Disturbing Behavior is set in the small idyllic American town of Cradle Bay. Late one night two of it's teenage residents Andy Effkin (Tobias Mehler) & Mary Jo Copeland (Natassia Malthe) are having sexual relations in a car in some woods. Local social misfit & outcast Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl) happens upon them while walking his dog. Suddenly Andy breaks Mary's neck while she's giving him a blow-job, at the same time two cops arrive, Officer's Cox (Steve Railsback) & Kramer (Chris Owens) pull up. Kramer discovers Mary's body but Andy grabs Cox's gun & shoots him, Cox appears to let Andy go & proceeds to cover up what's just occurred, Gavin witnesses all of this. Nathan (Terry David Mulligan) & Cynthia Clark (Susan Hogan) are moving from Chicago to Cradle Bay with their two teenage children, Steve (James Marsden) & Lindsay (Katharine Isabelle). At school Steve becomes friends with Gavin & U.V. (Chad Donella) who also introduce him to Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes) whom Steve takes an instant liking to, Gavin seems paranoid as he suggests that the members of the 'Blue Ribbon' club are brainwashed somehow & he thinks he might be next to suffer the same fate after overhearing a conversation between the mysterious Dr. Edgar Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood) & his parents. Steve tries to reassure him & sends him home only for Gavin to turn up at school the next day with a totally changed personality. Steve & Rachel realise something sinister has happened to Gavin & decide to discover the truth before they too end up mindless obedient well behaved zombies...
Directed by David Nutter I thought Disturbing Behavior was a lot better than I had originally anticipated it to be. Disturbing Behavior obviously rode on the then recent success of teen horror films like Scream (1996) & I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) amongst others. The script by co-producer Scott Rosenberg plays like an episode of The X-Files (1993 - 2002) which isn't a surprise as Nutter directed 15 episodes of the show. It tries to keep everything under wraps until the revealing climax & it does a good job of doing so while at the same time keeping the viewer interested in where the story & characters are going. Disturbing Behavior isn't an action heavy film, it relies more on dialogue, mystery & suspense to engage the viewer. I found all the characters surprisingly likable which is very unusual for a teen horror, the clichés are almost used to Disturbing Behavior's advantage with a great speech by Gavin as he explains the school's social structure using stereotypes. It's well written with some witty dialogue with Gavin in particular seeming to have a smart answer to everything. The only aspect I found disappointing was the end, it felt rushed & was the only part of the film which seemed routine & unoriginal. Everything is resolved far too quickly, easily & neatly which is a shame because with a better ending Disturbing Behavior would be getting an 8 star review instead of a 7, neither do I think that the film has great repeat appeal. There is a nice foreboding atmosphere throughout it's duration until the aforementioned let down of an ending. There is no blood or gore whatsoever that I could remember apart from a few cuts & scratches but this is a horror film which relies on good storytelling instead of flashy CGI & make-up effect's to maintain interest & entertain it's viewers. A word about the cast now, the acting is fine & Stahl especially puts in a good performance. Director Nutter has an eye for a good looking lady with two in particular that stand out, first Holmes as Rachel is a babe & second Crystal Cass as Lorna Longley who is a stunner as well, these two are real easy on the eyes & provide a very good reason for any red blooded male to give this a go! The familiar face of Steve Railsback makes an appearance in a brief role as does William Saddler. Disturbing Behavior is well made but the IMDb's suggested $15,000,000 budget does seem a little high when you look at what actually ended up on screen, where did all the money go? I didn't think I would but I found Disturbing Behavior really enjoyable & better than a lot of the teen horror that probably swamped it's initial release. I recommend anyone thinking of giving it a go to do so, especially if you can find it cheap or watch it on TV for free as I don't think it is a film that would be watched repeatedly as once you know where the story is going that's it, virtually all of it's effectiveness is gone. Definitely worth watching at least once.
Directed by David Nutter I thought Disturbing Behavior was a lot better than I had originally anticipated it to be. Disturbing Behavior obviously rode on the then recent success of teen horror films like Scream (1996) & I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) amongst others. The script by co-producer Scott Rosenberg plays like an episode of The X-Files (1993 - 2002) which isn't a surprise as Nutter directed 15 episodes of the show. It tries to keep everything under wraps until the revealing climax & it does a good job of doing so while at the same time keeping the viewer interested in where the story & characters are going. Disturbing Behavior isn't an action heavy film, it relies more on dialogue, mystery & suspense to engage the viewer. I found all the characters surprisingly likable which is very unusual for a teen horror, the clichés are almost used to Disturbing Behavior's advantage with a great speech by Gavin as he explains the school's social structure using stereotypes. It's well written with some witty dialogue with Gavin in particular seeming to have a smart answer to everything. The only aspect I found disappointing was the end, it felt rushed & was the only part of the film which seemed routine & unoriginal. Everything is resolved far too quickly, easily & neatly which is a shame because with a better ending Disturbing Behavior would be getting an 8 star review instead of a 7, neither do I think that the film has great repeat appeal. There is a nice foreboding atmosphere throughout it's duration until the aforementioned let down of an ending. There is no blood or gore whatsoever that I could remember apart from a few cuts & scratches but this is a horror film which relies on good storytelling instead of flashy CGI & make-up effect's to maintain interest & entertain it's viewers. A word about the cast now, the acting is fine & Stahl especially puts in a good performance. Director Nutter has an eye for a good looking lady with two in particular that stand out, first Holmes as Rachel is a babe & second Crystal Cass as Lorna Longley who is a stunner as well, these two are real easy on the eyes & provide a very good reason for any red blooded male to give this a go! The familiar face of Steve Railsback makes an appearance in a brief role as does William Saddler. Disturbing Behavior is well made but the IMDb's suggested $15,000,000 budget does seem a little high when you look at what actually ended up on screen, where did all the money go? I didn't think I would but I found Disturbing Behavior really enjoyable & better than a lot of the teen horror that probably swamped it's initial release. I recommend anyone thinking of giving it a go to do so, especially if you can find it cheap or watch it on TV for free as I don't think it is a film that would be watched repeatedly as once you know where the story is going that's it, virtually all of it's effectiveness is gone. Definitely worth watching at least once.