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Blistering performances.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

They Didn't Make It (2007): Dir: Joel M. Thompson / Cast: Julia Mathieson, Denis Theriault, Marney Clarke, Josh Linton, Jim Lavoie: Independent horror film about consequences that eventually surface. Young Bobby Dolan goes missing after a prank gone wrong and eight years later he is believed to be responsible for a string of murders. Setup works but slasher elements follow with a ridiculous ending that borrows from Halloween. Director Joel Thompson has promise but he borrows too much from Halloween to the point where Bobby is practically a Michael Myers clone. Even his dismiss is a steal from the John Carpenter film. Julia Mathieson is laughable in her traumatized state. She feels guilty about the incident years ago but for whatever reason she has newspaper clippings and a dead rose on her desk that perhaps should be in a gilted box in her closet after eight years. Denis Theriault delivers uninspiring dialogue and cannot seem to express anger without exaggeration. It is laughable watching Mathieson beg for his life after Bobby murdered most of her friends. By that point her gloves should come off. Marney Clarke plays the standard bratty snit who caused the whole incident and will pay for it. Jim Lavoie as a professor might have worked better had his hinted back story involvement with female students been more explored. For those looking for a great horror film here, they didn't make it. Score: 3 / 10