Tamara (2005) – Canadian Horror Film Review
Tamara is a Canadian horror film about a high school girl who impresses her teachers more than her classmates and has an unhealthy interest in witchcraft.
Jenna Dewan stars as Tamara Riley, a bright girl with a lot of academic potential and terrible dress sense.
Although several scenes occur at the school, they only show the hallways, changing rooms, Mr Natolly’s class, and the school councillors room. However, Mr Natolly (Matthew Marsden) is one of the most important characters in the film and the school councillor is his wife, so maybe this focus surprising.
The fact that Tamara is the teacher’s pet does little to improve her popularity and, when the school paper publishes an article she wrote about the use of performance-enhancing drugs among members of the school football team, Tamara gets bullied by jocks and cheerleaders alike.
Tamara is in love with her teacher and makes the mistake of trying to kiss him after class. When he pulls away in shock it’s another knock to her self-confidence and, when she gets home she tries to rectify the situation by performing a binding spell that will give her the power to make him love her and to get back at those who have caused her pain. However, to complete the spell, she needs to spill some of her own blood but chickens out, making her feel even more of a loser.
Unfortunately for Tamara, one of the cheerleaders, Kisha (Melissa Elias), witnessed her making a move on her teacher and tells her boyfriend, Shawn who has just lost his place on the football team for refusing to take a drug test and holds Tamara responsible.
Shawn’s best friend Patrick is also out for Tamara’s blood. After hearing about her feelings for Mr Natolly, the trio hatch a cruel plan to get revenge. They also rope in three other students: Chloe (Katie Stuart), who has always been kind to Tamara, her boyfriend Jesse (Chad Faust), and Roger (Marc Devigne), the school nerd.
Posing as Mr Natolly, Shawn calls Tamara and invites her to a hotel room, with a hidden video camera. When Tamara arrives, a note on the bed tells her to get undressed, which she does while the others watch the footage from a nearby room. Due to the dim lighting, Chloe and the other two innocents do not recognize Tamara until Shawn flings on the lights and bursts into the room and taunts her while shooting additional footage via his mobile phone.
Tamara runs from the room just as Chloe exits the other room, wanting to help her. As soon as she sees Chloe, Tamara thinks she is in on the set-up and feeling more betrayed than ever, attacks her pushing her into the room. A multi-person struggle follows during which Tamara is thrown to the ground, hitting her head on a table on the way down. She’s killed instantly. Chloe wants to call the police but Shawn blackmails her and the others to stay silent and, together, they bury Tamara’s body in the woods.
The following Monday at school, Tamara’s desk is empty and, not surprisingly, those responsible are looking somewhat preoccupied—until Tamara walks into class in heels and a short skirt looking sexy as hell. It’s not just her appearance that’s changed, her attitude has too. She is calm, confident and self-assured. This gives Shawn, Patrick, Kisha, Jesse, and Chloe plenty to talk about and raises doubts about her death along with the possibility they may have buried her alive.
However, when Roger initiates a live-stream suicide video and transmits it to the whole school, it starts to become clear there is something more going on than a simple resurrection. First, he cuts off his ear, then chops off the tip of his tongue. For a grand finale, he drives his knife through his eyeball, into his brain in a macabre dramatization of see no, hear no, speak no evil.
As further strange things happen, it becomes clear Tamara is the culprit and has some very dark powers. While the gang from the woods worry about who will be next, Tamara begins to work on Mr Natolly and his wife, trying to destroy their marriage so she can have her teacher for herself.
Tamara is not one of the best horror films I’ve seen but it’s reasonably good. Although the plot is predictable and unlikely to contain any surprises for the average viewer, once you commit to watching it, you will probably find you want to stick with it to confirm your suspicions.
A few of the scenes may be distressing for a minority of viewers, with Roger’s suicide probably being the most disturbing. However, those who have any experience watching slasher movies are unlikely to wince.
As for the quality of the acting, it’s okay but Jenna Dewan always steals the show dominating the other actors and exuding a mix of raw sexiness and brooding evil.
Long before the end of the film, most viewers will have a good idea of what’s coming. If the producers were hoping it would be dramatic, it’s a terrible fail. It’s actually quite sad. With a bit more imagination, someone should have been able to come up with something better.