Acolytes (2008) Reviews

Three teenagers find their longtime friendship crumbling after enlisting the aid of a ruthless serial killer in ridding themselves of a relentless bully in this dark thriller from Redball director Jon Hewitt. High school has been a living hell for shy teens Mark (Sebastian Gregory) and James (Joshua Payne); classroom bully Gary Parker has made it his life's mission to ensure that their suffering doesn't end until they graduate, and it's obvious he relishes his work. Now that graduation day is drawing near, Mark and James begin making plans to strike back at Gary with a vengeance. Then, shortly after the disappearance of a female classmate, Mark discovers a fresh grave in the woods near his quiet suburban neighborhood, and witnesses an SUV speeding away from the scene. Returning to the site later that day with James and his girlfriend, Chasely (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), Mark decides to grab a shovel and go to work. No one expected to find anything more incriminating than a dead family pet, so when the earth splits open to reveal the corpse of a Canadian backpacker, the trio makes it their mission to track down the killer and blackmail him into exacting violent revenge on their old nemesis Gary. But this is one killer who doesn't play by the rules, and by the time he turns the tables on Mark, Gary, and Chasely, the three teens realize that their only hope for escape is to confront their darkest fears head-on. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi