Cherry Falls is a 2000 slasher film written by Ken Selden and directed by Geoffrey Wright. The film stars Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr, and Michael Biehn. Here's the storyline: A psychotic serial slasher starts a bloodthirsty murder rampage at Cherry Falls high school that only kills the local high school virgins. This leads to the local teenage population organizing a sex party in order to lose their virginity and thus no longer be targets...
Believe or not....this is not a horrible film. Following the release of Scream, a revival started with a wave of copy cat slasher films. This may be one of the least known of those but it's one of the better films to come from it. Written by Ken Selden, the story mixes dark comedy with the horror genre pretty much in the vein of Scream, using a clever twist to the genre cliché of the virginal survivors. The mystery of the killer's identity is very well handled and the story unfolds as Jody's investigation takes her to discover the town's past. Surprisingly, the movie never gets boring or tedious, and it serves its purpose as a thrilling mystery/horror film. The sad part is it ended up being a TV movie.
 |
| See what happens when you keep that virginity ladies. |
Revel in the film's humor and artistry. This was never intended to be a cult horror film. It is a fun movie, and should be judged according to entertainment value. It's a film to easily amuse when you don't have the energy or enthusiasm for life's drudgery.
Cherry Falls is a film that really got the shaft on its releasing, as it's far superior to a number of the theatrically released slasher-by-the-numbers flicks that where out around the time. Horror fans, before you bother with the likes of Urban Legend (1998), the lousy Valentine (2001) or any sequel, give this one a turn! You just might find it to be one of the best!
 |
| Britany Murphy |
Trivia:
The films German title is 'Sex oder stirb!' meaning 'Sex or Die!' The bizarre title for the Mexico release was 'Corre... no grites' which translates to 'Run...Don't Scream'.
Never received a cinema release in the US.
The town meeting scene was filmed in the hallways and gymnasium of Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, VA.
Stephen Lang was slated for the lead role as the Sheriff but scheduling conflicts prevented him from playing in the film. He later admitted that the only reason he wanted to do the part was to work with Brittany Murphy again.
This movie is one of the few movies out there where the credits run backwards (top to bottom; not the normal bottom to top).
 |
| A group of virgins regretting their choices |
Geoffrey Wright's only non-Australian film.
Movie producers at Millennium Studios secured permission from Richmond Public Schools to film interior and exterior scenes at Thomas Jefferson High School during Easter Break and the week following. Thomas Jefferson High School shared the building and grounds at the time with the Governor's School for Government and International Studies (GSGIS), a regional school for gifted students. RPS failed to mention this, and the fact that the two schools shared different schedules, to movie producers. RPS also failed to mention that a movie would be filmed on the site to GSGIS administration. As a result, Cherry Falls started filming at the end of the school day, only to be interrupted an hour later when the GSGIS students were released from class. To secure the set, doors had been locked and hallways had been blocked, preventing students from exiting. The confusion was eventually cleared, and the producers provided GSGIS administration with a synopsis of the plot, and details about the time-line, scheduling, and deal with RPS. School administration then included the synopsis in a letter to concerned parents. The synopsis failed to mention the satirical slant of the storytelling, and instead provided the plot as a serious storyline. Parents then complained that RPS allowed porn movies to be filmed on school property.
First Hollywood acting credit for Zachary Knighton.
