Low-budget filmmakers Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson have become known for making female-centric horror movies, and that continues with “All Cheerleaders Die,” in which a group of high-school pompom shakers returns from the dead to take revenge on some particularly hateful football players who treat girls (and everyone else) like objects.
The tone is somewhat “Mean Girls”-snarky, and while there are some effective moments early on — especially when Maddy (Caitlin Stasey), Tracy (Brooke Butler) and the rest of the squad, before their deaths, confront star player/heartthrob/jerk Terry (a suitably charming yet threatening Tom Williamson) and his team in the woods — “All Cheerleaders Die” sinks under the weight of predictable plotting and cheap special effects. Thanks to one of the friends (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) being a witch, the cheerleaders come back as some sort of flesh-eating vampire/zombie-like creatures with a need to feed, while still looking absolutely great in their uniforms.
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Though McKee and Sivertson are wise to stay within the B-movie rule that such a film shouldn’t be more than 90 minutes, it feels longer. Viewers might want both the cheerleaders and football players to go much sooner.
“All Cheerleaders Die” – 1 1/2 stars
No MPAA rating (violence, gore)
Running time: 1:30
Opens: Friday