Detention [Blu-ray]

Overview

A handful of high-school students struggle to make it through senior year without dying in this manic satire of teen-themed slasher flicks and youth comedies. Riley (Shanley Caswell) is a clever but cynical social outcast at Grizzly Lake High School, and she's the unrequited love object of Sander (Aaron David Johnson), who is even less popular and more sexually frustrated than she is. Meanwhile, ironically named hipster Clapton (Josh Hutcherson) is head over heels for Ione (Spencer Locke), a beautiful but self-obsessed cheerleader. All four are waiting out their final year of high school, but it's anyone's guess if they'll see graduation, as a serial killer known as CinderHella is on the loose and preying on Grizzly Lake's student body. The principal (Dane Cook) is certain CinderHella is a disgruntled student and figures he can keep the prom from turning into a bloodbath by putting the likely suspects in all-day detention on the day of the big dance, but obviously that doesn't go as he planned. Meanwhile, various students struggle with shape-shifting, contract flesh-eating diseases, discover time travel, and fall victim to a gang making porn videos on school grounds. Directed by Joseph Kahn (who makes an uncharitable reference to his own directorial debut in the early reels), Detention received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/31/2012
UPC:	0043396404557
Original Release:	2011
Rating:	R
Source:	Sony Pictures
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	25,798

Special Features

Cheat Mode: The Unbelievably Mind Melting Making of Detention; ; Screen Tests; Fight Sequence Rehearsal; Riffing with Dane

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Josh Hutcherson	Clapton Davis
Dane Cook	Principal Karl Verge
Erica Shaffer	Sloan Foster
Yves Bright	Mr. Kendall
Parker Bagley	Billy Nolan
Tiffany Boone	Mimi
Alison Woods	Taylor Fisher
Lindsey Morgan	Alexis Spencer
Travis Fleetwood	Gord
Will Wallace	Doug Jones
Aaron Perilo	Mike
Matthew Albrecht	Greg
Kate Kelton	Madison
Tammy Minoff	Wendy
Amanda Leatherman	Monica Lafontaine
Jan Anderson	Ms. Macintire
Arthur Darbinyan	Dr. Murdock
Ilana Cohn	Officer Marge McNally
Harry Anthony Shelley	Officer Randy Randazzo
Jay Brian Winnick	Principal Woodruff
Jesse Heiman	Nerd
Percy Daggs III	Jock Kid
Carrie Wiita	Cinderhella
Allison Paige	Female Student #1
Dominic Monaghan	Lead Singer of The Drunges
Skye P. Marshall	News Reporter (uncredited)
Daniel Negreanu	Male News Reporter
Alexandros Potter	Indian Clerk
Julianna Alibrando	Actor
Ivy Bregman	Actor
Alison Brooks	Actor
Lisa Cumming	Actor
Melissa Reese	Composer
Brain and Melissa	Composer

Technical Credits

Peter Jurt

Mark Palermo	Producer
Mary Ann Tanedo	Producer
Richard Weager	Producer
Greg Tharp	Producer
Nicole Ehrlich	Producer
Josh Hutcherson	Executive Producer
Robert Abramoff	Executive Producer
Clayton Reaser	Executive Producer
Bob Abramoff	Executive Producer
Vernon Reaser	Executive Producer
David Kang	Executive Producer
Peter Jurt	Director,Screenwriter,Director

Editorial Reviews

It's hard to describe Detention without spilling the goods. What can be said is that it's a lot more than a teen slasher flick. Though it might share some of Scream's postmodern comedic leanings amidst the slice-and-dice kills, there's more juice in the fruit than just that. Unpredictably wild and full of a bingo-cage grab bag of genre mash-ups, the flick miraculously remains cohesive despite walking a tightrope between mad brilliance and lunacy throughout its lean running time. At its core is a hyperstylized reaction to the last two decades of pop culture, with hip characters making fun of what's hip in what is ultimately an incredibly hip film. While parents can find guides to the teens' cryptic text messages online, the key to understanding Detention lies in piecing together its excessively creative puzzle. It's purposefully not for everyone, and that's a good thing. As with most cult films, the picture's admirers might feel strange if society as a whole embraced all of the crazy that's on display here. In short, Detention is weird…but normality is even weirder. Detention doesn't just bust out of the box, it destroys it. Just when you think it's going in one direction -- bam, it hits you like a ghost punch. Boom boom -- it's a teen comedy. Boom boom -- it's a slasher film. Boom boom -- you're in a sci-fi movie. And before you know it, the flick's riffing on '80s teen fantasy comedies. There's a lot in there. It sometimes feels like too much, but don't tell that to your buzzing brain, which will connect many of the dots after the credits roll -- or better yet, on your second or third viewing. The tale follows a select few high-school seniors in Grizzly Lake, a suburb like any other -- except there's a killer on the loose. Class outcast Riley Jones (Shanley Caswell) has enough on her mind: her ex-best friend stole the skater kid she was crushing on, her new best friend wishes he was the kid she was crushing on, and she's dateless for the prom with a bum leg stuck in a cast. If that's not enough, a maniac mimicking a slasher series called "Cinderhella" is stalking her. Meanwhile, the focus of her silent adoration, Clapton Davis (Josh Hutcherson), is trying to figure out why his new girlfriend is so obsessed with the '90s when he's not ducking an inevitable brawl with the football-star school bully. As the killings ramp up alongside strange occurrences within different cliques of kids, Riley and a motley group of classmates are thrown into a 12-hour detention by the hard-nosed Principal Verge (Dane Cook) that'll ultimately decide each one's fate. Detention is a little John Hughes -- if Hughes were up on today's lingo and into crazy drugs. The picture is certainly a product of modern moviemaking (à la Scott Pilgrim), funneling different inspirations into the cinematic equivalent of a mega Slurpee as director Joseph Kahn tears down the binary line of audiences' expectations and attempts an outlandish blend of cinematic madness. Just as Kahn's previous film Torque broke the outrageous speed barrier of modern racing flicks, Detention snaps the teen thriller's spine, using its framework to craft a unique movie that knows it's in for a few punches on the chin on its way to acceptance. Kahn and co-writer/film critic Mark Palermo worked on the script for three years, maddeningly shaping it to be appreciated with repeated viewings. Detention certainly isn't for everyone, but thanks to its sharp wit, fresh-faced cast, and sheer audacity, it will live on -- hopefully inspiring even crazier followers in the process.