| Cherry Falls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Cherry Falls |
| Directed by: | Geoffrey Wright |
| Written by: | Ken Selden |
| Produced by: | Marshall Persinger; Joyce Schweickhert; Eli Selden; Ken Selden; Scott Shiffman; Julie Yorn |
| Music by: | Walter Werzowa |
| Cinematography: | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Edited by: | John F. Link |
| Production | |
| Distributors: | Rogue Pictures Industry Entertainment Fresh Produce Company |
| Released: | August 25th, 2000 |
| Rating: | R |
| Running time: | 92 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $14,000,000 [1] |
| Gross: | £818,465 [2] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
Cherry Falls is an American independent horror film of the slasher genre with elements of dark comedy as well. It was directed by Geoffrey Wright with a script written by Ken Selden. The movie was produced by Rogue Pictures, the Fresh Produce Company and Industry Entertainment. It premiered in the United States and the United Kingdom on August 25th, 2000. The premise of the film centers around the fictional town of Cherry Falls, Virginia. A mysterious killer is stalking various members of the teenage community. Whereas most serial slashers tend to target whores and delinquents, this particular killer instead focuses his attention on virgins. As the body count rises, the youths of Cherry Falls come up with a plan to insure their survival - an all night sex-fest!
Plot[]
Rod and Stacy are making out in their car near look out point in Cherry Falls, Virginia. Just as things are beginning to get hot and heavy, a second car pulls up behind them. A person with long black hair obscuring their face gets out and proceeds to stab Rob multiple times with a knife. Stacy tries to get away but is nailed to a tree. The word "Virgin" is carved on the inside of their left thigh.
Later that night, sixteen-year-old Jody Marken is having a fight with her boyfriend Kenny Ascott. Kenny wants to have sex, but Jody isn't ready to give up her virginity just yet. Tired of having to be put off for over a year, Kenny decides its time to call it quits. Before the argument can progress any further, we meet Jody's mom, Marge. Marge seems to be one of these hip new age moms that wants to be pals with her daughter. She even goes so far as to bum a smoke and flirt with Jody's boyfriend.
The following day, news of the deaths reaches the student body of George Washington High School. Jody’s father, Brent Marken, is the town sheriff and he meets with principal Tom Sisler to discuss the crime. Brent tells Tom that he plans on addressing each of the classrooms in order to warn students of the danger that exists. He is reluctant to reveal too many details however because of the nature of the crime.
Teacher Leonard Marliston addresses his own class and holds a feel-good meeting between all his students so that everyone can say something nice about the deceased. We meet all of the other High School archetypes here including the class clown, the nerd and the school slut. Jody learns that Kenny has already moved on to greener pastures and is seen with his arm around a girl named Cindy.
That night, Sheriff Marken decides to hold a parents only meeting at the school gymnasium. Jody and her friend Timmy catch word of it and decide to sneak in to see what is being said. At the meeting, Marken reveals that the killer is predominantly stalking virgins. Parents become concerned that their children may start losing their virginity just to increase their chances of survival. A fight breaks out between the parents when one of the fathers alludes to another that his daughter has nothing to fear from the killer. The entire gym erupts into a riot.
Meanwhile, Jody and Timmy decide that they should let all of their friends in on the details. Timmy plans on revealing all in the school newspaper. But Timmy becomes headline news himself as the killer appears in the school hallways. Jody finds her friend stuffed into a closet with his throat slashed open. The killer appears and begins chasing Jody all over the school. He gets her on the floor and begins carving the word virgin into her leg. Jody survives though as her father appears on the scene. The killer however gets away.
The following day, the students of GW High rally together and declare their plans for having a massive orgy on Friday evening. It is their belief that if they all have sex then the killer won't have any interest in them. The police are pretty angry over the news leak and Principal Sisler tries to learn the location of the planned festivities.
Marken has her daughter give a description of the killer. After having a concept artist sketch a picture, Brent realizes that he may know who the killer is. The sketch resembles a woman named Loralee Sherman, a girl that Brent used to go to school with. Brent decides to track Loralee down and he travels to a small farmhouse in West Virginia. He doesn't find her however, but rather finds the broken down remains of a dilapidated home and a baby carriage.
While Brent is out of town, Jody asks her mother about Loralee. Marge reveals that Loralee was a woman they knew in high school twenty-seven years ago. Loralee was a shy, homely girl who mostly kept to herself. One night she was stranded upon the side of the rode and four drunken members of the football team came upon her. Deciding to have some late night fun, the four teens took turns raping Loralee repeatedly. The crime never went on record and no investigation ever took place. One of the rapists was revealed to be principal Tom Sisler. The other was Jody’s father Brent.
Brent returns to Cherry Falls but is attacked by an unseen presence.
While all this is going on, the students of George Washington High hold their "Pop Your Cherry" ball at a nearby lodge. Everyone attends and even the most loathsome troglodytes have a chance of getting laid. The only ones not in attendance are Jody and boyfriend Kenny. Back at Kenny's house, Jody decides to finally cave in and sleep with him. But now its Kenny's turn to be put off. He only wants to have sex with her if Jody wants to have sex with him and not out of some sense of self preservation. Jody gets angry and leaves his room. Unsure of where to turn, Jody decides to visit her favorite schoolteacher Leonard Marliston.
Jody confides in Mister Marliston who invites her into his home. Marliston's personality completely changes and he pushes Jody down the steps into his basement. He has Brent Marken tied up down there as well. Marliston begins putting on make up and dressing up in the style of clothes worn by his mother, Loralee Sherman. He even has a long black wig with a white streak in it. Apparently Marliston is the product of the rape committed by Marken and the others. He believes that Brent may actually be his father. Marliston had decided to take his vengeance upon the student body and take their innocence (virginity) from them just as his mother's was taken from her. He forces Brent to reveal all of the gruesome details from that fabled night to his daughter.
Kenny decides that he wants to make up with Jody. He tracks her down to Marliston's place and learns that the schoolteacher is the killer. While Kenny struggles with Marliston, Jody tries to escape. Kenny gets stabbed and Marliston returns downstairs to finish off Brent and Jody. He kills Brent with an axe and Jody escapes upstairs.
Jody runs to the orgy house in hopes of getting people to help her. Marliston follows her there and begins hacking through the students to try and get to her. Attacking her on a balcony, Jody uses a self-defense maneuver on him, pitching him over onto the ground below. Marliston dies and Kenny is revealed to have survived his earlier attack.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Brittany Murphy | Jody Marken |
| Jay Mohr | Leonard Marliston |
| Michael Biehn | Sheriff Brent Marken |
| Jesse Watrouse | Rod Harper |
| Candy Clark | Marge Marken |
| Amanda Anka | Deputy Mina |
| Joe Inscoe | Tom Sisler, Principal |
| Gabriel Mann | Kenny Ascott |
| Natalie Ramsey | Sandy |
| Douglas Spain | Mark |
| Bre Blair | Stacy Twelfmann |
| Kristen Miller | Cindy |
| Michael Weston | Ben |
| Keram Malicki-Sanchez | Timmy |
| Joannah Portman | Sharon |
| Vicki Davis | Heather |
| Bret McKee | Dylan Roley |
| Clementine Ford | Annette Duwald |
| Margaret Molster | Mrs. Duwald |
| Michael Goodwin | Mister Duwald |
| Steve Boles | Father #1 |
| David Lenthall | Father #2 |
| Steve Ayers | Father #3 |
| Candy Aston-Dennis | Mother #1 |
| Deborah Hobart | Mother #2 |
| Beatrice Bush | Mother #3 |
| Rick Forrester | Deputy Beau |
| Tammy Ballance | Young Loralee Sherman |
| Rand Courtney | Dennis |
| Colin Fickes | Dino |
| Caroline Perreyclear | Jan |
| D.J. Qualls | Wally |
| Michael Harding | Coroner |
| Patt Noday | Stan Michaels, TV reporter |
| Jessica Driscoll | Diana, Principal's secretary |
| Mark Joy | FBI Special Agent Bronhill |
| Alex Wharff | Young Brent Marken |
| Christopher Evans | Young Tom Sisler |
| Michael Cammack | Young Harry |
| Jesse Janowsky | Young Jimmy |
| Chrissy Offutt | Woman at restaurant |
| Barry Privett | Man at restaurant |
| Christian Durango | Young Leonard |
| Joseph M. West, Jr. | FBI Agent Majestik |
| Zachary Knighton | Mister Rolly |
| Teresa Jones | FBI agent |
Notes & Trivia[]
- Cherry Falls (2000) redirects to this page.
- Production on Cherry Falls began on March 11th, 1999. Principal photography concluded on May 11th, 1999. [1]
- Cherry Falls grossed £241,171 in the United Kingdom over its opening weekend. [1]
- Cherry Falls was released as a double-feature DVD set along with Terror Tract. The collection was released by Polygram and USA Home Entertainment in Region 1 format on March 20th, 2001. [3]
- The movie was also released in VHS format by USA Home Entertainment on October 9th, 2001. [4]
- The title of the film is a pun. In addition to being the name of the primary setting of the film, it also refers to the phrase "losing one's cherry", which is slang for losing one's virginity. The placement of the town in Virginia is also part of the pun as "virgin" is the root word of Virginia.
- Although Cherry Falls, Virginia is a fictional location, there is in fact an unincorporated town in West Virginia called Cherry Falls. [5]
- This is the first horror film work for actor Zachary Knighton. He will go on to play the role of Jim Halsey in the 2007 remake of The Hitcher.
- Actor Keram Malicki-Sanchez is also known for playing vampire Elijah Stormer in episodes of True Blood, as well as Kenny in the 2013 film Texas Chainsaw 3D.
- Actor Michael Biehn is also known for playing the role of Corporal Dwayne Hicks of the USCMC in the 1986 sci-fi/action film Aliens.
- Actor Jesse Bradford is credited as Jesse Watrouse in this film.
- Actor DJ Qualls is credited as D.J. Qualls in this film.
- Actor Michael Harding is credited as Anthony Michael Harding in this film.
- Actress Chrissy Offutt is credited as Christine Offutt Thomas in this film.
- Actress Teresa Jones is credited as Teresa Wells Jones in this film.
Taglines[]
The following taglines and slogans have been used on various promotional material for Cherry Falls.
- "If you haven't had it... you've had it."
- "At Virgin High... it's put out or die."
- "Lose your innocence - or lose your life."
- "Innocence has never been deadlier."
- "What would you give to live?"
- "Get laid... or die!"
Recommendations[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IMDB; Cherry Falls (2000); Box office & Business.
- ↑ IMDB; Cherry Falls (2000); Box office & Business; United Kingdom gross.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Cherry Falls/Terror Tract; DVD.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Cherry Falls; VHS.
- ↑ Geographic Names Information System (GNIS); Cherry Falls, West Virginia.