About.com Rating

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane currently resides in Release Hell, a place somewhere past Development Hell that's even more frustrating than its more famous sister city. Finished way back in 2006, the film was originally slated for a July 2007 release, then bumped to April 2008, then pushed back to July 2008, then bumped again to July 2009 and finally dropped from the theatrical release schedule altogether.

It's switched studios from Dimension to Senator and may end up at a completely different location by the time all is said and done. But the question remains: is it worth the wait?

The Plot

Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) is just finishing her junior year in high school and is the apple of every teenage boy's (and the occasional girl's) eye. She's pretty, she's blonde, she's athletic, she's a virginal good girl and, well, she's pretty and blonde. She's even got a sob story: her parents died when she was young, and she's been raised by her Aunt Jo (Peyton Hayslip). At least one boy has died trying to impress her, but he was a dumb jock, so we don't really lose any sleep over it.

To celebrate the end of the school year, Red (Aaron Himelstein) invites four friends to his parents' ranch for a sleepover party, with the prize catch being the fifth guest: Mandy herself. The boys each have their own style of trying to attract Mandy: Jake (Luke Grimes) is the player, Bird (Edwin Hodge) is the sensitive guy, and Red is the comic relief.

The 20-something ranch hand, Garth (Anson Mount), however, is the only one who seems to warrant even a second look from the golden gal. Even the two other girls at the party, Chloe (Whitney Able) and Marlin (Melissa Price), can't bring themselves to hate Mandy's perfection.

As night falls on the party, an uninvited guest also shows up: a shadowy figure who too is infatuated with Mandy, someone whose infatuation has turned into obsession and whose obsession will turn into violence. As the bodies start to fall, who will be left standing in the wake of this deranged act of passion?

The End Product

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is as unorthodox as its title. It seems for all the world like it should be a typical slasher movie, but it makes a concerted -- and largely successful -- effort to avoid those trappings. Its laid-back pace and understated action often give off the vibe of a teen drama more so than a horror movie.

The first 40 minutes in particular feature the sort of in-depth characterizations, heartfelt emotion and realistic group dynamics that you'd expect in something like Friday Night Lights. Only when someone is bludgeoned to death nearly halfway through do we realize that we're in a genre film.

Even when the hooded killer shows up, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane refuses to follow the slasher rules. Sure, there's initially a whodunit sense of mystery, but the culprit's identity is revealed with a full half-hour to go. And the movie doesn't try to come up with some convoluted story full of Scream-like red herrings, implausible twists and invincible killers. It's actually more like a horror-skewed drama realistically exploring an off-campus Columbine-like situation.

As such, the film won't be every horror fan's cup of tea, particularly if you like loads of blood and outrageous kills in your tea. But there's something to be said for the reserved maturity of this feature debut from Jonathan Levine, who'd later go on to critical acclaim with the 2008 coming-of-age tale The Wackness -- a film whose character-driven nature was foreshadowed in Mandy Lane.

Despite its dearth of high-octane action early on, though, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane has its share of thrills and chills as it progresses to a grimly fascinating climax. Levine and writer Jacob Forman maintain a level of gritty realism that makes the events feel more harrowing than most horror movies that aim for the increasingly tiresome "realism" of psychotic killers kidnapping and torturing nubile women for 90 minutes.

Sure, the pace can be a bit lethargic, but in this case, I prefer a slow film that builds true atmosphere and has a distinct point of view than a brainless slice-and-dicer that regurgitates rapid-fire horror expectations. I can see why Mandy Lane hasn't been released -- it's a tough sell -- but it's also a breath of fresh air that, unlike many long-delayed films, is worth the wait.

The Skinny

• Acting: B- (Solid all around, with Heard being perhaps the weakest link -- but only because her too-perfect character is written that way.)
• Direction: B (Understated and reserved, establishing a foundation of realism.)
• Script: B (Realistic dialogue and action that doesn't try to get too clever.)
• Gore/Effects: B- (Not overly gratuitous -- much of the violence is gun-related -- but there are a couple of cringe-worthy scenes.)
• Overall: B (An admirably mature attempt to step outside of the slasher mold.)

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is directed by Jonathan Levine and is rated R for strong disturbing violence, pervasive drug and alcohol use, sexuality/nudity and language -- all involving teens. Release date: TBD.