Pep Squad

Pep Squad: 1998


High school movies are a great American staple. Most memorable movie moments are high school movies, like quoting dialogue from Clueless or Phoebe Cates showing her tits in Fast Times at Richmond High. These movies take us back to experiences we didn't have but are fun to watch anyway. The two types of high school movies that work are the sex themed or black comedies. A morbid yet comedic look into high school is always entertaining, like Heathers, making light of suicide and school violence or Jawbreaker making accidentally murdering your best friend seem hilarious. Pep Squad is the latest Troma release and it's completely fucked up in all the right ways.

In small town Kansas, prom season is in full swing and all the senior girls want the crown, but some girls want it more than others. Mega bitch Cherry is that one girl who desperately wants to be prom queen but doesn't get the nomination. So she does what every rational teenage girl does, kills off the competition. Meanwhile Beth and her two new friends Julie and Scott accidentally kill the principal and try their best to hide it. Proms can bring out the worst in everybody.

Pep Squad was a really entertaining movie to watch. Ignore the bad acting and just enjoy the morbid campiness. There were many camp things to enjoy like character Terras horrible fashion (white lipstick...all im saying) and the stylized murder scenes. Cherry makes the movie because her quest for prom queen is absurd yet works for this movie. Its funny how she kills off the competition and doesn't do it secretly, she does it point blank and thats pretty badass. What took me by surprise was a school shooting scene that for its time, 1998, may have seemed shocking but worked, as sick as that may sound. The ending scene with Cherry was really wonderful, I'm not going to give anything away I'm just saying it was fantastic.

If you wish your high school memories consisted of rampant murder and cover ups then Pep Squad is the film for you. Every decade needs a fucked up high school film. The 1980s had the brilliant Heathers and the 1990s belong to this movie. The 2000s lacked with morbid high school movies but did supply us with lots of sexy ones (and High School Musical, but that doesn't count because its terrible). Pep Squad will be a must watch when it comes out in May.