Movie Review: Extracurricular

credit: Extracurricular

It’s tough to get emotional in any way about a horror movie unless that happens to be the desired reaction, but for some reason, the overall feeling that the kids in Extracurricular are meant to be viewed as antagonists who are also meant to be the main focus of the movie actually makes it possible to become irritated with their antics. Worse than that, the hobby of killing people, which they appear to take so lightly simply because they manage to pick people who have no idea that it’s coming, is kind of irksome since it feels as though their obvious mistakes should have ended them much sooner, or at least allowed them to get caught.

But getting past that, this movie might have been looked at as a point of interest that makes it clear how underestimating high school kids is not a good idea and that their creativity as well as their youthful exuberance, are quite dangerous when they’re allowed to cultivate their own interests. Of course, not a lot of people are of the mind that their ‘sweet children’ are going to go on a murderous rampage simply because they think it’s fun. Given how many high school students today think violence isn’t the answer, the hypocrisy in this movie is kind of amusing. 

credit: Extracurricular

The first kill feels more random than they let on, especially since it’s shown that the kids do their homework before they go out a-killing. 

Despite the fact that later on we get to see that this foursome does sit down to plan their kills, in a teacher’s classroom no less, the first kill does feel as though it was a mini-orgy of violence that was over too quickly, and carried huge ramifications that the teens had no idea would occur.

The fact that the woman they killed was pregnant should up the stakes in a big way and push the police to find out who was responsible for the killing, but somehow the cops appear to let the matter die down a bit, and the teens treat this fact as if it’s a minor snag in their plans, despite the fact that one of them appears to be truly bothered by it for a few moments.

To her credit, the teen that has an issue with the killing does appear truly bothered for a while, but it doesn’t stop her from continuing to suggest the date and location for the next kill with the others. In any other horror movie, this lack of empathy or even a reaction of some sort might push the overall feeling of how ruthless these killers are, but in this movie, it actually feels a little off. 

There is a lack of unity in this group that’s held together by a tenuous connection that is easy to see.

Once Miriam is seen to be the weak link, it’s fair to assume that even if she goes along with the next murder, which she does, her heart is no longer in it as much. When it’s revealed that she has feelings for one of her female friends, it becomes even easier to think that she’s having doubts.

The fact that each of these teens lives a life that some would call normal while planning their murders behind closed doors is creepy as hell since it indicates that all four of them are psychopaths that are comfortable showing the world a pleasing face while harboring malicious intent when no one else is looking.

Ian and his brother Derek are the sons of a police officer, while Jenny is the only real wild card in the bunch, as she proves later on, and leans more into the realm of the sociopath than the others, who are in this for the thrill and enjoy what they’re doing, so long as they don’t end up being caught or harmed in the process. Hey, it’s all fun until the prey fights back, right? 

credit: Extracurricular

Believing that teens can overpower any adult they come across isn’t hard to believe, but it’s still enough to elicit an eye-roll. 

It’s true teens can be extremely tough and quite strong thanks to a number of reasons, but thinking that they can take on adults that have been through a lifetime of experience is a tough sell. One of the only reasons that an adult might pause when trying to defend themselves is if they know the teen if they believe that they can talk them down, and of course, if they’re weaker than the teen.

But seeing Jenny rush into a room and slug a fully-grown adult as though she’s a trained boxer is a stretch since there’s no indication that Jenny is anything other than a high school student that’s a little too aggressive for her own good. And the fact that Ian and Derek needed each other to take down a fully-grown man kind of makes the point that, on their own, they’re not all that tough unless they have the element of surprise. 

The ending is extremely unsatisfying, but oh well. 

Remember when I said that Jenny turns full-on sociopath? It turns out that she doesn’t have the same regard for her friends as they had for her and each other, since when Miriam is shot by one of their victims, before one of the brothers sticks a knife in the woman’s neck, seeing as how she’s already on the ground and is an easy target, Jenny decides to perform triage in the back of their getaway car and suffocates Miriam. The fact that both brothers are then killed, both by Jenny, proves that her exit strategy wasn’t something that the group had discussed ahead of time.