THE LOVED ONES
The Loved Ones is an Australian horror movie directed by Sean Byrne and released in 2009.
Brent (played by Xavier Samuel) is a high school student who six months prior to the events of this film crashed the car he is driving and kills his dad. The movie picks up the day of prom. Brent has a girlfriend, Holly, whom he has already asked. However, his classmate, Lola, who while not unattractive is a little frumpy and wants to go with Brent. Brent of course says no. Unfortunately for him, Lola doesn’t take his rejection well at all. She already has a plan for revenge and boy is it brutal. Seeing as Brent was not rude or insulting, you are left wondering what has fueled this young lady’s rage. Estrogen? Repeated rejection? Perhaps she is just a raving lunatic!
Whatever the reason, I guarantee you will be completely disgusted while watching this film. You may cringe, make faces or even turn away but stick with it. The pay off is worth it. I HATED Lola. I wanted her to get her comeuppance so badly that was all I could think of the entire time. The actress Robin McLeavey did an excellent job of portraying Lola as totally reprehensible.
This twisted tale of a teenage crush gone sour will knock your socks off. I liken it to a John Hughes movie gone horribly wrong. Homicidal in Pink anyone? The actor playing Lola’s dad actually resembles Andie’s dad. There will be some viewers who will call this torture porn and perhaps in a way it is because of the actions of Lola. I don’t agree because the movie elicited such strong emotions from me and made me care about the victim. Lola had a reason for her vengeful actions whether justified or not to the viewer she believed she was. In her mind something terribly wrong had been done to her.
If you like a horror movie that is brutal, action packed, thought provoking, and sticks with you The Loved Ones is a must see. I enjoyed this movie a great deal. I actually purchased it from Target because I was unable to find it as a rental. If you are a horror fan who has an extensive movie collection this is a definite buy.
LITTLE MISS HORROR NERD’S RATING: 4 out of 5
