Stream a horror hoot w/ rapist villain: the Lucky McKee/Chris Siverston ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE

Back in 2011, anyone fortunate (and strong) enough to sit through Lucky McKee & writer Jack Ketchum's one-of-a-kind horror tale, The Woman, found themselves watching a film that -- due to its theme (the male prerogative gone bananas) and execution (sterling) -- immediately entered the pantheon of horror classics. Mr McKee is back this year with lighter fare -- ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE -- on which he collaborated with Chris Siverston. The theme is again the nasty rise of masculine entitlement, specifically that of the very timely situation of sports stars who abuse and rape women, but the handling here is satirical, funny and loosey-goosey as anything you're likely to see.

While the filmmakers' story (that's McKee above, right, with Siverston) is handled with wit, humor and bite (metaphorical and literal), the villain remains the male abuser -- a figure of appealing sexiness who slowly morphs into an uber-creep sprouting manifold entitlement and zero remorse -- played nastily and well by Tom Williamson, shown below and at bottom. Mr. McKee, I warrant, is a feminist filmmaker.

The movie begins as a kind of mockumentary in which a student journalist follows around a head cheerleader, who explains in an hilariously loony fashion how her school/cheerleading/love life works. This segment ends rather abruptly with a dark and funny shock, and we're off to the races.

What initially begins as a comedy satire becomes a story of man/woman revenge, and then -- thanks to the school Wiccan (a creepy/pretty Sianoa Smit-McPhee, below) doing some casting of stones -- morphs into a supernatural tale in which our group of suddenly dead cheerleaders comes back to life to wreak some real revenge. Except it ain't that easy because our football star/villain proves a little too smart/nasty to be put down.

There is a rather high silliness quotient here, but McKee and Siverston manage to keep things moving so fast and furiously that we can pretty much accept it all and go with the rapid flow. Visually, the film is fun -- colorful (lots of red blood, as you might expect, but many other pretty colors, too) with some nice lighting effects.

The acting is unusually good for this sort of film, with each of the cheerleaders effectively standing out in her own way. Brook Butler (above, with Michael Bowen) is terrifically funny, subtle and sexy as blond bimbo Tracy, while the quite beautiful Caitlin Stasey (below) makes a properly confused and conniving heroine bent on somehow doing the right thing.

Older/younger sisters (played by Amanda Grace Cooper, below, and Reanin Johannink) complete the quartet of dead-alives, each with her own pretty-colored, body-embedded crystal.

All Cheerleaders Die is simply too all-over-the-place to have ever been a mainstream horror hit. But for those who have a taste for this sort of flashy, funny, fun and gore that offers a nicely propulsive forward thrust, you should not be disappointed.

The movie can be seen now via Netflix streaming and other digital venues, as well as on DVD.

A dark original worth experiencing: Lucky McKee's and Jack Ketchum's THE WOMAN

I've seen Pollyanna McIntosh in several movies (Sex and Death 101, Land of the Lost, Burke and Hare, and Exam) but only really noticed her in the latter film. Anyone lucky enough to see this actress in the current THE WOMAN will not soon forget her. Ms McIntosh, good as she is and given the vagaries of the acting profession, will be lucky to ever essay a movie role this memorable again. It's staggering, and she gives it her all -- despite (maybe because of) being severely limited in the dialog department. Written by Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum, based on their novel and directed by Mr. McKee, the movie is a broadside -- but a damned convincing one -- about the male prerogative gone utterly and irresolutely bonkers.

Mr McKee, shown at right -- who earlier gave us the excellent Brian Cox film Red, the odd and creepily endearing May, and the interesting but not entirely successful The Woods -- has now given us an original and probable cult classic that, if I'm right, will easily stand the test of time. (He's used his May leading lady, Angela Bettis, in the mother role here, and Ms Bettis has lost none of her creepy charm.) Mainly, though, McKee and Ketchum have created a modern mythic title character likely to haunt the dreams of men (she's sexual and scary in equal measure) while creating the kind of female heroine that mere money (read Hollywood blockbuster stuff) could never buy.

No: This woman, above, is a creation of pure talent (the filmmakers' and Ms McIntosh's) and part wild-but-on-target reading of the zeitgeist -- past, present and most probably (given the male-of-the-species' slow-learning process) future.

The primary male in this film is played -- and very well -- by Sean Bridgers (above), an actor who works a lot, mostly in TV and cable and therefore has been little seen by TM. I'll certainly remember him from this movie. From the film's initial scene, male behavior, of both father and son (below -- an impressive debut from Zach Rand) is off-base and worrisome. We only slowly learn just how unhealthy these guys are, and one of the real beauties of the film is that, by the time they get their comeuppance, viewers will be able to handle it surprisingly well, despite, hmmm, you'll see....

Because the film, pre-credit, begins in a kind of over-the-top manner, you would imagine that we would be ready for just about anything. Yet the finale takes us places that still manage to shock -- particularly with the introduction of a character that, given what we know, is a surprise that makes perfect sense. (Also, the actress that plays her -- I believe it's Alexa Marcigliano -- does an amazing job of something I don't recall ever seeing a woman do on screen.)

Ms Bettis, shown at left, is excellent, as usual, and so are the two girls who play her offsrping: Lauren Ashley Carter as the fraught older daughter and Shyla Molhusen as the younger (and aptly-named) Darlin'.

The Woman has cult film written all over it, but unlike some of the movies that make it to that status, it will, I suspect, deservedly retain its reputation in the years to come. It delivers on every front -- from design to execution, theme to characterization, and yes, horror hounds, in the blood, guts and gore departments, too.

Being shown theatrically as part of the late-night series at AMC theaters presented by BloodyDisgusting.com together with The Collective, this film is definitely the best thing in the series so far. Click here for screening dates and times, and watch for VOD and/or streaming possibilities -- plus an eventual DVD release, as well.