by Pauline Adamek
Worth: $5.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Bella Thorne, Rebecca DeMornay, Ryan Philippe, Joel Michaely, Frank Whaley
Intro:
… can’t decide if it’s a cheesy teen horror movie or a B-movie throwback.
Based on the YA novel Clare at Sixteen by Don Roff, writers Guinevere Turner and Mitzi Peirone (Pierone also directs) flip the script on the serial killer thriller by giving us an attractive 16-year-old with sociopathic tendencies. Bella Thorne plays Clare, whose backstory and present day proclivities are neatly conveyed. Within the first ten minutes, we see flashbacks of a defining episode of violence from when she was a child that shapes and informs her actions thereafter.
Now orphaned, Clare Bleecker has recently moved to a new town to live with her cool, hippy grandma (Rebecca DeMornay in a criminally underwritten role) where she attends Catholic school and sings in the church’s choir.
An oft-repeated mantra attributed to Joan of Arc “Everything I have said or done has been in the hands of God. I was born to do this. I am not afraid” appears to guide her choices and actions. Turns out she believes she has a divine vocation for killing.
A predatory man that Clare recently killed wasn’t working alone, which puts Clare in danger if his associates discover her identity. A halfhearted police investigation (lead detective is played by Ryan Phillippe) prompts her to delve deeper into the small town’s secrets. Clare quickly uncovers solid evidence of a longstanding conspiracy and starts digging into a slew of cold cases involving missing young women. Determined to solve the mystery, she finds herself facing new risks in her quest for the truth.
Meanwhile, she is cast in the school production of Deathtrap led by a histrionic director (played by Joel Michaely) who decides on gender-bending casting.
Throughout this tonally schizophrenic movie (horror, comedy or thriller?) she’s haunted by the ghost of a mailman (Frank Whaley) – apparently from a former accidental murder that we don’t see. Bob converses with her, serving as her lingering and cautionary conscience.
Wonky camerawork, glitchy editing and hallucinogenic overlays are just some of the overwrought visual techniques that try to add drama to this stale plot. The frequent use of slow-motion and overly dramatic cinematography feel forced rather than artistic, detracting from the patchy narrative rather than enhancing it. Watching a morally questionable vigilante going after even worse people who immediately locates an incriminating scene just feels like lazy plotting.
With its occasional campy overtones, Saint Clare can’t decide if it’s a cheesy teen horror movie or a B-movie throwback. Unfortunately, it’s just a mess.
