Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Screen_Blitz In the 1990s, when the teen horror genre was on the brink of obscurity with fans growing tired of same horror clichés repeated over and over; Wes Craven shocked audience with his highly original horror flick 'Scream' and later came a new original horror film 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', both of which reignited the teen horror genre to fandom. However, this thriller directed by David Nutter who is responsible for the hit science-fiction television series 'X-Files' attempts to imitate a teenage version of 'The Stepford Wives', but suffers from a dull execution and absurdly ineffective thrills. This movie follows young teenager Steve Clark (played by James Marsden) who moves with his family to a coastal town in Ohio after the suicide of his younger brother Allen. Upon arriving at his new school, he meets a few social misfits including Gavin (played by Nick Stahl), U.V, (played by Chad E. Donella), and Rachel (played by Katie Holmes) who warn him against a sinister group called "The Blue Ribbons", an organization run by Dr. Edgar Calicott (played by Bruce Greenwood), of academically perfect and socially flawless students. Little does he know, this heinous group has a plan to overrun their town with a sinister plot of brainwashing individuals, and his only hope is the help of Rachel and the eccentric school maintenance man Dorian (played by William Sadler)The basis of the plot is that the students of this mysterious organization have power over pretty much ever social figure including the law enforcement. In one scene, a student from the Blue Ribbon group murder a man at a supermarket and the cops watch and do nothing to intervene. As the title suggests, the movie deals with teenagers who are brainwashed into committing violent and disturbing behavior, but the only thing really disturbing about this movie is how dull and incompetent it is. The film falls in a shallow ground of flaccid thrills and a complete lack of substance, pulling the audience into an atmosphere that is supposed to create a sense of eeriness, but fails to formulate even one effective scare. The scenes of the Blue Ribbon students hunting down the characters try make us believe that that teenagers running around in strange, zombie-like manners or erotically threatening the characters is supposed to be scary, but the results are just weak. And without any suspense or even jump scares to support its tone, what viewers are left with is a total scare-free environment. The biggest redeeming quality may come from the fine performances and a few mildly developed characters. Overall, these are buried under the a painfully executed plot, ineffective scares, and Bruce Greenwood playing a villain that feels all too one-dimensional. Disturbing Behavior is a pretty forgettable film, and an utter disappointment, a movie that had so much potential with David Nutter, the mastermind behind X-Files directing it, but wasted it on such a thrill-free fare. If you are looking a decent teen horror film from the 90s, you may better off looking elsewhere, unless you are more than willing to give this one a try.

Python Hyena Disturbing Behavior (1998): Dir: David Nutter / Cast: James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, William Sadler, Bruce Greenwood: Follows the trend of hacked up teenagers and loud music and this one ranks amongst the worst of them. One young lady bashes her head into a mirror then says, "I have to go home. I have a physics exam tomorrow." Perhaps it was her reaction to reading the script sober and she was looking for an excuse to leave the set. Ripoff of the far superior Invasion of the Body Snatchers only this one involves a scientific experiment to render teenagers perfect. They're kidding, right? I'm afraid society has long given up that quest and just hope that they avoid more meaningless projects such as this. A family moves into town and discover that the local kids are a tad strange. It could be a drug problem since that is generally to blame. This town looks constructed straight from other horror films, only this time they should burn it so not to repeat this mistake again. Director David Nutter shamelessly attempts to make this garbage look original but who is he kidding? Laughable performances by James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, and William Sadler as a crazed janitor. Their mission is to die in creative methods because the screenwriter cares about as much as we do. Pointless crap showcases someone getting their head bashed in with a pipe. That is exactly what should happen to the film. Score: 0 / 10

complications123 Disturbing Behavior is one of those movies I come back to time and time again. It might be a week between viewings or a couple of years may pass, but I always enjoy it. This film isn't great in the sense of a masterpiece, or a seminal moment in the genre, or in originality, or in how the story is told. What it does have is a certain restraint that keeps a fairly dull sounding plot surprisingly interesting. The X-Files influence on the mood and atmosphere is clearly evident, and it's easy to imagine Cradle Bay as some secluded town that Mulder and Scully stumble upon only to discover this mind control plot.One of the highlights of the film is the acting. There's nothing there to blow anyone away, but this is easily one of the best portrayals of teenagers in almost any movie I've seen. There's enough subtlety as to not simply show them as stupid teenagers and insult their intelligence, but there's enough naiveté and impulsiveness to make the characters believable as teenagers as opposed to the overly introspective or self sufficient characters with hardly a mention of or need for any parents so prevalent in many movies.There is a certain coldness and sterility to the ambiance of Disturbing Behavior, punctuated perfectly by the warmth of the humor and irreverence of our 4 friends as well as the spontaneity of the crazy old janitor. While maybe a little smart for his age, Stahl as Gavin is a pleasure to watch on screen, especially with U.V. as his quiet and quirky sidekick. Marsden as Steve plays the new kid in school down to a tee, keeping a low profile and genuinely trying to find his place in this new world. Holmes is beautiful as Rachel and while her character doesn't serve much purpose other than Steve's love interest and later the damsel in distress, she does a fine job of being just another misfit.The plot can wear thin at times, and Caldecott goes a little too far with his mad scientist persona late in the film, but the film rarely loses it's eerie foothold. The robotic and sometimes psychotic teenagers are fun to watch as well. It's a mundane and tired concept, but it's brought forth in a believable way without becoming hokey. In many respects they are the typical jock; looks great to adults but totally evil to those outside their clique. In Disturbing Behavior we actually have a reason why this kids act in this manner.I don't know that I have much more to say. There isn't a lot about this film to dissect or read into, but it's a pleasure to watch.

Scott LeBrun Not bad teen targeted post-"Scream" conspiracy thriller with good looking cast, and as has been mentioned, brings 'X-Files' type atmosphere to its presentation; no surprise, with director David Nutter being a veteran of that series. James Marsden plays Steve Clark, a new kid in a small town who befriends local outcast Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl). One of the high school cliques Gavin points out to Steve is a bunch dubbed "The Blue Ribbons": model citizens who've been made that way by the nefarious Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood). Naturally, Caldicott's scheme has ugly side effects: the kids turn homicidal whenever they get turned on, for one thing. Steve teams up with another outcast, Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes) to foil the mad doctor's scheme. The very brief running time, and fast moving, straightforward story amounts to both a good and bad thing. It ensures that the movie never gets boring, but the lack of a lot of detail, and more meat to the story, will leave some viewers less than satisfied. There's tension in Steve's family because of the suicide of his brother (Ethan Embry, wasted in a nothing part), yet we never find out what drove the brother to do it. The seemingly slow witted janitor Dorian Newberry (William Sadler) is a lot more savvy than he lets on, yet there's no explanation of how he figured everything out. A local policeman, Officer Cox (Steve Railsback) is clearly in on everything, but this role could have been beefed up a little more. (Railsback and Sadler, two solid veterans, also end up somewhat wasted, although Sadler is a bit of a hoot.) It's a good point made that once Gavin, the most engaging of the characters, is given a makeover, the movie definitely loses something. Stahl gives what is the most enjoyable performance in the whole thing. Besides that, the story becomes just a little too conventional in its second half, with a less than truly thrilling conclusion. Despite being meant to be shocking, it comes off as too laughable sometimes. The opening scene does work, though, as does the freak out scene with Lorna (Crystal Cass). The supposedly hip and clever dialogue is just annoying a lot of the time. Viewers will recognize a fair amount of the faces; among them is Katharine Isabelle of the "Ginger Snaps" franchise as Steve's younger sister. This could have been better, overall, but it's not without some entertainment value; location work is good and the music by 'X-Files' composer Mark Snow is reasonably effective. Six out of 10.