Clint loves Mandy Lane

After two years on the shelf, that barely-tainted “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane” print will finally get to bonk a splicing machine this year.

Having heard the applause from various festivals around the country, and later Toronto, The Weinstein’s quickly pulled out their wallets in favour of trading some green for ownership rights in the hip thriller. And it would have been their savviest acquisition since the original “Scream”. If only they hadn’t have kicked it to the curb.

After the colossal failure of the similar-in-tone “Grindhouse”, The Weinstein’s dumped the flick – entirely. Now, thanks to Senator Entertainment, it’ll finally see the light of day (a release is rumoured for sometime in August).

One can understand why Bob and Harvey cut their ties with the flick – but at the same time, it’s a pity they couldn’t see the worth in it and stick with it anyway (a good marketing campaign and it can still work). I still believe a good film can find it’s audience – especially one that features a ‘hot new star’.

Amber Heard, seen recently as Seth Rogen’s (!) teenage girlfriend in “The Pineapple Express”, plays the titular role – a smokin’ hottie who has guys falling at her feet left, right and center. She is wickedly good. It’s the role that’ll make her a star (if she isn’t already by the time the film is out). We know she’s hot – she knows she’s hot – but that’s about all we know about her. And it’s all we need to know about her.

In the film’s opening sequence, Mandy Lane watches as two of her admirers, polar opposites Emmet (Michael Welch) and Dylan (Adam Powell) sit on a roof, talking about her, and gazing at her. Emmet encourages Dylan to jump from a roof into the swimming pool to impress Mandy. Dylan hits the concrete and dies.

9 months later. Mandy is invited to spend a couple of days at a ‘ranch’ with some friends. Quite a killer vacation it ends up being – with everyone (but you know who) getting knocked off by an unseen – he obviously “loves” Mandy Lane, that’s all we know – assailant.

I’d been hearing about “Mandy Lane” for a while, and only recently managed to catch it. Glad I did. Having lost so much faith in the slasher genre of late – if they aren’t tired remakes of earlier, better movies, they’re cliché-ridden turds that aren’t so much thinking of their audience as they are the – it’s refreshing to see a ‘teen killer’ flick that’s had some thought put into it.

Imaginatively written by Jacob Forman, and craftingly directed by Jonathan Levine, “Mandy Lane” is a cheeky horror pic reminiscent of Eli Roth’s exceedingly-fun “Cabin Fever” – lots of gore, but just as many laughs to be had. Like the latter, it’s also got some killer music (lots of golden oldies!), not to mention some great performances – Heard being the standout. Hopefully, like “Fever”, “Lane” manages to find an audience.