Chainsaw Cheerleaders (2008) Online

My review on my site FilmBizarro.com:

Plot: Dawn is a 17 year old rebelling girl, who just found out her boyfriend has been dating behind her back. When things just continue to go bad, her rage makes her parents sick of he, so they send her off to become a cheerleader. When trying to fit in with the other girls, things seem to be going worse. A witch travels 500 years, to our time, and possesses one of the other cheerleaders, and soon Dawn is the only one who can stop the witch.

Our thoughts: I've been waiting a long time for this film and I finally got my hands on it. From the title, you pretty much know what to except, 'cause I can't really remember a film that has had "cheerleader" in the title, and hasn't been a cheesy trash cinema. "Chainsaw Cheerleaders" is exactly that.

Plotwise it's interesting at times. Donald Farmer clearly put some thought into it, but most of the time the plot is either too out there, or our mind drifts away so we can't concentrate on anything else than the pictures on the screen rather than dialogue and explanations. The film starts off with scenes from year 1508, and I've always had a bit of a problem with low budget films having scenes showing old times. Luckily there isn't much focus on getting the "feel" of 1508, except for the clothes they were wearing, so it's not hard for it to be believable enough. When we're back to our time, we follow Dawn's little journey to becoming a..well, chainsawing cheerleader. It takes about an hour before the film starts to let out a notable amount of nudity and blood, and I guess that's both good and bad. The film was a lot more funny before it all started, but then again it got a bit more entertaining when we get some blood and titties. I guess I could weigh the pro's and con's of the two halves of the film, but let's just say that both are needed for the film to work. Like I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of times where I found myself thinking of anything but the film, while just looking at the moving pictures on my television. I found the film to drag a bit, and some things were just not needed in there. The thing that I liked the most in here would probably be the stereotypical cheerleaders and the stupid things that they say. There wasn't much more comedy than those scenes either really.

The film is very typical as far as ultra cheesy independent splatter comedies go, and if you're a fan of those, this is a perfect film for you. I used to be a lot more into these films about 5 years ago or so, because now I always seem to be needing that little extra to truly enjoy them, which I didn't find in this one. Like how "Bone Sickness" has awesome zombies and tons of splatter, but still being about as independent and at times cheesy as "Chainsaw Cheerleaders" is. Technical flaws like how the chainsaws are never really on in the film, or that we in a throat cutting scene can see that there's no actual cut, aren't the biggest flaws in the film at all. The problem was just that it didn't pull me in enough, and the jokes were too few or just not my taste.

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Chainsaw Cheerleaders (2008)

** (out of 4)

Dawn (Michele Grey) bashes her boyfriend's nose into the ground when she catches him cheating on her. In order to stay out of trouble she agrees to join a cheerleading squad and before you know if they are battling a witch who was destroyed five hundred years earlier.

CHAINSAW CHEERLEADERS is another very low-budget film from writer-director Donald Farmer and it actually features a lot more of a plot than what you'd expect. The film is pretty much what you'd expect from a Farmer movie as it has nods to other movies but also works well within its budget. Obviously one needs to know what they're going into when they watch any sort of low-budget movie but if you're a fan of the director then you'll find some entertaining stuff here.

I will say that the biggest problem with the film is that it starts off a tad bit too slow. The opening sequence, set five hundred years ago, actually looks quite good for the budget but after this it takes a while for the film to get going. I thought there were a few too many slow spots early on but at the same time it also offered up one very good sequence where the troubled teen is fighting with her parents (her father played by Farmer). This scene was actually well-acted by all involved.

The film finally picks up during its final thirty-minutes or so when the gore (practical effects) and nudity kicks it up a bit. I've always said that these sort of low-budget movies need some cheap nudity and gore and the film delivers on that. The practical effects were quite good. I also thought the Tiffany Shepis, Misty Marie, Jackey Hall and Ciara Richards were fun in their roles.

CHAINSAW CHEERLEADERS was apparently shot for $45,000 so one really shouldn't go into it expecting some sort of Hollywood trash. The film certainly has its flaws but at the same time it's entertaining for what it is.

The story of this film follows a teenager, Dawn, who is forced to join a cheerleading squad as a means of therapy for her anti social behavior. She had recently lashed out against an ex boyfriend who dumped her for a trashier classmate. At the same time, a witch is brought back from 500 years ago to... I don't really remember what for. The witch begins killing everyone who has wronged Dawn, including her therapist, and eventually possess one of the cheerleaders. The surviving members of the squad fight back with the titular weapons, but never actually accomplish anything. The witch is sent back by some monks who appear from a portal, grab her, and leave.

The cheerleaders were mildly amusing with their bimbo remarks, and the ex boyfriend was enjoyably sleazy. There were several "how did they do that" effects, so the CG was above average, considering. Most of the rest of this made-at-home horror movie is pretty standard for low budget expectations. It moved along at a decent pace, so it never got too boring. That's usually the best you can say with these.