On May 25th,Lloydie and his lowbites over at Troma will be re-releasing Steve Balderson's 1998 film,"Pep Squad",on dvd,so I thought we'd take a look-see at the durned thing beforehand,and try to make heads or tails of it for your reading pleasure today at the Wop.It was the debut film for Balderson,who also scripted,produced,edited,and designed the costumes.A black comedy,in the same vein as Heathers(1988),shot entirely on location in Kansas,the film was shown at Cannes and features an original score by Johnette Napolitano,founder of Concrete Blonde.Balderson has helmed several other features since,his "Firecracker" being nominated for and winning awards at the 2004 Raindance,and 2005 Fantasporto and Visionfest film festivals,as well as being the subject of a book by Joe Schaefer.Today's entry is a skewed view of high school,cliques,and two girls with their eye on the prom queen tiara,and how far they'd go just to get it.
Cherry(Brooke Balderson)makes up her own rules.
Beth attends Oak Hill High in Kansas,where she seemingly drifts through her days,friendless and uninteresting.All of that changes during a pep rally,when she connects with Julie(Makovkin) and her boyfriend,Scott,who's head of the student council,while Cherry(Balderson) and Terra(Amy Kelly)interrupt the proceedings to have a bitch-off over prom queen candidacy in front of the student body.Beth is called to the principal's office over tardys,and ends up having to brain the guy with a trophy when he tries to bend her over and hamslam her right on his desk.Julie and Scott help Beth to kidnap the administrator,tying him up in Julie's basement while gossiphound Terra spies on the trio,and further down the road,Cherry spies on Terra.That night,Julie hosts a freaky house party with topless girls interpretive dancing in a wading pool surrounded by men in drag while Terra invites herself in,scoping the place for clues of her classmates' dirty dealings.The next day,she sneaks down to the cellar,and frees the superintendant,who eats hot lead death when he makes a break for it,being shot in the back by Julie.Terra agrees not to rat out Julie in exchange for Scott fixing the prom queen balloting in her favor.
Julie(Summer Makovkin)breaks out her bobblers.
The three murderers strike a bargain with Cherry,who,while out in the fields,gouges the spent shell casing out of the principal's back with a hunting knife,impales his corpse on a tree branch,and blows up his car.Anonymously calling in bomb threats,pawning cds for guns,and running over rival queen candidates with her four by four,it's obvious that this girl doesn't fuck around.After a new female principal is introduced at a pep rally,Cherry takes it upon herself to do a driveby on the school entrance,killing another candidate,but inadvertantly gives Terra a great publicity op when she is interviewed by a news crew,only pissing Cherry off further.She then kidnaps the new principal,who is graciously rescued by the murderers of the former principal.At the prom,Terra is crowned prom queen,but her celebration is short-lived,as Cherry rapels into the gymnasium and shoots her in the head.American flags catch fire behind her as she places the tiara on her own domepiece,and is abruptly shot dead by a wallflower girl she regularly picked on,who is in turn,strangled by "Suicide Chick",another target of regular abuse,fresh out of rehab,and ready for a killing spree.
Terra(Amy Kelly)just wants to be prom queen.
The cinematography here is choice stuff,with most shots beautifully composed,and a keen use of color to evoke moods.Balderson is a talented guy in the directorial chair,no doubt.However the film stalls in first gear,due to the amateur acting from those involved,Kelly and Balderson aside.The dialogue is reminiscent of a poor man's John Waters,but delivered with more wood than a paper mill on an overtime shift,in most cases.The scene dealing with disposal of the perverted principal's body is excellently laid out,but most others drag flatly along like a bum leg.The costumes are also interesting,especially in the case of the Terra,Cherry,and Julia characters,who always seem to be wearing something eye-catching.There's precious little blood-letting,and only one instance of nudity;more of either would have carried the weak script a lot further,in my opinion.The dvd is chock full of the usual extras you'd expect from the folks who gave Jersey its first super hero.Worth a viewing if you're forever trying to prolong your high school days,or enjoy watching slightly overweight chicks sprint through a field in lime green polyester pantsuits.Thanks to Clyde and the folks at Troma for sending this one along.
Cherry gets her wish and comeuppance all at once.
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