Beautiful Mandy Lane isn't a party girl but, when classmate Chloe invites the Texas high school student to a bash in the countryside, she reluctantly accepts. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop mysteriously.
A slightly artsy attempt to revive the teen slasher movie, "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" drifts awkwardly between popcorn entertainment and angsty mood piece.
While some of the kills are sufficiently clever and gnarly, "Mandy Lane" is never particularly frightening. And the twist at the end raises the wee issue of character motivation-or lack thereof.
There's a slightly nasty twist to some of the violence, with an air of school shooter menace ultimately creeping in as the group's tormentor is revealed.
Too dumb for the arthouse, but too smart for the mall multiplex, the movie satisfies, paradoxically, precisely because it doesn't deliver on expectations.
