the lessons he didn't in life, and the two have even
sex for the very first time ... which is great until Robert's head comes
off, turning the affair into a bloody mess. Sure, that doesn't actually
kill Robert as he's already a ghost, and the head can even be reattached
... it's just too much for Fern, and now she figures a relationship
between the living and the dead cannot actually work - upon which Robert
figures he has to kill her to win her back. Now Fern figures her only hope
is her running coach and former ghostunter Valeria (Alicia Monet
Caldwell), but she's totally off the hook, and the fact that in Fern's
fight against Robert and his ghost friends even her sister's (Julia Aks)
boyfriend (Paulie Deo jr) is killed by accident and returns as ghost
doesn't help the situation. Plud, Fern's running try-out, and thus the
chance to be accepted into MIT, is only days away ... Genre fave Debbie
Rochon plays Fern's mother. Teen comedy with coming-of-age
undercurrents, love story and gory horror flick all rolled into one - and
it works out rather nicely, too, as the film stays by and large free of
kitsch but is more than willing to go for silly jokes, the more gruesome
scenes are really just that, gruesome, the characters are more than just
clichés (though there's the occasional caricature in there somewhere),
and the leads are fully fleshed out, the story as such is well-told with
quite a few surprises, and the directorial effort is subtle for the most
part but does give the audience what they want. Good fun, really!
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