User reviews

Sweet Sixteen is a 1983 American slasher film directed by Jim Sotos and starring Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Dana Kimmell, and Patrick Macnee.

Melissa Morgan is new in town and meets Hank Burke and Johnny Franklin outside of a bar. Johnny winds up murdered the same night and murder and mystery seem to follow Melissa everywhere she goes.

This is a largely obscure and forgotten 80s slasher movie. Being a big fan of slasher movies myself, especially 80s. I knew I would get something out of the film. The film however is rather slow and meandering as a whole, the lead actress is especially uninteresting and doesn't bring much to the film in terms of charm or humour. I never found myself being especially involved in the plot of the film or how it ended, I enjoyed the film for what it was and I love the 80s aesthetic in general. It's worth a watch if you're into the genre, but otherwise you can take it or leave it.

A dynamite cast gives this minor thriller some real class. The story progresses in a logical manner as sheriff Bo Hopkins tries to figure out some very perplexing stabbing murders. Don Stroud plays the town heavy and Indian hater. Several "red herrings" are floated by the audience, any one of which would have proved more logical than the "out of thin air" ending. The ad lib conclusion is ridiculous and not believable. "Code Red" has done a good job quality wise with the DVD. Having an interview with Bo Hopkins on the extra features is another plus. I just wish someone had ditched that awful, confusing, and unsatisfying ending. - MERK

This 1983 Texas-made feature is more of a murder mystery, and not a terribly successful one. The problem is that apparently the filmmakers (led by producer / director Jim Sotos) and cast were working from an unfinished script, and it shows: the writing overall is muddled. Still, this has an awfully good cast for this sort of thing, and Sotos and company do try to give the story a little extra something by introducing racism (the poor treatment of the local Indians) into the proceedings. "Sweet 16" also banks a lot on the importance of its central character Melissa and the actress in the role, Aleisa Shirley. She's a hot to trot 15 going on 16 year old who seems to enjoy making trouble and being the centre of attention.

One problem with this is that we seem to be getting encouraged to ogle Shirley at every opportunity, and even though Shirley was older than her character, she wasn't *that* much older, making scenes such as a shower sequence highly uncomfortable.

The tale, written by Erwin Goldman, shows what happens as bloody murders begin to occur as Melissa's 16th birthday approaches. The plodding sheriff on the case is Dan Burke (ever amiable Bo Hopkins), whose mystery junkie daughter Marci (Dana Kimmell, a.k.a. the final girl of "Friday the 13th Part III") is eager for some excitement in her small town and follows her fathers' cases with interest. Meanwhile, Indians such as Jason Longshadow (Don Shanks, a.k.a. Michael Myers in "Halloween 5") and his grandfather Greyfeather (Henry Wilcoxon, in his final film role) are targeted by rowdy racist rednecks Billy (Don Stroud) and Jimmy (Logan Clarke).

At the least, "Sweet 16" boasts solid atmosphere, although some slasher aficionados are likely to be dissatisfied with a very small body count and too much murkiness in the gore scenes. (Still, they may be pleased with the various revealing shots of Shirley.) The cast also includes Susan Strasberg, looking lovely as always, Patrick Macnee (who replaced Leslie Nielsen), Steve Antin ("The Goonies"), Sharon Farrell ("Night of the Comet"), Michael Pataki ("Dead & Buried"), Larry Storch ("Without Warning"), Michael Cutt ("Night of the Demon" 1980), and Glenn Withrow ("The Outsiders").

The music, by Tommy Vig, is good, but viewers may cringe at the ultra-sappiness of Melissas' theme song.

Also available in a directors' cut.

Six out of 10.

This was not generally a well-regarded slasher movie back in the 80's since it did not contain a lot of graphic violence or gruesome Tom Savini-type special effects. It is more of a murder mystery. And though the identity of the murderer is pretty obvious, it is nevertheless pretty effective. It has a great small-town setting (whereas most other slashers were set in suburbia) and an effective atmosphere. Parts of it are quite masterful like a scene near the end (prominently featured in all the promotional artwork) where the central girl and a male admirer go skinny-dipping at night in a lake lit only by a single cross-shaped key light. (It's unfortunate that most slasher movie fans are such gore-hounds that they don't appreciate the more subtle elements of horror movies like cinematography, setting, and atmosphere). The story is also a pretty different in that all the victims in this movie are young MALES rather than promiscuous young females. And they all meet a sticky end because they're sniffing around the new girl in town, played by Aleisha Shirley (but then it's kind of hard to blame them).

The adults in town are played by such stalwart character actors as Bo Hopkins (as the town sheriff) and Susan Strasberg (as the mother of the new girl). Dana Kimmel from "Friday the 13th Part III" plays the sheriff's daughter who befriends the new girl and eventually solves the mystery. For a long time Kimmel, a devout Mormon, was blamed for "Friday the 13th Part III" being so tame compared to the rest of the series (as if they couldn't have just replaced her with another actress). Fortunately, this ridiculous rumor has been discredited by several recent books on the "Friday the 13th" movies. Mormon or not, she's definitely good in these virginal "final girl" roles. Aleisha Shirley was not as good of an actress as Kimmel, but she was certainly effective in teen femme fatale roles (she also appeared in the pilot episode of the HBO series "The Hitchhiker" as a teenager who seduces her mother's boyfriend). She actually looks a lot more like "sweet 20-something" than "sweet 16" in this movie, but her frequent nude scenes allow the movie to make up in skin what it lacks in gore.

I'm kind of surprised they haven't re-made this, although I read about a movie in Gorezone magazine called "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" that seems to have a very similar plot (for some reason though it hasn't been released in the US yet, despite the presence of a currently hot actress, Amanda Heard, in the lead role). Oh well, the "original" is available on DVD now, so check it out if you get a chance

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Sweet Sixteen; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.00 Direction: 1.00 Pace: 0.50 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.00

TOTAL: 4.75 out of 10.00

Sweet Sixteen is one of those films that tries to be different. Sadly, in doing so, its effort is obvious and adds to the list of handicaps within the movie.

The story is your standard mysterious killer on the loose whodunnit. Regrettably, the writers fail to make the murders, the victims, or their stimuli piquant enough. I never cared about who was getting offed or who was committing the murders or their motives for the bloodshed. And induced disinterest is a terrible thing for a whodunnit. One reason for the indifference was the characters. You have your typical cowboys hating on the Native Americans - The customary rebellious Native American and his classic Grandfather figure, who is nonchalant with the whole situation. Another handicap in the story was its structuring. You can guess which person is questioned first by the Sherriff for the killings. Even though the Sherriff is proud to be part Native American, he still pursues Longshadow. In truth, the writers lean heavily towards him being the perpetrator. They could have easily chosen to make a stand about the racial unfairness of the area. They do hint at it a couple of times but never get their gnashers into the meat of the matter. It's a shame as it would have made a good hook and added some much-needed thought-provoking. Then there are the characters who are only around to drive the narrative in the writer's preferred direction - Like Dr John Morgan and, to a certain degree, even the Sheriff. There appears to be a lack of a leading character in this tale.

The direction is your routine affair. Most scenes are point-and-shoot with very little in the way of embellishments. And the tempo is your commonplace saunter. As with most films of this style, a varied pace and imaginative lighting and camerawork would have gone a long way to making the picture more intriguing. I found my attention drifting several times.

However, the most heat in this lukewarm picture is the cast. We have some serious talent in the roll-call. It's a shame the writers couldn't provide a better script and that the director couldn't guide them correctly. They all give their best with their bestowments. And, in some little way, it lifts the movie a tad.

Sweet Sixteen is not a great movie and nor is it ghastly. As such, I'd recommend it for one watch, though only if there's nothing more pressing for you to do, like learning to dance an Irish Jig.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers lists to see where I ranked Sweet Sixteen.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Beautiful teenager Melissa Morgan is a bit of a wild child, quickly attracting the attention of most of the local boys; however, those lucky enough to get close to her have a nasty habit of turning up dead.

This rather obscure 80s horror opens in classic stalk 'n' slash mode with a gratuitous shower scene, the 'sweet 16' of the title, schoolgirl Melissa (played by Aleisa Shirley, actually a good few years older than 16), giving herself a thorough wash for the benefit of the viewer. Normally, such a scene would be followed by the young woman, clad in a towel, leaving the shower to be stalked by a masked maniac, or would at least end with a false scare, but here there's no such payoff; it simply exists to get some gratuitous T&A on the screen, as does a later moment when the lovely girl goes skinny dipping.

Not that I'm complaining, because without the occasional spot of nudity from Shirley, this would be a lot less enjoyable, the actual horror content being fairly lame...

There are a number of killings throughout the film, but these are unexceptional stabbings shot in a frenzied manner at night, making them very disappointing for gore fans. The rest of the film consists primarily of dull police procedure, as Sheriff Dan Burke (Bo Hopkins) slowly pieces together clues to discover the identity of the killer, plus some clichéd racial tension between the town's rednecks and local Indians, none of which is particularly thrilling. In short, be grateful for the nekkidness when it happens.

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

I am very surprised to see such a high rating for this film, and of the few reviews that there are to be positive. I saw the movie and was pretty dissapointed. I didn't find it very enjoyable at all. It was slow, and lacks the entertainment value. Even the murder scenes are lackluster, with real close-up shots of generic stabbings that don't look good at all. And the supposed great twist ending is really not much, I did see it coming, and then the ending just seemed cliche. This movie may not get much mention, but by the little that it does get, it is overrated. I would not recommend this movie.

RELEASED IN 1983 and directed by Jim Sotos, "Sweet 16" chronicles events in a West Texas town when a new family moves into town and there are a series of murders revolving around the 16 year-old daughter (Aleisa Shirley). The sheriff (Bo Hopkins) and deputy (Michael Cutt) try to track down the killer. Dana Kimmell and Steve Antin play the Sheriff's kids while Patrick Macnee and Susan Strasberg play the parents of the new girl.

While this is a slasher, it's not overly gory and could be categorized as a whodunit mystery. The story kicks off with a quality bar confrontation, which reveals the racial tension in the town between whites and Natives. Despite all the gushing over the new girl (Aleisa Shirley), she's not all that, i.e. no curves. Dana Kimmell is the real beauty here.

The cast is likable, particularly Hopkins as the main protagonist, and the early 80's ambiance is to die for. Don Shanks is notable as a kick axx Native. I liked the movie and enjoyed trying to figure out who the killer was amidst the red herrings, but found the wrap up a little eye-rolling and unsatisfying.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 30 minutes and was shot on the outskirts of Los Angeles. WRITER: Erwin Goldman. ADDITIONAL CAST: Don Stroud is on hand as a troublemaking cowboy.

GRADE: B-

This average little murder mystery, is a must for Susan Strasberg fans, since it gives her some ample screen time, and a chance to display the legendary Strasberg acting ability and beauty. She plays the Mom of the title girl, who just may or may not be a murderess. Okay for a slow night.

This is not a popular title, but I find it an interesting thriller-mystery. I don't know the cast, but I liked them all decently. It is a murder mystery that takes place in a small town where a sheriff investigates the recent brutal knife attacks with all the possibility angle. All the victims were teenage boys, who are associated with the new girl in the town. Definitely you will begin to predict the suspect, that much the film evolves a bridge between you and the contents.

It was a great story, I was stunned for its underrated status and for going unnoticed, but then it ended very cheaply. To me the conclusion ruined the rhythm, otherwise the rest of the film was amazing and worth a watch. I hope somebody would remake it with some changes, especially in the final act and its twist. Overall surely it was a fine film, a mix of the teen theme and the cop story, obviously excluding the bad ending.

6/10

Sweet Sixteen is a mysterious film that is often enjoyable. Not often is the horror genre mixed with mystery, but in the case of Sweet Sixteen. The film revolves around Melissa, a girl becoming sixteen. The boys adore her...but they can't seem to be around her for long. As the tagline goes, everyone is DYING to meet her. Every boy around Melissa dies soon after meeting her. Southern Sheriff Bo Hopkins is once again a treat to watch, as he plays the role for the hundredth time. The film isn't as obvious as you might think, and it holds your interest until the end. Few flaws in the film make it an enjoyable viewing. You'll enjoy the film and its shocking climax. The acting is up to par, and the film is as well. Enjoy!!

This is part horror, part mystery. I really liked this one because it has good acting, and a good story. Set in a small town, a young girl is suspected of murders in the town. But is it really her? Good movie that doesn't get a lot of play... rent it..

Plot = Melissa is a new girl in town, she's fifteen years old and her birthday is coming up in one week. Since Melissa is beautiful, every boy in town wants to hook up with her, but the few that manage to catch her interest mysteriously die.

To be honest the real reason I wanted to watch this film is because Dana Kimmel of Friday The 13th pt 3 was in it which isn't a proper reason why to rush out and see a movie. When I started watching it I realized that "Sweet Sixteen" isn't a very good slasher, it's really dull and boring and just doesn't go anywhere. After over an hour, only three murders have occurred and the story hasn't really developed in any possible way.

The movie is nicely shot with quite nice photography and good directing but just as with many other slasher flicks from the 80s, the movie suffers from being too dark at times. The acting is actually pretty good though and Melissa's character is easy to sympathize with, even though she's a complete slut.

The story line isn't completely rubbish but it's just way too dull to keep you interested, the only things that kept me interested was Melissa she was stunning and Dana Kimmel whose really sweet and cute in this movie.

All in all pretty dull slasher flick that doesn't go anywhere I'd definitely wouldn't recommend it to Slasher fans.

Modern slasher horror films were given a tremendous boost with 1978's 'Halloween', and following the success of 'Friday the 13th' in 1980, slasher films were like a new fashion trend during the 80's.

The 80's delivered a myriad of mindless slasher films - so many with no plot whatsoever apart from horny teens and slicing and dicing left, right and center. Then there were the better ones. 'Sweet Sixteen' definitely is one of these better slasher films, which has more flesh to the bone and interesting characters - and very good actors. And, as it turns out, a clever script too. I enjoyed Bo Hopkins as Sheriff Dan, and Aleisa Shirley was good as the mysterious and somewhat unconventional Melissa.

And what would 80's slasher movies be without boobs, scantily clad girls and full frontal female nudity? 'Sweet Sixteen' exploits the female attributes to its advantage, but it felt natural and not forced - maybe thanks to the good performances. Apart from being a slasher film, 'Sweet Sixteen' is an interesting who-dunnit murder mystery. It keeps the audience guessing, and then delivers a surprise twist ending.

The film offers so much more than just horror, with drama and some cute funny moments too.

Would I watch it again? Probably, yes.

SWEET SIXTEEN (1983) **/***** 86 minutes Director Jim Sotos Cast Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Aleisa Shirley, Patrick Macnee, Dana Kimmell

Fifteen year old bad girl Melissa is new in a desert town and it isn't long before folks around her start dying off. The detective has to put together the clues with the help of his Nancy Drew good girl daughter played by Friday the 13th alumni Dana Kimmell. The local Native Americans are prime suspects since they seem to upset the prejudiced townsfolk. These events all lead up to the revealing of the killer at Melissa's sixteenth birthday party.

This below average slasher isn't too memorable. It has a made for TV feel, without much score besides the title character's own corny theme song which plays a couple times throughout. Lines like "the killer will turn us into coleslaw." Fit into standard eighties slasher screenplays. Marci calls Melissa a bad name then somehow immediately they develop a friendship. Apparently Marci sees how hard it is to fit in because Melissa knows how to wear make-up. This movie would be hard-pressed to be made today with the main character being fifteen and the director inserting multiple gratuitous close-ups of her. The social commentary on Indians wasn't developed enough to be taken seriously. I am too surprised at the fairly high rating this movie gets. Both Sweet Sixteen and Ed Hunt's Bloody Birthday had the potential to capitalize on that time honored tradition of the birthday party to create an intense sequence of carnage but I feel failed to deliver. But on the bright side releasing obscure movies like this on DVD gives hope that others will follow.

I like to watch old B movies, even though I never know quite what I'm going to get. This low-budget mystery-slasher has an actual plot, a number of interesting characters who are not cardboard cutouts, and decent enough acting all around, led by the great Bo Hopkins, who's always good. I do agree with the review by merklekranz that the final ending is ridiculous and stupid--which is why I'm not rating it higher--but, hey, you get nearly an hour and a half of B-movie enjoyment on the way there. Check it out!

The central plot of the movie was interesting: every boy a teenage girl is interesting in gets murdered. However, despite this great potential source of intrigue the movie is quite flat and listless.

More a horror film than a thriller or murder mystery in the end, which is already enough to boot it into "dislike" territory.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently.

The film is about a 16 year old girl played by a 20 year old Aleisa Shirley (whose career consists of only 2 films, in her 3rd film she jus played the role of a hooker n God knows for how many mins, she also did 6 tv serials).

This girl wears braless dresses n tries to strike conversation with a grown up man, goes out to date with any boy she comes across.

The real deal is which ever boy she plans to go for a date, turns up dead.

The town's two racist bigots suspects that the murder is done by an old red Indian n they go out to seek revenge when the brother of one of em turns up dead. The town has a sheriff played by Bo Hopkins who tries to solve the murder mystery.

The skinny dipping scene is a reminiscent of ft13 but is shot well. The film has lovely settings of a quiet town, good atmosphere n a twist in the end.

Melissa Morgan is the new girl in a small Texas town, and she gets a lot of attention from the boys--unfortunately for them, they keep on turning up dead. Who is offing these virile Texan boys?

"Sweet Sixteen" is an offbeat entry in the slasher subgenre, and is really more of a murder mystery than it is a slasher, at times recalling the likes of "Happy Birthday to Me." The film peppers in some ominous death sequences as it moves along, though at times the pacing does feel wonky. There is a subplot injected into the proceedings involving racism against local Native Americans, which doesn't really serve a purpose for the film's M.O., though it provides some characterization and context.

Susan Strasberg appears here as Melissa's mother, while Bo Hopkins is the town sheriff attempting to solve the string of killings. "Friday the 13th: Part III"'s Dana Kimmel appears as one of Melissa's classmates whom she forms a friendship with. The acting overall is solid here, especially for a genre film of the period. The conclusion, which can be seen from a distance if one has any experience with these sorts of films, feels a bit brisk, though its nighttime unfolding is atmospheric and relatively tense.

All in all, "Sweet Sixteen" is a decent entry into the slasher canon--not as masterful as its counterparts, but at times mildly effective and atmospheric. The narrative feels a bit messy, and at times it is difficult to discern who exactly the protagonist is, but these qualms aside, this is a relatively enjoyable '80s popcorn movie. 6/10.

An attractive 15 year old school girl moves to a small desert town, all the boys take a liking to her but they end up meeting grisly ends. This is a good example of a movie that comes with great artwork on the sleeve but the content is somewhat disappointing. Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg and Patrick Macnee are familiar acting names but they were obviously here just for the pay cheque, Macnee in particular almost sleeps through his lines. The acting ability of the rest of the cast is pretty poor, there are many instances of awkward silences between lines, quite amateur. The sound quality at times is as poor as the acting. The actors playing the "kids" are obviously aged about 20. Melissa is seen stark naked taking a shower, a very gratuitous nude scene (a common trait of slasher movies, nothing wrong with that in my opinion), but the fact that she is playing a 15 year old is a little questionable. The movie is slow, there are only a few kills, none of which are very gory. And throughout the 88 minutes we are subjected to the hideous song "Melissa's Theme" multiple times. The opening scene, a Gothic nightmare, was good, plus I liked the desert setting. Don't get me wrong, Sweet Sixteen isn't terrible. But for a film made during the "Golden Age of the Slasher Movie" it is a fairly lame effort. Perhaps if they could trim 10 minutes or so off the running time it would be an easier watch.