Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
SnoopyStyle
Tamara Riley (Jenna Dewan) is the brainy misfit in school who dabbles in witchcraft. She's infatuated with her English teacher and tries to kiss him. He gently lets her down, but she later tries a Love Binding Ritual. She wrote an article on steroid use and angers many of her classmates especially the big jock. Then the kids led by the jock play a cruel joke on her which turns deadly. The kids bury her hoping that everybody will assume that she ran away. Then she wakes up in her own bed and she's the new deadly super vixen seeking vengeance.This horror story is piece together from 'I know what you did...' and other mousy girl turn deadly like Carrie written by Jeffrey Reddick. The concept is relatively sound. It's a small horror directed by Jeremy Haft. Jenna Dewan is unconvincing as the mousy teen. She is all vixen later on without anything more. She needs to be a more impressive actress. Other than a couple of scenes and a passable script, there is nothing worthwhile in this smaller horror.
MetalGeek
"Tamara" is a predictable-but-fun little teen horror flick, bolted together out of spare parts from films like "Carrie," "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "The Craft," to name just a few. Our "heroine" (and I use that term loosely), Tamara (Jenna Dewan), is a homely high school nerd who dabbles in witchcraft in her spare time. She's got an unrequited crush on her hunky, sensitive English teacher (Matthew Marsden) and is constantly picked on by the "populars" in her school. After she writes an article for the school paper "outing" the football team as steroid users, they naturally want to get back at her so they set up a particularly cruel prank where they make her think she's going to hook up with Hunky Teacher Guy at a local hotel. Naturally the naive Tamara is less than thrilled to find out that she's been fooled, and while struggling with her tormentors, she hits her head on a coffee table and dies. In true Horror Movie fashion, the Populars decide to simply bury her in the woods, swear to tell no one what happened, and move on.Imagine their surprise when Tamara simply sashays back into to school the next day as if nothing has happened, seemingly having gone through an Extreme Undead Hottie Makeover in the meantime. The "new" Tamara appears sweet enough at first, but quickly sets out to get revenge on the gang who wronged her, in the most brutal fashion possible. One kid recreates the "Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, Say No Evil" mantra with a razor knife, her abusive dad eats glass, a b*tchy cheerleader type vomits her guts out, etc., etc. Of course, Tamara's ambitions also extend to true happiness with her teacher, which means she has to get rid of his wife too. Will true love triumph over vengeance from the grave? OK, so "Tamara" is not a great movie by any means, but it is fun to watch. Jenna Dewan looks pretty hot even when she's supposed to be an Ugly Duckling in the first quarter of the film, but after she returns from the grave -- damn! The rest of the young cast perform their roles as obnoxious cannon fodder well enough, and the flick has decent production values and just the right amount of gore and nastiness. If you can get over the inherent silliness of it all, "Tamara" is a fun ride for B-horror fans."Tamara" gets an "A" for eye candy, a "C" for originality, and a "B-" for execution. Worth a look if you can find it cheap, like I did.
bigbro308
For some reasons, the reviews do tend to be polarized on this movie. It's not the worst film ever made, but it's certainly not deserving of a standing ovation. It had its ups and its downs to me, and I'll try to lay them out as fairly as I can.Ups: 1. This may be a shallow observation, but I thought most of the lead actresses were pretty cute. Sad to admit it, but that makes it more watchable. I wouldn't mind seeing some of them in other roles. 2. I also liked that the ending wasn't as cliché as it might've been. Not that it was great, it just wasn't as bad as it could've been. I respect writers who don't only kill off the "bad" characters.Downs: 1. Tamara wasn't ugly in the slightest, she just dressed dorky. They could've at least had her wear glasses and switch to contacts, which is sort of standard fare for the "transformation into a hottie" thing. Hell, how hard is it to fake some acne scars?? 2. Some of the acting wasn't really top-notch. It wasn't all horrible or anything, but most of it wasn't great. 3. Biggest Problem: The "moral arc" of the movie was quite bent by my standards. I really, really didn't like how she lumped everyone together and sought vengeance on the most innocent of the people present. I mean, I felt that the characters that were the least involved got it the worst. It's as though the moral of the story is "being bullied and threatened into not reporting a crime is worse than committing a crime" and I 110% do not agree with that.Moreover, I don't agree with some of the judgments that she passed on people. Gonna punish someone for humiliating you and killing you?--go ahead, you've got the moral high ground there. But for having an eating disorder? That's something that you try to help a person through, not in the same galaxy as something like date rape.Mostly because of the last mentioned problem, I had a really had time getting into the movie. I mean, I have no problem sitting through a B-rate, somewhat trashy movie. But at least make a character that I can sort of cheer for as she acts out her vengeance, instead of someone that I quickly start to feel was so morally twisted that the "bad guys" might've done the world a service by killing her.
Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake)
Tamara is the typical, down-trodden, "ugly" girl at her small-town high school. After publishing a revealing article about steroid use by the jocks (and maybe their girlfriends), Tamara becomes more than just the invisible girl. . . and, instead, the victim of punishment by the jocks (all of whom look to be approaching their mid-life crises). Eventually, the "cool kids" decide to really get her back and arrange a big prank to keep her mouth shut from now on. Unfortunately, the prank goes too far. Only then is Tamara able to unleash her inner, sexy Witchy Woman to take vengeance on those that wronged her.What makes this film so good is its ability to appeal to horror fans and non-fans alike, similar to previous films in the subgenre like 'Scream' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer.' It has a story man can relate to or, at least, sympathize with. While the characters aren't exactly three-dimensional, there's someone for everyone to relate to, whether it be nerd, jock, or stoner. The script does hit a few clichés, but slashers are like romantic-comedies in that it's very difficult to completely avoid the clichés of the subgenre. The acting, particularly Jenna Dewan as Tamara, was good (or "good enough") and the little-known Jeremy Haft helmed the film well from the director's chair.Overall, 'Tamara' is a well made and extremely entertaining slasher that deserves much more exposure than remakes like 'Prom Night' and 'April Fool's Day' have received.Final Verdict: 6.5/10.-AP3-
