TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

howells I've read through all the reviews and I'm surprised no one mentioned that this is a pretty obvious remake of Frank Perry's 1969 film "Last Summer". As soon as I saw the seagull with the girl and the two boys that came along, I recognized the plot. Then when the second girl showed up I was convinced they were doing an uncredited remake of that amazing and disturbing film. That said, this isn't bad. Even though I knew where the film was headed, I was interested throughout. I would suggest giving "Last Summer" a viewing, since that is much better and more original.

Jesse Boland The Crush meets Cruel Intentions after a bath of American Psycho. This is a stylish movie, there are a few styles very much complimenting each other. First you have the effect of keeping all adult authority figures obscured, or in complete darkness so that the story could remain focused completely on the the leads much like an adult in Peanuts has a garbled voice, and is never really shown. When all secrets come to light so do the adults, and the whole world takes on a wider focus. There is a mean girl in this movie that you will hate, at first though the acting is a bit harsh, and choppy, and needs a little time to settle in. There is an obvious direction that you can see these kids heading, and the only questions you will have will be the ones that are answered in the last five minutes. This is a movie that I Enjoyed, and at just about an hour and a half after starting on a sour note I am glad I stuck with it. This one gets a recommendation from me to any suspense thriller buffs, this is free of language, but there is a lot of drug use. Overall it was a fun story, and I am glad they told it to me.

Paul Allaer "California Scheming" (2014 release; 98 min.) brings the story of Chloe Vandersteen (played by Gia Mantegna), a teenager in Malibu, and her equally bored friends. As the movie opens, Chloe find a wounded seagull on the beach. Two teenage guys, Jason and Nick, happen to walk by and they help Chloe to take care of the bird. The three of them strike up a quick friendship and are hanging out more and more. Later on, another girl, Hillary, who just moved there from Boston and is still grieving over her mom's death, befriends the three. Meanwhile we get to see Chloe starting to manipulate her friends. But is everything to be taken at face value? Or are we being set up by the script for a major plot twist? And why will the term 'creepy crawling' become a familiar one? At this point we are a good 30 minutes into the movie and to tell you more might spoil your viewing experience.Couple of comments: first, this is the directing debut of long-time producer Marco Weber. He also wrote and edited the movie. Second, the movie takes forever to get mildly interesting towards the last half four. There is literally nothing happening In the first hour that is of any interest, other than the vague character building, I suppose. Yet even there, we do not understand what makes Chloe tick, or why she does what she does. Third, I get it that this movie wants to be the next "Cruel Intentions" but I have to tell you that compared to this, "Cruel Intentions" is an instant classic and a standard bearer. Fourth, what is with this movie's poster (a naked Gia Mantegna)? Just so you know: there is no nudity in the film, none. I think it is a shameless attempt to lure the uninformed viewer into thinking this movie is something which it isn't. Fifth, the photography in the movie is eye-candy (all filmed on location in Malibu). Last but not least, there are some great indie and surf songs playing in the movie. I was eager to check out what those songs were, but imagine my surprise when in the end credits the songs are not even listed! "California Scheming" opened this weekend on a single screen for all of Greater Cincinnati. I had a private showing at the matinée screening where I saw this at today, as in: I was literally the only person in the theater. I cannot imagine that this movie will play more than 1 week in the theater. But eve if it did, I honestly cannot recommend this movie. "California Scheming" is wildly uneven, with no clear direction for most of the movie and a script that is frighteningly void of good ideas and content. VIEWER BEWARE!

Mindy Banks I just finished watching and the thing that scared me the most wasn't any kind of cheap 'pop out at you' scares, but the fact that these are very real feeling kids in situations that might hit close to home for a lot of teens. I knew girls in school who were just like Chloe. The ones that use their looks to get other people to do whatever they want. And the other kids feel real too. The ones who just want to fit in or the ones that get bullied into doing things they wouldn't normally do. So this isn't the kind of movie that keep you hanging onto the edge of your seat, but it's the kind where it burns really slow and makes you think of people that you know and situations you've been in. Definitely check it out if you want to see something that you'll still be feeling after you're done watching it.