Tormented is directed by Jon Wright and written by Stephen Prentice. It stars Alex Pettyfer, Sophie Wu, April Pearson, Calvin Dean, Dimitri Leonidas and Tuppence Middleton. Music is by Paul Hartnoll and cinematography by Trevor Forrest.
A bullied teenager at Fairview High School takes his own life but appears to have come back from the dead to take revenge on his classmates.
Gruesome, fun and flavoured by pinches of satire, Tormented is a far better film than the internet ratings suggest. The serious subject of bullying makes its point, particularly late in the proceedings, but the makers are more interested in capturing the spirit of the techno teen times while focusing on the antagonists in their natural habitat. They are a dislikable bunch, not only in how they treat those they view as inferior to themselves, but also to each other. Even the central "couple" at the core of the plotting, the closest the film has to someone for us to side with as they strive to survive, come with bile baggage that reveals itself as we hurtle towards a deliciously spiky finale. There is much self-absorption and crudeness, sexulisation and ignorance, it's a bit of a kicker is this, but we are firmly on the side of the recently departed Darren Mullet (Calvin Dean). The cast performances are a mixed bunch, but this hardly hurts the picture, while serious gore hounds will lament the lack of close ups for the "killer" scenes. But this is more than a generic slasher, it has psychological smarts and nifty observations on modern technology's usage for cruel intimidation. It also knows how to have a good time, and you should too. 7/10
