All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

I'm sure a lot of you fans already know about this "Lost" treasure, however I am sure that a lot of casuals are currently scratching their head asking "What the fuck is All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, and it's from 2006?" and for good reason. This film has been in U.S. film limbo almost since its inception. It's a rather interesting story of a great horror film shelved and essentially lost.

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is a fantastic modern slasher movie. The story is clever, the cast is fresh, and the gore is not bad. The film is set up like this, The main character Mandy (Amber Heard) returns to school from summer break and has gotten hot, and every guy in school wants a piece. Her best friend Emmet (Michael Welch) is the resident loser of the school. After the head jock "tragically fails" to impress Mandy by jumping off the roof of his house into a pool, we are thrust 9 months ahead where the popular kids are setting up a party at the stoner's (Aaron Himelstein) ranch house. All the while all the dudes are still trying to put the mack on Mandy. Once they arrive the group starts to disappear one by one. Who is killing off all of Mandy's new friends, The twist may surprise you.

The acting in the film is quite good. Amber Heard leads the cast with innocence, and beauty. Playing to role of Mandy, Amber demands the audience's attention. Other standouts are Whitney Able of Monsters fame who plays Chloe. Her portrayal of an overly bitchy high school girl was spot on. Michael Welch of Twilight fame plays Mandy's best friend Emmett, his character development throughout the film is great, and seeing him play a slightly awkward high school kid worked.

The gore is used well, not over the top but for the most part just right. The occasional continuity errors involving make-up and hair but to most it's probably unnoticeable. As far as deaths we get a head cracking, rifle deep throat, shot to the head, knife to the eyes and back, shot to the back, and a stabbing. Nothing too creative but it works. The dudes also get multiple lingerie shots, and Whitney Able shows her goods. Ladies don't get much but a few shirtless dudes.

The thing that surprises me about the movie is that it has not received an official release in the U.S. yet. To me its a disservice to the film and fans of the genre. After quick Google searching I found out why it hasn't been released in the U.S. According to Wikipedia, the film was to be released in 2007 under The Weinstein Company's Dimension Films banner. However do to the lack luster box office performances of horror films and the heavily pushed Grindhouse. The Weinstein Companyc inevitably sold the film to the start up company Senator Entertainment US, who later when out of business. The film has since been held in U.S. film limbo with other films on the roster.

Truthfully, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is a fantastic new age slasher film that should really get the chance to be seen by all horror fans. With such a talented cast, and well written story its heard to believe more people haven't seen it. For that GLP gives this effort a solid 4 out of 5 stabs. If your interested in watching this film, good luck. The film is only available on Region B Import Blu-Ray, however its been inspected to play on all players, which is a good thing however the price can be a little steep. The film is available here, and here. Seriously check out the film if you can...its great. View the trailer below.

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