Cupid (2020)

There has been so much activity lately Brit-Horror wise, especially on the low budget end of the spectrum. Activity that has not necessarily been for the better, as 2019's triple threat of The Manson Family Massacre, Mask of Thorn and Invasion Planet Earth managed to prove. Slightly more promising are the films of Scott Jeffrey, although the films Jeffrey directs tend to be several notches above the films where he is merely the producer (I couldn’t make it through the Jeffrey produced ‘The Mummy Reborn’, and only just about made it to the end of ‘Mandy- The Doll’). Still Jeffrey is quite the filmmaking workhorse with the IMDb crediting him with directing 15 movies and producing 47 since 2016. Mostly horror, although among his forthcoming slate is "The Gardener" a British action thriller starring Hungarian Charles Bronson lookalike Robert 'Bronzi' Kovacs as a green fingered vigilante. Jeffrey can clearly knock ‘em out quickly, but there seems to be a tiny bit more effort and personality at work in them than the "why make a proper movie when you can film an am-dram rehearsal" approach of, say, Andrew Jones.

Cupid is in the long standing tradition of British productions that are pretending to be American. A shtick dating back to the days of Fire Maidens of/from Outer Space although given its high school setting and revenge theme 1986's Slaughter High is perhaps this film's closest blood brother. My main issue with 'pretend American' British horror is that they tend to lack any real atmosphere, due to having to conceal their locations. A dilemma that Jeffrey's films tend to get around by simply ignoring the issue. Having their cake and eating it by making cast members adopt American accents and play American characters, while the location work of these films soak up the unmistakably British atmosphere of ye olde churchyards, pubs, deserted train stations and quaint old villages. Thus, Cupid takes place in a transatlantic never neverland where the school setting is obviously British, yet a large proportion of the teachers and students just happen to sport US accents and where even the British students are prone to Americanisms. Cupid can lay claim to the most unusual yet ludicrous monster to come along in a long while, yes the baddie is that romantic bow and arrow guy, but he ain't no cherub, rather this Cupid is a skull faced demon who is summoned up by the lovelorn. Bullied teenager Faye is the latest to call on Cupid to draw back his bow, after her life is made a misery by her schoolmates. A bunch lead by the particularly spoilt and malicious Elise, who has personal with Faye (due to the fact that Faye's mum has shacked up with Elise’s dad). The straw that breaks the camel's back comes when they prank Faye into believing that her good guy teacher Mr. Jones has a thing for her, which also threatens to jeopardize his career too. Enter Cupid, who Faye calls upon for revenge, only to find the lives of her friends, enemies and teachers are equally in peril - the Cupid Stunt!!

As with other 'bullied teenager reaches out to the supernatural for revenge' films like Carrie, Fulci's Aenigma and Evilspeak, there is an awful lot of persecution and schoolyard drama to contend with before the horror elements fully kick in, but likeable performances by Georgina Jane, Michael Owusu, plus Sarah T. Cohen as detestable, yet entertaining mean bitch Elise make it compelling enough for you to stick with. Elise gets the best, laugh out loud, piece of dialogue in the film, when she attempts to justify her behavior towards Faye, by telling her "if your mum had just kept her legs closed, then I would have never hated you this much". The payoff is definitely worth the wait as Cupid shoots people through the eye with arrows, carves heart shaped cookies out of the flesh of one victim (which the other school kids unwittingly eat) and slices open throats with love letters. A wildly over the top arm severing scene - which ironically Cupes is only indirectly involved with- is unquestionably the film's gore highlight though. Cupid is far from perfect (some of the supporting actors are cringe worthy and the Cupid make-up looks equally shoddy in some shots) but on the basis on this and the even better 'Don't Speak' (a knock-off of 'A Quiet Place' featuring more phony Americans, this time being terrorized by a blind mutant) Jeffrey might yet be a talent to watch.