Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cheerleaders meet psycho killers; violence, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Bring It On: Cheer or Die
What's the Story?
BRING IT ON: CHEER OR DIE begins with a preamble outlining a tragedy of 20 years before. A high school cheerleader falls to her death attempting an aerial stunt during a competition, an outcome plotted by teammates jealous of her talent. That same present-day high school team, the Diablos, continues to live with the repercussions of that incident. Despite the fact that the current principal (Missi Pyle) has allowed her daughter Paige (Marlowe Zimmerman) to join the team, she won't allow any stunts that involve coming off the ground, a restriction that makes it impossible for them to challenge their storied rivals, the air-born Green Knights. Team captain McKayla (Tiera Skovbye) and co-captain Abby (Kerri Medders) rebel, organizing a practice of forbidden routines at a spooky abandoned high school on the weekend of Halloween. The team captain is killed even before the weekend starts. The rest make it to the school and, almost immediately, cheerleaders start dropping like flies. Creepy music signals horror to come. Two masked killers start hacking, knifing, strangling, beating, hanging, and shooting arrows at the acrobatic victims, who are now locked in the building and remarking on the need to stay together to combat their stalkers. Surviving team members use their acrobatic skills to combat the killers.
Is It Any Good?
Bring It On: Cheer or Die is best described as cheerleading meets psycho killers, and for that reason alone it has the makings of a goofy cult classic. It has plenty of flaws, its slavish adherence to the ABCs of the teen horror genre being the biggest, plus there's an intrusive comic self-consciousness. One teen warns the group against splitting up because that's "how you get killed in horror movies."
But the performers are likable, so much so that as the final credits roll, the director shares energetic rehearsals of the cheer routines, complete with dancers and acrobats in their pandemic masks. Our overall sense of a movie is often shaped by the closing moments, and these joyous rehearsals wipe out everything that didn't work up to that point, including awkward acting, trite dialogue, and clichés about teens. Note that there's every indication a sequel is coming.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether the co-conspirator of the massacre perpetrators should have been punished for the killings. Does the movie indicate that happened?
How does the movie treat violence? Does it seem as if the movie is trying to be a comedy? Does it succeed?
How does the movie compare to other teen horror movies you've seen?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : October 8, 2022
- Cast : Kerri Medders , Alton Wilmot , Missi Pyle
- Director : Karen Lam
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Writer(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Universal
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 91 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence, language, sexual material and some drug content
- Last updated : October 16, 2022
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