The Cheerleader Murders (2016 Lifetime)
Stars: Samantha Boscarino, Irene Chiang, Devin Crittenden
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Ellie lives in a cursed town with a string of tragedies–the most recent being the murder of her sister and father. She hopes the darkness is behind her, but when her fellow cheerleaders Dee and Morgan are kidnapped, Ellie knows the curse is at work again. After Morgan is found dead, Ellie becomes determined to rescue Dee and expose the killer, but it may already be too late…and she may be next. As the police struggle to find a lead, Ellie begins an investigation of her own–but each step closer to the truth is a step closer to death.
Thoughts
Inspired by true events.
A group of teenagers in a small town are cursed. Teens get into a fatal drunk driving accident, another teen falls off a ledge while taking a selfie with a selfie stick, and a teen girl’s boyfriend murders her, her father, and ultimately himself with a shotgun. A little sister watches from her room. She is terrified.
Three years later, the girl (Elle) is now in high school and is a cheerleader herself. She dates a cute football player, Nicholas, and is being stalked by a hipster boy named Ben. The other girls, Morgan (who is sleeping with the coach.) and Dee on the squad, push Elle to date him. They are frenemies.
When Dee and Morgan don’t show up to the big game, Elle is concerned. She asks the coach if he has seen Morgan since he is sleeping with her. He denies any wrongdoing. After the game, Elle goes over to her friend’s house and finds the place in disarray. There is blood in the shower, and it looks like the girls were murdered. After touching everything, Elle calls the cops.
The police arrive and question Elle. They tell her she was fortunate to have not been hurt. A runner literally finds Morgan’s severed leg, and it is clear the girls are dead. Elle gets a threatening text message saying that the killers want all the cheerleaders dead. People start to suspect Elle because she is acting so aggressively to classmates speculating about the murders and riding around town on her bike. Elle thinks it is the curse coming to get her.
More notes and texts come into Elle. Elle tells the police that she thinks it is Ben stalking her. Police set up camp outside Elle’s house for protection, but she sneaks out to solve the crime. She goes to Ben’s house directly and talks to his mother. Ben has bunny statues in his room. They are the same bunny statues found in Morgan’s house.
Morgan’s memorial happens, and Elle plans to go with Nick, but she blows him off to go by herself. Someone in an old ass car follows her and watches from afar. She trails the vehicle to see who is stalking her. She ends up in an orange grove and breaks into an abandoned house. Inside she finds her friend Dee tied up in the basement. (What kind of scary Silence of the Lambs shit is this?!?! I’m freaking out.) They escape and are almost caught by the killer. They split up to get away, but Dee doesn’t make it and is stabbed right as she gets to Elle in a getaway car.
Elle is thankful to be alive and wants to run off with Nick. He turns her down and tells her that he is cursed. Elle visits Nick at his house and heads up to his room. He has pictures on the wall of them together, oh, and a picture of him working on an old car similar to the one that was stalking her. Police also visit Nick and search his house. They find the old car and the bloody knife used in the murders. Nick is arrested on the spot.
I’m beginning to think Elle is cursed because she visits Nick in jail, and he has committed suicide. Elle doesn’t think that Nick would kill himself and call his father to tell him so. She goes back to Nick’s father’s house to talk with him alone. He asks her for a hug, and Elle is creeped out. She notices scratches on his arm. He is the killer. She uses her cellphone as a ninja star and throws it at his face. Then Elle rides away on her bike, and the father catches her.
Elle’s mom hits Nick’s father with her car and kills him. Elle tells him to “go to hell.” The curse has ended.
Side Note
Minority Report: Elle, Elle’s mom Jane, Coach, Police officer, Stacy, Keith, Prom Queen, Students in school,
Real music licensing is going on in this movie. Fall out Boy?!?!
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Not enough cheerleading for me! Can we at least get a pep rally or tryout? Come on, Lifetime!
Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪 (3 Knives)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2016 Lifetime
