This movie has cinematography and editing that's usually reserved for music videos. It utilizes some quick and peculiar edits, unnecessary uses of slow motion, and YouTube video style transitions. Unlike a five minute music video where such production techniques may work, it gets tedious in a full length feature film. Some of the dialogue, especially the feel good monologue near the end of the film wouldn't be out of place in a Hallmark made-for-TV movie or an ABC after school special.
All of the characters represent typical high school cliche caricatures. They try to add some characterization and depth to some of the characters, but it's anything but nuanced. They also try to do something different with the genre too. There's a twist in the third act that tries to subvert your expectations. Unfortunately, this twist doesn't really work logically. How did the perpetrators plan to actually get away with their Machiavellian plot once everything was over? The authorities would have a lot of questions, and you'd think anyone who put this much thought and effort into their plan would have considered this. The movie hopes you don't think about it.
The production value isn't that bad, surprisingly. There's some decent practical effects, and it doesn't look or feel like most lower budget horror movies. The movie maintains a fairly frantic pace throughout most of it's run time. The director subscribes to the J. J. Abrams and Michael Bay school of film making: where they try to keep the pace of the movie fast enough to distract the audience from actually thinking about the plot. It's obvious that those responsible for this production tried to make the best movie they could. There's effort put into it's production that elevate it above many low budget horror movies. The sets, lighting, cinematography, sound and effects, editing, and everything else that makes a movie are all in service of trying to entertain their audience.
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. Any movie that destroys my suspension of disbelief by making me question the logic of the plot, characters, or the universe the movie exists in, has failed at being effective entertainment. Well before the twist was revealed I was already taken out of the movie because things weren't adding up. Once the twist happens, all immersion is broken when you realize it doesn't really make sense. How could they possibly think they'd get away with their plan, and once you ask yourself that, the narrative fails. The twist seems necessary, since the opening title cards say "Blumhouse After-School Special" and "Presented by the Student Teachers Division." Which explains the hackneyed morality injected into the script throughout the movie, and the necessity of that last cheesy monologue near the end of the movie too.
It's not an offensively bad movie by any stretch. It's got a fast pace, and it tries to keep its audience entertained. Although it's obviously made on a lower budget, nothing about it's production looks or feels cheap or lazy. It tried to do something creative within the genre, which is always welcome over the assembly line, paint by numbers productions that inundate most entertainment today. The cliche characters, nonsensical plot, and overt injection of it's themes and message just can't be ignored. Others may find the film more entertaining, but it didn't work for me.
