Disturbing Behavior

1998 "In Cradle Bay it doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect. You will be."
5.6| 1h24m| R| en| More Info
Released: 24 July 1998 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Steve Clark is a newcomer in the town of Cradle Bay, and he quickly realizes that there's something odd about his high school classmates. The clique known as the "Blue Ribbons" are the eerie embodiment of academic excellence and clean living. But, like the rest of the town, they're a little too perfect. When Steve's rebellious friend Gavin mysteriously joins their ranks, Steve searches for the truth with fellow misfit Rachel.

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Reviews

Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
GL84 Moving to a new house in the country, a teen finds that his classmates squeaky-clean image comes from their involvement in a mad doctor's series of mind-control experiments and when he learns his friends are next sets out to stop them before his family and others fall to the change.This here wasn't that bad but had some good parts to it. One of the best parts is that the film is quite creepy in places, mainly due to the fact that it keeps the mystery rightly unknown until the end. By keeping it that way, there's a good build as it throws the different actions which come about that works wonderfully in here, making the revelation feel special with all the attention towards it. That is a fantastic advantage, as the different methods used to show how the change has taken place from the stoic expressions and vicious gangland beatdowns on anyone to the outbursts of violence that on anyone that goes against their programmed guides to life as these little bits of evidence make it clear something has happened, and it gives a certain amount of atmosphere to the proceedings. The film is really good once it gets to the psychiatric hospital, which is creepy, unsettling and remains a highlight. The last plus here is the film's action-packed ending, using several big brawls and a great car chase that has the great resolution to the big mystery which here also allows for the great conclusion, the visual of the car going off the side of the cliff with the others all along the sides and back. Altogether, this here didn't have much wrong with it, but they are big flaws. The biggest one here is that the tactics used to indicate the behavioral change aren't that scary. The fact that it's just not in the least bit scary or creepy is a huge factor here since it's got a lot of these scenes in the beginning which is supposed to show something is wrong, but all it does is just showcase one lame tactic after another. Nothing that happens, from the bullying beat-downs to the association with different cliques and such isn't all that scary, yet that's all the attempts made to try to build up to something, which is deadly dull since nothing really works all that well. The worst factor of all this is that it goes on for so long, since it's pretty much all the first hour of the film that it does this, so there's a lot of time to show off some really nice ideas and scenes to really drive them home, but it's got nothing to showcase at all, and to do it for so much of the film is really bad. The other big flaw here is that there's not a whole lot of blood and gore in this since there are hardly any deaths at all in the film except for the ending. There really needed to be a few deaths scattered throughout to help the film along, and the ones we have are really uninspiring and bloodless anyway, making for another big disappointment. These here are the film's problems.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.
ersinkdotcom Katie Holmes takes on the role of rebellious Goth teen Rachel Wagner in "Disturbing Behavior." She was doing her best at the time to break free of her good-girl typecast in "Dawson's Creek" where she played near-perfect Joey. What that means is she grimaces a lot and dresses up in half-shirts and rocker boots."Disturbing Behavior" has all the tropes you could ever want in a genre film from the late 1990s. You get over-the-top performances and bad acting mixed with hints of tell-tale talent. A melodramatic electronic soundtrack is mixed well with an alternative rock soundtrack and clothing styles that defined the decade. The lesson to be found in "Disturbing Behavior" is that you must fight for your identity and individuality. Don't run with the crowd just to be accepted. There's a lot more social commentary here than what you would expect from a Hollywood teen flick.The visual effect used to show the brainwashing really ages the movie as well. They're a sort of fractal imagery that would have looked advanced in a Pre-CGI world, but comes across as hokey today.The movie is rated R for strong violence, sexuality, language, and drug content. There's nudity in a couple of parts and one definite scene suggesting something is going on out of frame. As usual, it's really all needless and might have been the reason the movie wasn't as successful as it could've been were it accessible to a PG-13 crowd. "Disturbing Behavior" manages to provide some great thrills and chills. The best way to describe it is as a sort of teen slasher mixed with "The Stepford Wives" and "A Clockwork Orange." The ending seems rushed and comes with some cheesy one-line and a tacked - on finale that would lead you to believe they're might be a sequel in the works. Unfortunately, the movie didn't make enough money at the box office to merit such a thing.
brandonhelee Back in late April of this year I was searching threw the Netflix vault of titles and came across this film it looked good to me having that late 90's Scream vibe to the cover,a solid looking cast, & I was in the desire to watch a film I haven't seen before so that's what lead to me watching it and watching it more than four times.Disturbing Behavior(1998) is a film about a family who moves to a city where they intend to start fresh lives after the death of their son & brother and one of the family members the other son goes to a High School where he runs into group of peers Gavin(a rebellious cocky likable guy),UV(a major pot-head) & Rachel(the love interest of the film).One of the new found Friends Gavin portrayed by Terminator 3:Rise of the Machine's Nick Stahl suspects something off with the other kids of the school of whom he used to be good friends with and the new friend Steve(X-Men's James Marsden) thinks he's just nuts.The film goes on to show you a deep routed family conflict dealing with the passing of the deceased family member and also features Katherine Isabelle(of Freddy Vs. Jason & Ginger Snaps fame) as Steve's sister.The film then reveals the mystery of the film by having Gavin become a member of the Blue Ribbons and to show you very subtly the Janitor knows something is up too.The film then goes to explain that their's this corporation who takes children with odd ,unfavorable & etc, behavior and controls them to doing their biding then it's up for Steve and Rachel to stop it.Now this film is actually very good in my eyes it could've been a masterpiece if everything was left alone in the film tough because of my knowledge on this film a whole bunch of scenes had to be cut for the DVD Home Video release of the film and you could tell because some of the film feels lacking and some of the characters just needed more time to develop.The film's main strength is in how it slowly reveals the intriguing mystery beyond the story it's nice tone and setting and not to mention score.This film also features many similarities to another film of the same year or year before called The Faculty(now I also enjoyed that film) and that begs the question which is the better film we'll that's a hard question because I love both films very much but their must be decided victor between the two so let's dissect the strengths and weaknesses of both films of which they both have: The Faculty's strength is more in the characters of which is understandable because that film didn't have to sacrifice so much so for bulls!t reasoning behind the studios and getting to understand their traits and to have some witty Kevin Willamson dialogue in the film.Disturbing Behavior's strength is in it's mythology of the corporation and setting and atmosphere.It is truly sad Disturbing Behavior had to trim down it's character elements because I have a deeper interest in their back-story and the events their going through whereas The Faculty just offered me character development to characters of which I'm not to interested in their story.Disturbing Behavior is a good film regardless just if it was a lot less messed around with it would be a lot better in my eyes.My Next Review will be of:Halloween(2007) coming within a few days of this reviews postage I hope I brought some interesting insight to the film and didn't come off dumb in this review as this is my first review for IMDb.
nealnels First things first... I know that any given "Newer Pop-Horror" film can be broken down into a recipe of other "Older Classic Horror" films. Yes, I also know that there is still some originality out there, I just wish I'd find it more often. Maybe I've seen too many movies...?I just HAVE to know I was the FIRST person to realize that "The Island" was a complete rip off of "Parts: The Clonus Horror." I realized it three minutes into the film while sitting in a theater having bought a ticket that now lines Michael Bay's pocket. Like he needs it. To add salt to my own wounds, I now own "The Island" on DVD. Relax, I only paid $4.00 for it. Anywho, I was outraged that not one shred of credit was given to the writer of "Parts: ..." Being that Mr. Bay just made a perfect copy of "Parts: ..." with better funding, he falls into a category I call Same Movie- More Money (or, S. M. M. M.). I wouldn't have a problem with this if credit was given where credit is due. After I knew there was a problem I guess a few more people figured it out and eventually the director of "Parts: ..." sued Michael bay and won siting something like 146 similarities. Bully for him!Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, let's continue on to "Disturbing Behavior." A fairly complete rip-off of "Strange Behavior." They barely changed the title, for Pete's sake. The original title of "Strange behavior" is "Dead Kids," but we couldn't have a movie released in America under THAT title, so we changed it from its original Australian title. So, I'm going to give you, in only MY opinion, what I think the recipe for "Disturbing Behavior" is. And keep in mind that stuff from above. I wouldn't have a problem if after stealing ideas from other writers that they were tossed a few crumbs of recognition from the recipe.A Whole Heepin' Bushell of "Strange Behavior" (AKA "Dead Kids")1981A Cup of "Stepford Wives" 1975Half a Cup of "Death Warmed Up" 1985And just a pinch of "A Clockwork Orange" 1971Mix together thoroughly and bake (EDIT- call it what you will) until your 16 year-old audience of 1998 accepts it as a glossy S. M. M. M. and... Enjoy!We could call this a spoiler... if one knows how to follow a recipe. If it makes you feel any better; I do own the films "Parts: The Clonus Horror," and "Disturbing Behavior." I'm sure that one would never gather from this review that I actually like this film. It's colorful, attractive, and moves quickly without a lot of explosions. Like cotton candy... it's easy, and fun, to swallow.