Study Hell

Talk about ugly post-combat stress. Army vet Don Keller (Steve McDougall) returns to civilian life as a high school teacher—with severe anger management problems, as the gaggle of students in his after-hours detention class soon find out. When the bell rings, the chase is on until there's only one student who hasn't succumbed to the teacher's deadly blade. The premise for this Canadian fright fest is so wrong for so many reasons—Virginia Tech, Columbine, neglected war veterans—that it creates a feeling of discomfort from the get-go. It's an unexceptional, low-budget quickie that only a genre lover could love.

Shelf Talk: The Halloween timing and the MySpace and YouTube marketing to gorehounds by MTI will account for any attention that is not accidental. That said, as you know, horror and gore fans are insatiable and are always on the prowl for something new. Even if pre-release awareness isn't high, they'll soon find out about Study Hell if you make it available.