Christopher Landon (1) (1975–)

A group of teens is killed by the Blissfield Butcher, putting the town in a panic and potentially leading to the cancellation of the homecoming dance (because all of the legends about the Blissfield Butcher indicate that he focuses on homecoming). However, unbeknownst to everyone, things are a little different this time around. When the Butcher attacked Millie, a local teen, he stabbed her with a magical dagger that caused them to switch bodies. Millie is horrified to learn that, if she can't switch them back before 24 hours have passed, the change will be permanent.

Horror comedies are my favorite kind of horror - I need something to take the edge off the scares and gore. That said, this was one of the weaker horror comedies I've seen in a while. It had a good deal of gore, true, but it wasn't particularly scary. It also wasn't really all that funny. "Vince Vaughn acting like a teenage girl" was the primary draw, and it could only carry the movie for so long.

I was kind of surprised that the Butcher didn't seem all that interested in getting his own body back - I'd have figured he'd have been even more on board with switching after he learned just how much weaker Millie's body was than his own.

The Butcher managed to kill quite a few people while in Millie's body, but pretty much everyone who died was kind of terrible - there was the group of three would-be rapists, for one thing, plus the one really awful teacher who seemed to delight in being mean. It wasn't the most recommended or moral way of dealing with her problems, but you could say that the Butcher took care of a lot of the issues in Millie's life.

It was certainly fitting, watching this on Friday the 13th, but I doubt this will be a movie I'll ever want to rewatch.

Extras:

Several featurettes, deleted scenes, and a commentary track (which I didn't listen to). I was a little surprised at the way the writer/director (who was gay himself) talked about the movie's one gay character, as though he was in some way groundbreaking or original. An openly gay character with a tendency of making off-color "sassy" comments isn't exactly new.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (meer)