Tormented (2009)

69% of critics liked it
(32 reviews)
34% of users liked it
(8,964 ratings)

An emotionally tortured teenager returns from the grave and promptly makes life hell for those who ostracized him, in this jet-black horror comedy with echoes of Carrie At the center of the British secondary school in question is Justine (Tuppence Middleton), a pampered, elitist rich bitch.… More An emotionally tortured teenager returns from the grave and promptly makes life hell for those who ostracized him, in this jet-black horror comedy with echoes of Carrie At the center of the British secondary school in question is Justine (Tuppence Middleton), a pampered, elitist rich bitch. Following the suicide of a bullied classmate - overweight, asthmatic Darren Mullett (Calvin Dean) - Justine tries to wheedle her way into the "in crowd," whose members are every bit as snotty and obnoxious as she is, and strikes up a torrid affair with Alexis (Dimitri Leonidas), the most popular boy in class. For a time, everyone assumes that Darren is dead and gone; then his corpse begins turning up and gruesomely picking off the bullies, one by one. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 31 min.
Directed By: Jon Wright
Written By: Stephen Prentice
Genres: Horror, Comedy

In Theaters: May 22, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Aug 31, 2010
Studio: Pathé Distribution

Critic Reviews

Sam Bathe, Fan The Fire
Under-exploring the big reveal of the murderer and dragging the set plays out a little too long, Tormented's early promise fails to pull home.
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat
A gruesome, edgy, ambitious, and sometimes funny horror tale that doesn't shy away from exploring adolescent cruelty.
Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com
By the end, "Tormented" is such a listless take on a potentially interesting idea that it feels like its own remake.
Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton, Dread Central
There's a huge amount of respect for the horror side of things here as well. If it sounds like your cup of tea, then dive in as soon as you possibly can.
Edward Porter, Times [UK]
Jon Wright's film delivers its shocks as efficiently as the average American equivalent. Its British jokiness makes it less scary than it perhaps could have been, but it gains more from this trade-off than it loses.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
It's well enough made, fairly inventive and the bullies practise safe sex. But the film tips its hand a little too early.
, Sunday Mail [UK]
Brilliantly funny at times, it's well worth a look - even if the script is as holey as some of the bullies end up.
Rosie Fletcher, SFX Magazine
A smart, competent horror-com that's easily a match for its US counterparts.
Charlotte O'Sullivan, This is London
It's diverting, occasionally moving, and has two secret weapons, teen heart-throb Alex Pettyfer and newcomer Tuppence Middleton.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out
Solid storytelling, attractive cast and modish updates are let down by a lack of scares and jokes. IMHO not gr8, don't xpkt to LOL.
Matt Glasby, Film4
A for effort, C for artistry, this wayward teen of a movie is confusing, amusing and scary - a bit like school itself.
Kevin Maher, Times [UK]
The qualitative bar for execrable homegrown comedy-horror was recently set at ground level by Lesbian Vampire Killers, here is a movie so inept and ill-conceived that it manages to scrape a place for itself directly below that particular abomination.
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]
Despite its weaknesses, though, there's something appealing about Tormented. It may or may not portend a revival of popular British horror, but at least no one can mistake this for the grim compulsions of the torture-porn aficionado.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
There's enough vitriolic bitching among the bullying contingent to make Jon Wright's movie trashily entertaining up to a point.
Limara Salt, Little White Lies
Any good horror film needs not only blood spattered deaths aplenty but a good murderer too. Tormented fails that test.
Lara Martin, Digital Spy
What Tormented lacks in US gloss and glamour it more than matches in escapist fun, making it an enjoyable, if forgettable, ride.
Charles Gant, Heat Magazine
Skins plus multiple slayings equals fun times, best enjoyed while mildly inebriated.
Rob Daniel, Sky Movies
Tormented works so successfully. The laughs are funny, the scares genuine, and the flashbacks to Darren's caught on camera torture all too believable.
Ellen E Jones, Total Film
A slasher for the Twitter generation, Tormented catches the spirit of the times without being too try-hard. Quips and snogging take precedence over scares, but its commentary on new technology's power to intimidate is chillingly apt.

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

A.D. V

There's a good deal of humor and a few nasty kills so other than an annoyingly "hip" soundtrack Tormented is a moderately successful newgen slasher that features a reasonable motive and beats the pants off of most others that have tried at the attempt.
Brian D

Ok but predictable and im not sure if it was surpose to be funny or not.If you like this stuff its worth a look but only if there nothing better.!
Film C

well apart from a couple of funny jokes this movie is dyer! Britain must really stop writing horrors its just embarressing! This movie is boring slow and just completely unbelievable and really laughable! Just crap! This fat kid who gets bullied ends up committing suicide, after… More
well apart from a couple of funny jokes this movie is dyer! Britain must really stop writing horrors its just embarressing! This movie is boring slow and just completely unbelievable and really laughable! Just crap! This fat kid who gets bullied ends up committing suicide, after being bullied by this group of people, but he comes back as a killer and starts kiling each of them and thats the story not much to it really he kills them end of story! Its as crap as it sounds!
Matthew A

An interesting concept (in fact very similar to one of the stories I once started to write), but I felt that the film hasn't fully explored this great concept. The concept is a guy in a college who was being bullied commits suicide and then comes back as a ghost/wraith to punish… More
An interesting concept (in fact very similar to one of the stories I once started to write), but I felt that the film hasn't fully explored this great concept. The concept is a guy in a college who was being bullied commits suicide and then comes back as a ghost/wraith to punish everyone who used to bully him. The movie showed bullying very realistically and at least I hope it gets this message across to the people and how terrible bullying can be. However some parts of the movie were just dragging on and you just keep wondering 'When is there going to be some action?!' Overall it was a typical teen horror movie. Just good to watch once pretty much when you want to see a random slasher.
John M

Teenage horror/ thriller movie with a couple of laughs and lots of gore but a lack of suspense prevents it from being scary. Decent and well worth a watch.
Adam M

Teen horror about a schoolboy who when bullied to the point where he commits suicide, comes back from the dead to get revenge. Although nothing special, this is a fun and occasionally funny and gory horror/comedy. Not a bad young cast including a few from cult Brit comedy/drama series… More
Teen horror about a schoolboy who when bullied to the point where he commits suicide, comes back from the dead to get revenge. Although nothing special, this is a fun and occasionally funny and gory horror/comedy. Not a bad young cast including a few from cult Brit comedy/drama series Skins and fit, posh newcomer Tuppence Middleton make for an enjoyable, if sometimes dodgy, little horror film.
ernest e

A better low budged british movie. Spontaneous simple well made. What ruins some movies is when peolpe try to hard. Tormented just did it and did it right.
Marcus W

"Please can Darren be excused from games because he is dead." This film was written by a guy called Stephen Prentice (I think - or something similiar), and if he carries on writing movies with this level of quality he deserves everything he'll get. This film is by… More
"Please can Darren be excused from games because he is dead." This film was written by a guy called Stephen Prentice (I think - or something similiar), and if he carries on writing movies with this level of quality he deserves everything he'll get. This film is by far one of the best horror movies I've seen for ages. The writing is flawless and works on so many levels with a stunning depth of character. The plot is completely simple but due to the great character work has lots of neat twists and turns. You want comedy as well? Not a problem, it's here. Gore? Yep, loads of it (I cheered out loud at least twice) and a pencil-trick to rival the Joker's. This film weaves between horror, drama and comedy so perfectly that it's a shame there isn't more hype. In fact, I liked it so much I could watch it again - which is rare with horror movies. Genius.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Alex Pettyfer as Bradley

            April Pearson as Tasha

            Dimitri Leonidas as Alexis

            Calvin Dean as Darren Mullett

            Tuppence Middleton as Justine Fielding Head Girl

            Georgia King as Sophie

            Mary Nighy as Helena Deputy Head Girl

            Olly Alexander as Jason Banks

            James Floyd as Nasser

            Sophie Wu as Mei Lei

            Hugh Mitchell as Tim

            Larissa Wilson as Khalilah 'Kally'

            Ruby Bentall as Emily

            Tom Hopper as Marcus

            Peter Amory as Richard Head head teacher

            Geoff Bell as Gordon Ramsay games teacher

            Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Jez

            Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mr. Humpage

            Sandra Dickinson as Miss Swanson

            Andrea Newland as Miss Harrington

            Kenneth Collard as Mr. Dawson English teacher

            Peter LeBreuilly as Governor

            Jon Carver as DC Harmison

            Louise Mardenborough as WPC Wright

            Sarah Moonan as Young Girl

            Christopher Sheperd as Small Boy
See full cast

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