Detention (2010)
* (out of 4)
Really bad horror film starts off in 1976 as a bunch of jocks play a prank on a nerd and sure enough it goes wrong and the nerd dies in a fire. Flash forward to the present day when a group of kids find themselves in detention and the ghost of the nerd comes back for revenge. Yawn. DETENTION is a really bad, really boring and really stupid little movie that doesn't have too much going for it. The best thing you can say about the movie is that the producers paid some extra money to get David Carradine to show up for a few scenes. This would eventually be released after his death but the few minutes seeing him is the only thing this movie has going for it. The rest of the movie you'll have a hard time finding something good to say. The opening prank features the nerd being put into a device, which lightening strikes and soon he catches on fire. The CGI fire is among the worst you're ever going to see and I can never figure out why if something looks this poor the filmmakers just don't try and shoot it in a different way. Things do get worse though. When the "revenge" aspect of the story starts not a single bit of it makes any sense. There are certain things alluded to but these never really play out and they're certainly never explained. I'm not sure why the spirit waited 24-years to seek its revenge and I'm not sure how these certain kids got picked to be in detention at the same time. As you can probably guess, the kids are "connected" to the events of the past and are having to pay with their lives. The screenplay leaves so many questions unanswered you really start to wonder if there was any attempt to really tell a story. Even worse is how stupid all of the characters are. It seems as if they are all doing something that doesn't make much sense including a rich brat and a gangster who seem to find time to flirt, act, mess around and just have a good old time even though they're being stalked by a killer ghost. There are other couples and stereotype characters who are just downright annoying and the role that the new teacher plays is just a joke. The entire set-up makes very little sense and in the end the movie adds up to very little. DETENTION is a pretty awful movie all around and the only reason someone would have to watch it is to see David Carradine but I'd recommend you go watch BOUND FOR GLORY instead.
