Bad Reputation
(Haddonfield Films DVD Screener)
(2005)
review by Don't Feed the Dead

Well, it seems as though revenge flicks are on the up and up again. With a slew of Indie filmmakers fighting tooth and nail to produce the second coming of "I Spit on Your Grave" it will only be a matter of time before some Hollywood director attempts to "push the envelope" with a shitty remake of the cult classic. Until then, I can just sit back and watch the oft low budget, character intensive films roll in from the four corners of the globe and hope for a few diamonds in the rough. Whereas Jim Hemphill's first shot at filmmaking, "Bad Reputation", isn't quite as brutal as the aforementioned "I Spit", his twist on the revenge genre is fresh and goes a long way to confronting a common issue amongst teenagers: the school "slut".

Now, there have been plenty of films that approach the subject of outcast teenage female, most notably "Carrie" and "May", however, these films tend to play on the characters' reluctance to fill the stigma given to them by their peers. It's really a simple formula to the films;

Step 1 - Female character is shunned by their peers for being "strange".
Step 2 - Peers execute a cruel act to push the female character past the point of insanity.
Step 3 - Female character utilizes her unique ability to exact revenge on her peers.

"Bad Reputation" is in essence the polar opposite, where the main character, Michelle, utilizes the "school slut" branding to exact revenge on her horny little antagonists, rather than some oddball trait she was ostracized for in the first place.

Michelle is the "quiet girl" that everybody remembers from their high school days. Withdrawn from the mainstream and overlooked by her wealthy peers, her background of poverty and poor parenting gives Michelle very little self esteem to make new friends at her school. It's an understatement to say that she is a bit leery when the most popular guy in school, Aaron, invites her to his house for a party. Although initially questioning his motives, Michelle is won over by his "Johnny Football Hero" mojo and agrees to show up at the party. Even Aaron's close friends question his reasoning behind inviting the recluse, but the audience already knows his genitalia has devised a master plan to poke little Michelle in the whiskers.

So Step 2 of the formula is in place and Michelle shows up at the party dressed like Cinderalla attending the prince's ball. After some brief, meaningless conversation with Aaron we delve into the heavy drinking portion of the party and finally, Cinderalla's crowning moment as the date rape scheme is set in motion. With the GHB (un)skillfully placed in Michelle's drink, Aaron is about to commit the most heinous act of the film, and it's not because of the action itself, rather the way in which the rape is executed. I don't know if I was supposed to be horrified or amused by Aaron and his two friends taking advantage of the poor girl, but the scene ends up coming off like a bunch of monkeys fucking a football. Not to mention, the girlfriends of these 3 guys are the most oblivious, dimwitted twats to ever grace the revenge flick. They know what happened, yet for some strange reason none of the girls seem to be aggravated that their boyfriends just got done laying pipe in a drugged up bookworm. In fact, they are further duped by their boyfriends and believe that Michelle was the one who caused the gang bang to happen. Are you fucking kidding me?!

So the girlfriends of the rapists turn the tables on poor Michelle, and instead of playing the victim that she really is, she gets branded the school "slut". After that ridiculous rape scene, the film snaps back into credibility as the telephone game is played by the students in regards to Michelle's reputation. Within the timeframe of a day, Michelle goes from being date raped to the girl that "likes to take dildos up her ass". This is where Hemphill's film gets a firm grasp on the reality of high school networking and does a far better job of it than in the paltry major release horror, "Cry_Wolf". The brutality of the situation quickly becomes evident as Michelle's life is further ruined by the rumors her peers are spreading about her "loose lips". Now the clever twist to the film...... instead of losing her mind and just killing off her enemies, Michelle decides to play up the role of school slut and systematically eliminate her antagonists in manners that tarnish their reputations at the same time.

Despite its shortcomings by way of a horribly handled rape scene and spotty acting at moments, "Bad Reputation" turns out to be a stroke of genius when it's all said and done. First time writer/ director Jim Hemphill does a fantastic job of capturing the ruthlessness of high school caste systems and manages to craft a story that avoids the stereotypical molds of the outcast/revenge flick. Although a bit juvenile and amateurish at times, "Bad Reputation" does have its significant positives and should not be overlooked during this current revenge film movement.