Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 22, 2010

Jonathan Levine's "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" (2006) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive UK interview with actress Amber Heard and the film's original theatrical trailer. With optional English SDH subtitles. Region-Free.

Amber Heard as Mandy Lane

Mandy Lane (Amber Heard, Never Back Down) is different. She is beautiful, intelligent, and a virgin. With other words, she is exactly what every red-blooded male at school wants. One of them invites her to a lavish pool party where he hopes to do what no one else before him has been able to. Mandy arrives at the party together with her goofy friend Emmet (Michael Welch, The Twilight Saga: New Moon), who convinces the host that if he jumps off a roof he could end up having the time of his life - because his friend Mandy would be so impressed with him that she would immediately reward him for his bravery. The host jumps and breaks his neck.

Fast-forward. Mandy is no longer friends with Emmet. Instead, she spends her time with Red (Aaron Himelstein, The Assistants), Chloe (Whitney Able, Love and Mary), Bird (Edwin Hodge, Debating Robert Lee), Jake (Luke Grimes, War Eagle, Arkansas), and Marlin (Melissa Price), who drink, do drugs and have sex as often as they could.

Fast-forward again. The friends decide to have a wild party at a remote ranch that belongs to Red’s family. They stock up on booze, drugs and condoms and head to the countryside. At the ranch, they meet a cute cowboy, Garth (Anson Mount, Crossroads), who Chloe thinks might be worth teasing a bit, and then playing with. The cowboy, however, goes after Mandy.

The party starts and everyone but Mandy gets drunk. Red also gets stoned while Chloe goes for the real stuff. Bird tries to woo Mandy while Marlin gives Jake a special present. After she’s done, someone rams a shotgun down her throat and all the fun begins.

The plot of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane may seem fairly straightforward but there are a couple of twists in it that are actually quite good. I won’t reveal their location so that I do not spoil the film for those of you who have not yet seen it, but suffice to say, if you don’t pay very close attention to what is said and done, when the final credits roll you are likely to be just as surprised as I was.

The dialog, however, is absolutely horrendous. Some of it so poor, it is actually hilarious. In fact, there are a couple of scenes in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane that seriously made me wonder whether I was watching a bizarre show of some sort where teen girls were advertising skanky lingerie while trying to sound incredibly smart. I think I saw an episode of one such show while visiting Japan many years ago.

Stylistically, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a giant puzzle to me. Parts of the film look like they have been taken straight out of a low-budget 70s slasher flick yet elsewhere there are all sorts of fancy camera cuts and zooms. On top of that, there are also some very strange color manipulations, particularly during the final third of the film, which made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Finally, the manner in which the violence is filmed is also incredibly frustrating. Some of it is shockingly graphic; some of it is PG-13 material.

To sum it all up, if you are looking for a good modern horror film, look elsewhere; All the Boys Love Mandy Lane isn’t it. It is neither as intense nor as intelligent and stylish as some of the recent Gallic productions - Haute tension, Martyrs, or À l'intérieur - that have been released on this side of the Atlantic. I think that it is fairly obvious that All the Boys Love Mandy Lane does not qualify as an offbeat horror-comedy either.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jonathan Levine's All the Boys Love Mandy Lane arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

There are some interesting stylistic decisions in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - colors have been manipulated, random scratches and cuts have been added, and contrast levels tweaked. Obviously, the idea is to emulate the campy look of classic 70s and 80s slasher films. For the most part, fine object detail is pleasing. There are plenty of scenes in the film, however, that have been shot with limited lighting, so do not expect a crisp and clean looking image. Some of the daylight scenes also look soft, especially during the final third of the film, where most of the stronger color manipulations occur. The film's grain structure appears to be intact. Some mild digital noise, however, is creeping in at time. Macroblocking is not a serious issue of concern. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. When blown through a digital projector, the image remains tight around the edges. All in all, this is a pleasing high-definition transfer that shouldn't disappoint fans of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. Please note that there is no forced PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the film's main menu).

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The surround channels are not overly active but are very effective. The bass is potent, though not punchy. The high-frequencies are not overdone. The dialog is crisp, clean and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues to report with Mark Schulz's music score either. I also did not detect any pops, cracks, or hissings while viewing the film. All in all, the film's sound design is actually a lot more convincing than I expected it to be. There are number of scenes, for example, that would have looked terribly disappointing had it not been for the intelligent use of the surround channels. The music also blends quite well with the action, especially during the final third of the film.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

Interview - an exclusive UK interview with actress Amber Heard in which she talks about the character she plays in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, the shooting process, etc. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. (2 min).

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jonathan Levine's All the Boys Love Mandy Lane should appeal to a very limited group of viewers. If you are a serious horror aficionado, I don't believe you would be impressed with what the film has to offer; the bar has already been raised too high by other similarly themed films. If you like casual campy slasher flicks, I have a feeling that you would quickly discover and then get annoyed by the fact that the creators of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane did not intend their film to be one. This being said, the Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment, is very attractively priced and Region-Free. So, perhaps you wish to experiment with it. RENT IT.