Sweet Insanity

Story Line: Troubled by horrific nightmares, high-school student Stacey (Hoyle) has a party at her home when her parents leave for the weekend. On a lark, Stacey invites a goth transfer student (Firgens)—who could have something to do with all the murders that take place that night.

Bottom Line: We checked our calendar, and yes, it is 2006, some 28 years after John Carpenter's Halloween popularized the promiscuous-teen-mass-murder genre. First-time director Hess, who is in his 50s, either missed the last three decades or enjoys the genre so much that he wants to add to the endless list of films inspired by Carpenter's stomach-churning saga. That devotion is the only explanation as to why there is so little originality in Sweet Insanity—from Jesper Kyd's score (if your scene starts with a bass keyboard, you're the next victim) to the killer's point-of-view camera angle (he's watching you, and you're next—maybe). But like Hess, there are loads of teen-slasher fans who can't get enough of a twisted thing. And thanks to a garage full of garden tools, there certainly are plenty of grisly methods on display for dispatching victims. The budget and by-the-numbers script limit wider appeal, but horror fans who know what to expect will not be disappointed.