Satan's School for Girls (2000)

recommended

Let's be realistic.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Released to TV in 2000, "Satan's School for Girls" is a remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name. The story revolves around a young woman (Shannen Doherty) who enrolls at an all-girls college in Massachusetts to investigate her sister's supposed suicide. She befriends some girls (Julie Benz, Taraji P. Henson & Mandy Schaffer) and becomes involved with a dude (Daniel Cosgrove) while investigating the witchcraft of some Goth chicks (e.g. Victoria Sanchez). Kate Jackson plays the Dean and Richard Joseph Paul a girl-crazy professor.While this is better than the underwhelming original version, it has its own flaws. Despite the TV budget, it starts out good and mysterious, which goes on for the better part of an hour, but then unravels into cartoony TV horror. Doherty is fine as the dispirited protagonist. While people complain about her dismal disposition it goes with the role. Sanchez stands out amongst the girls at the school, not to mention Schaffer. Despite this, the filmmakers generally drop the ball on the female front, considering the resources at their disposal (and I'm not talking' bout nudity or porn). The semi-sleazy professor is the creepiest character while Cosgrove is amiable as Doherty's boyfriend, but their sexual union seems premature and forced. Another thing I liked is a certain plot twist: You think the story's going one way and it suddenly changes. Of course, this is so common now it's no longer surprising.As far as the last 35 minutes go, it's tough to pull off satanic ritual sequences with a straight face, which is why Roman Polanski limited the satanic sequence in his "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) to a mere two minutes at the climax (not that I'm a fan of that one-dimensional movie in light of it being 99% drama in an old NYC apartment and 1% horror). Filmmakers have to be careful with these kinds of scenes or they become more laughable than spooky. So most of the first two acts rate a solid "B" or, at least, "B-", but the final act is weak. Still, it's worth seeing for the positives.The movie runs 87 minutes and was shot at John Abbott College and Montréal, Québec.GRADE: C+

Ostensibly a remake of the 1970s TV witchcraft classic of the same name, SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS in reality turns out to be a cheesy variant on the usual CHARMED storyline. Indeed it could be a feature length version of CHARMED and nobody would notice the difference, especially given the ultra-cheesy CGI effects and the presence of leading actress Shannen Doherty.The film opens promisingly with the apparent suicide of a young woman who's a student at an exclusive girls' school. Her older sister subsequently enlists at the same school in order to investigate the death, and she soon becomes a member of a witch's circle where great magic power is wielded. Sadly none of this power translates much to the screen, where everything seems subdued and laboured.The film is dull and cheesy, the worst kind of TV movie cheese there is. Incident in the storyline is limited to a couple of minor characters dying bloodlessly, and it all builds up to an ending chock-full of hilariously bad effects. It's fair to say that the acting is hardly remarkable, with a young Julie Benz (RAMBO) particularly irritating as a fellow student. Still as this is an Aaron Spelling production, the producers are happy to sit back and film the female students in (and out of) various figure-hugging attire, so they're happy.

***SPOILERS*** Blessed or cursed, whichever way you want to look at it, with supernatural powers far beyond those of man or woman young Beth Hammersmith, Shannon Doherty, made it a point to get herself enrolled in the all woman Fallbridge Collage and solve the mystery why her kid sister Jenny, Irene Contoglorgis, a student there committed suicide. Using the fake name of Karen Oxford Beth got herself involved with a number of fellow students headed by blond bombshell Alison Kingsley, Julie Benz. These girls are members of a secret witch's coven on campus that's been in existence since the beginning o the 20th Centuary. A sorority that over the years included some the most powerful and politically connected women on earth! like I would guess Margret Thatcher Hillary Clinton & Angela Merkel! As it soon turned out Beth since birth was destined to be the fifth member of this selective club of modern day Amazons or Women Libbers! And it wasn't an accident, like the death of he sister Jenny, that fate or evil brought her there!Sexy and computer enhanced remake of the 1973 film of the same name with Kate Jackson who was a student in the original playing the part of the mysterious collages Dean Olivia Brutis. As for the girls in the movie actress Shannen Doherty had them all beat in the gorgeous department which made them very envious of her. This lead to her rival for the attention of the collage's hot and swinging history professor Nick Delcroix, Richard Joseph Paul, Alison to get jealous of Beth. Alison instead of doing Beth in she settled to put an end to Prof. Nick's sex life for good by zapping him as he was about to bed her down,in a final good-by, in the collage auditorium. As for Beth she gets some information about Jenny from what seems like the only male on campus, lucky stiff, Mark Lantch, Daniel Cosgrove, who woks in the collage record room. This leads Mark to become a permanent stiff when the girls lead by Alison get a whiff of what he's been doing in exposing their secret club.****SPOIERS*** By the time that Beth as well as we in the audience finally realize what's going on it's already too late for her in that she perfected her supernatural powers where even Beth can't control them anymore. When the film is finally over with Beth married with a young infant the power that destroyed the club, including Dean Brutis, that she was a member of comes back to her with a vengeance! which showed a shocked and confused Beth that all her efforts to put an end to all this insanity that she just suffered through was all in vain.

This was a very good movie. Shannen Dorhety is always a good actress. It is a must see teen movie. Julie Benz was also performed a good role in this movie also although she still had that dense but dangerous personality like she had in Jawbreaker. I felt the mixture of the Jawbreaker-Craft relationship because witchcraft was used and the girls who were in the movie had the attitude the girls had in Jawbreaker. FLAWLESS!! Hopefully they will make a sequel because of its suprising ending.