The Curse of Downers Grove: Blu-Ray Review
Arriving this week on Blu-ray and DVD is the high school thriller “The Curse of Downers Grove” written by Bret Easton Ellis (Author of Less than Zero, American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction). With an impressive young cast and interesting story, this one wound up being a bit of a surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting much going in, but have to say I really dug it.
Set in the small town of Downers Grove, Illinois, an apparent curse claims the life of a single high school student each year just prior to graduation. Chrissie (Bella Heathcote) doesn’t believe in such a curse. She believes each death is just the result of each person’s bad decision (diving drunk, climbing a water tower).
Chrissie’s beliefs are about to be challenged when the quarterback of a rival high school (Kevin Zegers) invites her to a party, only to force himself onto her. To defend herself, Chrissie pokes one of his eye’s out, which instantly ends his football career. Now he is out for revenge. The guy Chrissie is actually interested in (Lucas Till) wants to protect her for the psychotic jock. Targeting not only Chrissie but her brother and best friend as well.
I don’t want to give away too much about the film, but it is definitely more original that I bargained for. The cast is great, especially Martin Spanjers who plays Chrissie’s younger brother. Make sure you take a trip to Downers Grove, its definitely worth it.
By: Marc Ferman