Directing tandem Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson’s All Cheerleaders Die is a film about exactly that, a handful of dead cheerleaders hellbent on getting revenge on their high school football team. A ridiculous premise like that deserves and even more insane execution and McKee and Sivertson mostly hit the mark in that regard. It’s a fun, straight-forward horror comedy that spills plenty of the red stuff while chalking up some genuine laughs here and there.

There’s a little bit of everything for horror fans to grab ahold of in this one, which is not only a part of its charm but a part of its problem as well. With elements of witchcraft, zombies and the supernatural, the narrative certainly has a lot going on; it just never really fully develops the way you hope. Other than that, and its sluggish start, All Cheerleaders Die is quite fun once the wheels start rolling and the limbs start flying.

Pissy teenage girls with typical high school problems is the perfect recipe for a scary group of females. Throw in the fact that they’re all brought back from the dead supercharged with the desire to drink blood and you now have All Cheerleaders Die. It’s as simple as that. And really, if you willingly watch a movie about an undead group of pompom wielding cheerleaders, you’re getting exactly what you’re asking for. Nothing wrong with that.

But where All Cheerleaders Die really hits its stride is with its phenomenal cast that is led by a handful of great actresses who look like they’re having a blast. They hit all the right notes and bring a special kind of energy to the film that I think a lot of people are going to enjoy. In the indie horror scene we see a lot of films get carried by one or two great performances; that’s not the case with All Cheerleaders Die as each and every one of these girls breathe something unique into their characters despite how underdeveloped some of them are. Without these performances the film loses a lot of its identity, so hats off to them for getting their hands dirty and taking their roles and running away with them.

While I think a tighter script that could have snuck in some early mayhem would have helped this one out quite a bit, it’s nice to have a horror film centered on some evil-doing bad ass chicks for once rather than what we usually see out of the genre. No, instead of the girls doing the running, they’re doing the chasing and it’s glorious. Ah, the sweet sound of terror infused man-screams.

3/5