Disturbing Behavior is a 1998 thriller science fiction film starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes, and Nick Stahl. The film was released on July 24, 1998. The plot follows a group of teen iconoclasts who are horrified by their "Blue Ribbon" classmates.
Director David Nutter was a director and producer of The X-Files as well as a director and co-executive producer of Millennium.
Plot
Steve Clark (James Marsden) is a high school senior whose family moves to Cradle Bay, a picturesque coastal town. Steve soon befriends three outcast students, Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl), U.V. (Chad E. Donella), and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes).
Gavin tries to tell Steve that he believes there is something evil about the "Blue Ribbons" - students taking part in a program led by the school psychologist, Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood). Steve is understandably skeptical. The following day at lunch, Gavin walks in looking like a Blue Ribbon. When Steve tries to confront Gavin, he gets punched in the stomach for his impertinence. Now Steve and Rachel must try and save the rest of the school before it's too late. They find a disc that Gavin hid for them in the boiler room, before his "transformation," which tells them about the club.
They try and find out what has been happening to these kids, which leads them to a mental hospital called Bishop Flats. They learn that this mind control used to make depressed and awkward teens become perfect so they can function properly in life, but the programming has some glitches that lead to momentary relapses. Also at Bishop Flats, they find Caldicott's daughter, Betty (Julie Patzwald), who spends her time repeating the same phrase: "Meet the musical little creatures that hide among the flowers".
When Rachel and Steve return, they plan to get out of town along with Steve's little sister, Lindsay (Katharine Isabelle), but when they get back, Steve's parents (Terry David Mulligan and Susan Hogan) reveal they had him signed up for the program. Steve and Lindsay try to get out but they get ambushed by a group of blue ribbons waiting for them. They drag Steve and Rachel to the programming center, but Steve escapes and rescues Rachel. They try to get out of town again with Lindsay and U.V., but the Blue Ribbons and Caldicott are waiting for them near the ferry out of town. When hope seems lost, the janitor of the school drives up, his car hooked up with sonic devices that scramble the mind control tech inside the blue ribbons' heads. They chase after him and try to destroy the devices, but, having been fatally wounded by Caldicott, he drives off a cliff with the blue ribbons on it. This leads to a final battle between Steve and Caldicott, which Steve wins by kicking Caldicott off the cliff. Steve and Rachel then leave town.
The final scene shows a classroom in an urban high school with kids playing loud music, cursing, and acting up. They are informed that they have a new teacher. The well-kept sub turns around, and it's Gavin, with the blue ribbon "twinkle" still active in his eye.
Cast
Alternate versions
The DVD release features 11 deleted scenes featuring more story and character development, including a deleted love scene between Steve and Rachel (which was present in the theatrical release), an alternate ending where Gavin meets a different fate than the theatrical ending and the revelation the program is assisted by a shadowy government organization. In the film commentary, the director complained that he objected to the particular scenes being removed from the film, but that the editors overrode his objections and removed the scenes anyway. U.S. cable network Sci-Fi Channel has been known to air a somewhat unofficial director's cut of the film with the deleted scenes reinstated (though the film is still shown with the theatrical ending).
Love scene
As they are leaving Bishop Flats, Steve makes the decision to return to Cradle Bay to rescue his sister, which upsets Rachel. Rachel then tells Steve that all her ambitions of escaping Cradle Bay and going to college have now evaporated with their new revelations about the blue ribbon program, and implores him to simply escape with her. When he insists on returning for his sister, Rachel relents and goes with him.
This scene was removed from all subsequent versions of the film, after the 2000 DVD release; however, it was included on VHS copies and the theatrical version of the film.
On the ferry back to Cradle Bay, Steve and Rachel use the time to make love in Rachel's truck.
Alternate ending
Gavin is not affected by the E-rat-acator, because he is wearing his headphones. He confronts Steve and his group on the ferry. Still a friend, Steve pleads with Gavin that they need to get him some help. Gavin refuses on the false belief that everything helped him without the realization of the program's effects which cause him to react. He tries to shoot Steve with a shotgun and UV shoots him three times with his own gun that Steve took away from him. As he lay dying on the ground, Gavin escapes out of his hypnosis to chastise a heartbroken UV (for not being able to kill him in fewer than three shots) while the others tend to him. His dying words are a sarcastic remark that his death will prevent him from meeting his pre-transformation idol, Trent Reznor. Despite having survived the events that preceded them, the group is reminded that they still lost a friend in the process as everyone starts to tear up.
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