Themes: Dangerous Friends, High School Life, Faltering Friendships
Main Cast: Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Judy Greer, Chad Christ, Carol Kane, Pam Grier
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
At Ronald Reagan High School, the power elite clique consists of Courtney Shane (Rose McGowan), Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart), Marcie Fox (Julie Benz), and Liz Purr (Charlotte Roldan). The four girls control the school through a combination of beauty, sex, and intimidation. Of the four, only Liz is actually liked by the less fortunate members of the student body, and Liz is also the only one who can keep Courtney, the vicious group leader, in check. Unfortunately for Liz, she's also the only thing keeping Courtney from becoming prom queen. To achieve her goal, Courtney convinces Marcie and Julie to kidnap Liz on her 17th birthday and force her to eat until she's too fat to win. The three sneak into Liz's house, tie her up, stick a jawbreaker in her mouth, and gag her to keep her quiet before they throw her into the trunk of a car. Once they decide to free her, though, they find Liz has choked to death. Courtney decides not to go to the police; her brilliant idea is to take the body back home and create a death scene where Liz is strangled during kinky sex. Predictably, the girls screw it up, and they end up with a witness, social outcast Fern Mayo (Judy Greer). To buy her silence, Courtney draws her into the clique, transforming much more than just her outward appearance. The identity of Fern disappears, to be replaced by the very popular Vylette. In parallel to the rise of Vylette, we witness Julie's descent. Overcome with guilt over Liz's death, Julie drops out of the clique, and without the veil of protection from the others, she is now a target of abuse throughout the school. Courtney's ordeal has just begun as Vylette now challenges her for prom queen and Julie, with the help of another outcast, Zach (Chad Christ), now wants to reveal the truth behind Liz's death. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide
Ethan Erickson - Dane Sanders; Charlotte Roldan - Liz Purr; William Katt - Mr. Purr; P.J. Soles - Mrs. Purr; Jeff Conaway - Marcie's Father
Credit
Lisa Beach - Casting, Sarah Katzman - Casting, Thom Colwell - Co-producer, Vikki Brinkkord - Costume Designer, Darren Stein - Director, Troy T. Takaki - Editor, Carol Strong - Hair Styles, Stephen Endelman - Composer (Music Score), Peter Coquillard - Musical Direction/Supervision, Carol Strong - Makeup, Jerry Fleming - Production Designer, Amy Vincent - Cinematographer, Lisa Tornell - Producer, Stacy Kramer - Producer, Jay Meagher - Sound/Sound Designer, Scott McElroy - Stunts Coordinator, Darren Stein - Screenwriter, Alex Steyermark - Executive Music Producer, The Donnas - Featured Music
There's a wicked clique in Reagan High School, Los Angeles. Cursed with beauty, dark wit and cold charisma, the girls in the pack are making their way up the social ladder, leaving casualties in their path. That is, until a mindless birthday prank leaves Elizabeth "Liz" Purr (Charlotte Roldan) choked to death on a jawbreaker, still in her bra and panties, in the trunk of a car. The girls responsible for the grisly (yet accidental) murder are Courtney (Rose McGowan), the cold hearted leader; Marcie (Julie Benz), the adoring best friend; and Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), the sensible and kind one. Courtney insists on covering up the murder, making it look as if Liz had died at the hands of a rapist. Stumbling upon the dark plot is school outcast Fern Mayo (Judy Greer); to buy Fern's silence, Courtney accepts Fern into the clique, transforming her into beautiful exchange student "Vylette." Disgusted and horrified with her friends' actions, Julie, the only one with remorse, leaves the group, only to be targeted by her former friends. Julie watches in mute horror as Courtney spins a relentless web of lies, betrayal and manipulation to cover up the murder and ensure her popularity.
In time, Vylette's popularity eclipses Courtney's own, leading Courtney to turn on her and reveal her identity to the entire school. With Fern once again reduced to an outcast, Julie takes pity on her and forgives her for falling under Courtney's influence. Later, Julie finds the recording card she was fiddling with when Courtney was faking Liz's death (containing the message. "I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it") among a bag of Liz's possessions she was given. Fern, Julie, and her boyfriend, broadcast this card at the school Prom when Courtney is making her Prom Queen speech, and this brings the demise of her popularity as the students of the school pelt her with flowers and call her a murderer. Awaiting her at the very end with a camera is Julie, whom she begs tearfully for clemency but finds all-too-willing to add to her misery ("smile, pretty Courtney").
