All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - review

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (18)

Dir. Jonathan Levine

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

There she is boys, Mandy Lane. Untouched, pure. Since the dawn of junior year men have tried to possess her, and yet to date - all have failed. Some have even died in their reckless pursuit of this angel.

Everybody has met someone like Mandy Lane, cute, innocent and highly desirable, a real knockout and cool with it. She flits through the male population setting hearts on fire wherever she goes. Admirably clean living – just saying ‘no’ to drugs and booze, Mandy Lane is a textbook babe – the sort of girl you’re mum would like you bring home.

But over a wild weekend at a secluded Texan ranch what promises at first to be fun escape for Mandy (Amber ‘Alpha Dog’ Heard) and five of her school classmates turns from potential romantic dream into fully fledged horror nightmare.

‘All the Boys Love…’ comes on like a hip new insight into teen culture, complete with insecurities, bravado and daring do but before long we’re up to our ears in a red blooded slasher film that is tipping it’s blood soaked hat to the classic horror films of the ‘70s. And ‘All the Boy Love…’ doesn’t mess about – this is a hard, grizzly, exercise in nail biting suspense. The good looking cast might start of looking like a bunch of models on vacation but pretty soon you’ll be wondering who will survive and what will be left of them as an unwelcome psychotic killer gatecrasher seems to want Mandy all to themselves. All the boys are certainly dying to be with her - literally…

I can’t praise Amber Heard enough for her depiction of Mandy Lane, she’s set a new standard for bringing sexy back in every scene. The rest of the cast all do their thing admirably too whilst first time director Jonathan Levine has a great eye for quality cinematic shots, decent scares and a great twist ending. ‘All the Boys Love…’ is that rare beast – a quality horror film that has real cinematic merit and plot elements that will be talked about for years to come.

If you’re after some seriously gruesome thrills, mixed with well-observed teenage high jinks and a really pervasive mounting sense of dread that doesn’t let up until the final frame, go for a night out with Mandy Lane… What’s not to love?

DARKMATTERS RATING SYSTEM (all ratings out of maximum 10):

Endorphin Stimulation: ööööööööö (9)
- It's a rush from beginning to end!!

Tasty Action: ööööööööö (9)
- Lots of well constructed horror

Gratuitous Babeness: öööööööööö (10)
- Amber Heard is a goddess, her pals arn't bad (or shy) either

Mind Blight / Boredom: öö (2)
- Excellently written and superbly produced

Comedic Value: öööööö (6)
- Some well observed dark humour

Arbitrary final rating: ööööööööö (9)
- Horror rarely gets this good, go check it out!!

Liable to make you:
"Fall in love with Mandy Lane and pray for a sequel"

DM Poster Quote:
“All the horror fans love Mandy Lane”


"Mandy Lane... innocent supervixen supreme!"

See more of Amber Heard here:
Amber Heard -New Film Hottie

Darkmatters: H O M E