Cherry Falls

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Rating 2½

Directed by Geoffrey Wright

Written by Ken Selden

Starring Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr, Michael Biehn, Candy Clark, Gabriel Mann, Jesse Watrouse (Rod Harper), Joe Inscoe and Amanda Anka


A serial killer is targeting students at a high school in Cherry Falls. When the local sheriff, Brent Marken (Michael Biehn), begins to suspect the common denominator is that the victims are all virgins, the students determine to lose their virginity to become immune to the activities of the killer. In the meantime, the sheriff’s daughter, Jody (Brittany Murphy), discovers a terrible secret that has been hidden for the past 27 years.

‘Cherry Falls’ is a slasher movie that inverts one of the traditions of the genre; that the promiscuous teenagers will always fall prey to the killer. Having introduced this twist, it needed to do much more with it than happens here. Half-hearted lip service is paid to attitudes towards sex, but nowhere near enough to make much of an impact. Some degree of commentary about sex education in the American school system might have been introduced into the storyline, but remains resolutely absent, despite reference to the general level of ignorance, especially amongst the boys. In the end, it’s a missed opportunity that boils down to nothing more than teenagers with rampaging hormones obsessing about sex.

The film is reasonably well done, although it doesn’t count amongst the very best examples of the genre. It has a decent cast – and certainly benefits from the presence of the excellent Jay Mohr. The director, Geoffrey Wright, had previously made the cult Australian film ‘Romper Stomper’, an early breakthrough role for Russell Crowe.




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Ghost Whisperer

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Created by John Gray

Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad, Camryn Manheim and Jay Mohr


I have increasingly found myself watching and enjoyed ‘Ghost Whisperer’ and I look forward to new episodes. I think the turning point came with the rather impressive two-part season one finale, ‘Free Fall’ and ‘The One’.

I would not for one moment try to lay claim that it is a great show, destined to be remembered for its influence or quality, unlike say ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ or ‘The West Wing’. It’s fluff. It’s the new ‘Murder She Wrote’, although it might be worth remembering the enormous success and popularity of that show.

The premise is simple enough. Melinda (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) owns an antique store in a small town (the show uses the old ‘Back to the Future’ set). She sees ghosts, those who have “unfinished business” in the world of the living, and helps them to cross over to the other side.

Although it is in its third season in America, I am currently watching season two. It’s sentimental and saccharine and the resolutions at the end of each episode are often ludicrously glib and unbelievable. A case in point is ‘Children of Ghosts’, the eighteenth episode of season two, which features Jenna Boyd, a young actress who made an impression in the film ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants’.

Somehow, Melinda and her hubby (Hewitt and David Conrad) manage to become foster parents to this troubled young girl at the drop of a hat. In one scene Melinda suggests it and at the start of the next scene it has become a reality, even though they had no prior fostering experience and were not registered with social services. Later on, when Melinda discovers the identity of the girl’s real mother, she is able to hand her over with nary a form to sign or an explanation to be given. It’s trite and wears rose-tinted glasses, but it has a big heart and that particular episode also happens to be a favourite of mine.

I find it nearly impossible to dislike Jennifer Love Hewitt. She is surely too perky to take a real dislike to and my instinctive leaning in her favour has been strengthened recently by the spiteful, childish and woefully misinformed gossip about her weight.



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