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The Story: A psychotic slasher kills off virgins in the peaceful town of Cherry Falls, Virginia.

In the history of horror films, very few have had as much trouble reaching the screen as the film Cherry Falls. Directed by Wright, who also directed the excellent and violent skinhead film Romper Stomper, this late entry into the revivified teen slasher sub-genre was threatened with an NC-17 rating, and submitted to the MPAA a whopping five times for cuts. The original film was so full of bloody violence and explicit sexuality that by the time the ratings board was done with it, all the things that promised to make this one of the best slasher movies ever had been nipped and tucked worse than an LA socialite.

A total of eight minutes was removed to garner the 92 minute R rated version and the film was ultimately picked up by the USA Network, who cut it yet again for content so they could premiere it on their cable network, removing two or three more minutes of already censored carnage and sexuality. All this while the film was enjoying a reasonably successful run overseas. To say this film was kicked around like a red headed step child is a vast understatement; this film was completely gutted, period. Thus, it would be a waste of time to review the final TV print, so instead I'm going with the badly trimmed R rated video version which was unjustly slapped onto a double feature video with the lame John Ritter film Terror Tract (not going to waste my time reviewing that stinker). Let's take a look.

We start the film off with a young guy and gal making out in a car parked in the woods. She thwarts his every attempt to get more intimate, so the guy steps out of the car to let off some steam. Next thing you know, the girl is attacked and killed by a long haired, high heeled psycho woman and the word "virgin" carved into her skin.

Sheriff Marken (Michael Biehn) is on the case and soon comes to find out that there's a slasher running loose, carving up virgins. He begins worrying about his own teenage daughter, Jody (Brittany Murphy), and calls a town meeting at the local high school to inform parents of the situation. The thought of virgins being murdered seems unfathomable to the parents, yet while the meeting proceeds, no one notices that Jody and a friend are listening in the wings. While the meeting continues, Jody and her friend are attacked by the lady killer, and the chase leads them into a class room where Jody barely manages to escape a grisly death.

Soon, word of the virgin killer spreads throughout the school, and students hoping to escape a violent death organize a massive orgy to ensure that no virgin is left unturned, so to speak. In the meantime, the concerned Sheriff Marken asks his daughter just how far she and her boyfriend have gone intimately. For the first time in probably the history of the world as we know it, the father is actually upset that his daughter has yet to lose her flower, making her a prime candidate for an early grave. Will Jody manage to save herself by losing her virginity? What exactly is the connection between Sheriff Marken and the female murderer? What are all those kids gonna do when the psycho suddenly turns up at the teenage sexathon? And what's the deal with the overly sensitive teacher Mr. Marliston (Jay Mohr)? You'll have to watch to find out.

Even in the heavily cut R rated edition, Cherry Falls is a fresh, entertaining slasher flick that takes all the typical slasher rules and turns them on their ear. There are no rules here, folks: sex does not equal death, our main heroine is not your typical girl next door, and the killer is not the slow walking type. One of the most thrilling moments in the film is during the scene where Jody is first attacked - the killer actually pours it on, full steam ahead, bounding across the floor like a steroid-fueled track star as our petite heroine suddenly has to scramble for her life. There are terrible family secrets and a performance by Murphy that keeps you guessing. You don't know what she's going to do next, and this sets her far above her co-stars with the exception of Biehn, whose revelation of a long hidden secret will surprise you.

And the idea of the movie itself is hilarious when you think about it. Virgins getting killed. In a town called "Cherry Falls" (a sneaky way of saying "losing your cherry"). In "Virgin"ia. Or, I don't know, maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

All the aforementioned cut scenes are obvious in the film. You can see where scenes of gore were either trimmed or removed, where some shots were panned and scanned or zoomed in on to avoid showing explicit nudity, and even entire scenes omitted. But seeing this R rated version simply heightened my desire to see a fully uncut version, with all the gore and sexuality intact. If they were to ever release this version, I guarantee you we'd have a new classic slasher flick on our hands. But USA would have to pull its head out of its ass to do this. And I'm not going to hold my breath - this is the network responsible for for the ghastly La Femme Nikita TV series, and that alone tells me they don't have the slightest idea of what entertainment is.

Full of sly sex jokes (as well as some blatantly obvious ones), a new twist on the slasher plot and characters you actually give a damn about, Cherry Falls, though not great in its R rated form, is still an entertaining sojourn into the world of teen horror. Keep an eye on the closing credits for a funny twist on the old "no animals were harmed during the making of this film" disclaimer. And dammit, let's tell USA we want an Uncut release!