A Friend to Die For

Plot synopsis:
In the fictional town of Santa Mira, California, a man witnesses student Stacey Lockwood (Tori Spelling) (whom he drove home after she went to his house to telephone her parents) being stabbed by an unseen 'friend', who followed them to her house. When her family arrive home, they find paramedics and police gathered outside, as Stacey is rushed to hospital, where she dies.
In a flashback to ten months earlier, Angela Delvecchio (Kellie Martin) is a shy high school sophomore who aspires to be popular, beautiful and perfect in everything. She performs well academically in school, attends Mass regularly, and sets high goals for herself. She idolizes Stacey, who is the most popular girl at school, as well as a cheerleader. One of the reasons why Angela admires Stacey is because one of Angela's goals is to become a cheerleader. When Angela is accepted into the Larks, the school's popular clique, she tries to forge a friendship with the rich, snobbish and self-centered Stacey, who rejects her. She then further suffers being rejected for a coveted position as one of the yearbook staff and in an audition for the cheerleading squad, leaving her humiliated and feeling like a failure.
The events of the night of Stacey's stabbing are shown from Angela's perspective. Still determined to be friends with Stacey, Angela calls Stacey's mother and anonymously invites her to a party under the guise of there being a special dinner for the Larks. Once Stacey gets in the car with Angela, she reveals that the "dinner" story was a lie she told Stacey's mother so she would be allowed to meet Angela. Infuriated, Stacey demands to be taken home. Angela tries to explain how much she admires Stacey and wants to be like her, but Stacey is less than sympathetic. Unmoved, she calls Angela "pathetic" and exits the car, stating that everyone in school will now laugh at Angela. Stacey then runs to a nearby house, where she asks to use the telephone, explaining that the 'friend' she was with had 'gotten a little weird', and manages to get a ride home. Angela follows the car back to Stacey's home, and out of fear that Stacey will spread rumors about her, Angela stabs Stacey multiple times and leaves her for dead.
Angela avoids capture in the weeks following the incident. Although Angela is interviewed by the police, she is not named as a suspect. Angela, along with all of the Larks, attends Stacey's Funeral Mass. Most of the students blame one of their classmates, Monica Whitley (Kathryn Morris), for Stacey's murder. At first, no one suspects Angela because she is seemingly too nice to commit the crime. Furthermore, Jamie Hall (Marley Shelton), Angela's former best friend and one of Stacey's friends, tells Angela that she never really liked Stacey, and was only afraid of her.
As her junior year begins, Angela becomes more involved with the community, taking up such activities as peer counseling and candy striping. Overwhelmed by Stacey's murder, one of the Larks brings up the idea of disbanding. Determined not to let this happen, Angela argues that they should remain active, noting that the group was not only important to Stacey, but also to the various community activities in which they take part. This idea not only saves the Larks, but also wins Angela the position of secretary/treasurer.
In the meantime, a harassment campaign is waged against Monica until she finally leaves the school. At this point, authorities resume their investigation and begin re-interviewing possible suspects, including Angela. With the authorities slowly closing in on her, she becomes more and more consumed by her guilt, until she finally confesses to her priest and then to her parents in a letter.
Devastated by the arrest, Jamie, who had gone to St. Joseph's Catholic School with Angela prior to high school, confesses to their priest to having left her in a ski lodge alone during a ski trip the year before, all because she did not have the courage to stand up to Stacey. The high school's principal, Ed Saxe, declared Angela a 'sick kid' and that there is no problem with materialism. As the trial begins, the Prosecutor argues that Angela should be charged with first-degree murder as there was evidence of premeditation. Angela's lawyer claims it was second-degree murder.
The judge agrees with the defense, after listening to Angela's taped confession. Stating that the tape was just circumstantial evidence and that the prosecution failed to prove the crime to be premeditated. Angela is then sentenced to confinement until the age of 25. Back at church, the priest gives a homily on the community's responsibility for the death of Stacey, stating that the unrealistic high expectations and pressures to be "perfect" contributed to Angela's actions. As the movie ends, Jamie writes a letter to Angela that she quit the Larks (having left when she realized how mean they were to Angela) and that she plans to leave Santa Mira High School and go back to her former school, St. Joseph's.

Tags: murder

Review:
Other than the obvious, Angela Delvecchio (Kellie Martin) as the odd girl out, desperately attempting to be popular (Unfortunately, her parents and teachers never told her this would cease to matter in 2 years anyway), with Tori Spelling as the "popular girl" for that year.
We see his dismissal of Delvecchio (Martin) and how important his approval and praise was for her.Andy Romano and Valerie Harper portray Angela Delvecchio's parents, and paint a realistic picture of the community's hypocrisy- everyone in America wants to succeed, have a bigger house, drive a foreign car, and this all ties in with being a popular cheerleader in Delvecchio's mind, at least.Kellie Martin is a sympathetic character, and does quite well projecting Delvecchio's despair.
Based on a true story, it tells the story of a young girl who murders a more popular classmate.Both the young leads did a great job in their roles.
Kellie Martin, who is both beautiful and talented, does an equally awesome job as Angela; she is a little too shy, a little too poor and WAY too eager to fit in with the "right" crowd.
IT makes you wonder what went wrong with these two girls that Stacy had no respect for those different or less popular than herself and that Angela felt so badly about herself that she needed Stacy's friendship and approval to feel worthwhile.
I found it very telling that a friend of the "real" Stacy (Kirsten Costas) dismissed any suggestions that Kristen and her crowd were mean-spirited bullies with the comment "She was only mean to people she didn't care about." How sad that young people today have the attitude that it is OK to mistreat people you don't like.
Kellie Martin did a masterful job playing the role of an awkward teenage girl desperately yearning for acceptance from the "In" crowd in high school.
Add to that her wanting desperately to befriend the most popular girl in school Stacy (Tori Spelling), who is also the meanest and snobbiest, and being cruelly rejected as weird.
When she moves to a rich town called Montevista with her family, she of course wants to be accepted and to become friends with everyone, including Stacy, the leader of the most prestigious clique at her new high school.
Death Of A Cheerleader/A Friend to Die For is a fact-based movie and it's really good.
When Miramount High School cheerleader Kirsten Costas ran across the street from her front yard in Orinda, California in June 1984 having been fatally stabbed by her schoolmate Bernadette Protti and seeking help from her neighbor she probably had no idea that this review would be written.
The way it happened was this: Randall Sullivan of ROLLING STONE Magazine wrote a moving article about the case (focusing largely on Bernadette Protti's dramatic confession to the police) that appeared in print about a year after the murder had occurred and was published with the title "Death of a Cheerleader".
In the film, Tori Spelling loosely por- trays Costas as snobby Stacy Lockwood; Kellie Martin loosely portrays Protti as Angela Delveccio and Orinda is replaced with the fictional town of Santa Mira, California.
And believe it or not, Tori Spelling is also a great little actress, and not just famous daddy's girl and/or another tv movie queen.
I don't think that I have seen a movie that tells it like it is ever since I saw "A Friend to Die For." After all, look at the high rate and percentage of teenage killings.
Although she doesn't seem like the rowdy kind of person, she is literally dying to be accepted by the girls she watches and admires everyday at her own high school.
I can't believe this movie got a DVD release (it's not even ever been on VHS!) but it deserves it because it's so good."Death of a Cheerleader" is about Angela, a high school student who's life goal is to 'be the best' in every possible way.
Stacy is everything Amanda isn't, rich, beautiful, popular...she's also a class A bitch and takes delight in constantly making cruel remarks to Monica, a goth girl who everything thinks is psycho and weird just because of how she looks.Angela wants nothing more than to be Stacy's friend and tries to hang out with her crowd but they just snub her or make little jibes about her being poor...determind to become Stacy's friend, one night Angela tricks Stacy into going to a party with her, but once Stacy discovers neither Angela nor herself were properly invited, she changes her mind and yells at Angela to take her back home.
Everyone in school is pointing the blame towards Monica but eventually they learn who the real killer is and are completely shocked.Over all, "Death of a Cheerleader" is a great movie.
The acting from the two leading ladies, Kellie Martin (Angela) and Tori Spelling (Stacy) is amazing, they give brilliant performances.
However, I think the problem is that these two themes were too big for the movie to cover in the depth they deserved for its length.Obviously, the film had its good points:  Kellie Martin is excellent as always, managing to handle the extreme confusion and emotion of Angela Delvecchio as she struggles with her conscience; the robotic lack of emotion of Angela trying not to get caught by the police questioning her; and the confused, irrational, pent-up rage of Angela at Stacy's threat to "tell everyone in the school that [Angela was] really weird."  The other characters are generally stock, especially Stacy Lockwood, the popular girl who is a complete jerk, and Monica, the angry outcast.
In fact, the only other character who really has any depth is Jamie, the friend of Angela and cronie of Stacy who has to deal with the loss of one friend, the knowledge that the girl being targeted for her death is not responsible, and the changes in the personality of one other friend and eventually has to become the voice of reason in an over-materialistic, unrealistically demanding, overly pious, angry, close-knit town.
I don't expect them to find someone better looking that Kellie Martin (no such creature exists), but since they're not giving the character anything else, her beauty should be the reason for her popularity, and yet they don't even give her that.Overall, "Death of a Cheerleader" is an all-too-common "near miss."  It nearly hit on as a great movie, but instead just nicks the corner of the target and ends up a slightly-better-than-average movie.
So, a good film but it leaves a person with one large afterthought: My high school was never like that!.
A Friend to Die For (aka Death of a Cheerleader) is a great movie for anyone who spent high school wishing they were popular.It is, by far, the most worthwhile and realistic work Kellie Martin and Tori Spelling have done.
I first saw this movie titled "A Friend to Die For" when it first aired and a little later on the Lifetime channel under it's alternate title "Death of a Cheerleader" and it was great, compelling, touching, ultimately sad character study about the need to fit in and the jealousy and rage that leads to tragic consequences.
Supposedly based on a true story and set in c.1983-1984, it stars Kelli Martin as Angela, a shy teenager from a working class family who has just moved into the small California town of Santa Mira.
Angela wants to be accepted in the school clique "The Larks" headed by a snobbish cheerleader named Stacy Lockwood, who's played by Tori Spelling in a great performance.
Despite joining the clique and making something of herself in the local school activities, Angela is envious against the more popular and attractive Stacy.A great made-for-TV-movie which despite some uncomfortable scenes, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for a minute.
I will not compare the film with the actual events, there is little information on the life of these young girls, I only manage to find information about the case not about how Kirsten Costas and Bernadette Proti lived their lives so I will focus on what the movie is trying to say as a standalone project.Tori Spelling stars as Stacey Lockwood, the "It" girl of Santa Mira high school.
Stacey cuts her down viciously with the ultimate high school threat: "I'm going to tell everyone at school that you're weird!"Angie whips out a knife in a panic and stabs Stacey to death.The focus of the film is Angela sweet, gentle, caring but awkward like 98% of most teens , just looking to fit in, she wants to makes changes in her life , be the best she can be, raised in a strict catholic family Angela is grounded, her family is not wealthy but they manage to provide enough for the family, her issue is that she tries very hard to get accepted by the girls she wants so desperately to be a part of, one can see the obsession in her eyes as she dose everything she can to get what she wants and failed (cheerleader squad and writers club) hitting her self-esteem and making her try harder to get Stacey's respect and friendship.Stacy is not a nice person by all means she is basically Angela's opposite, she could not see anything but her own shallowness, she was killed by the wrath of Angela she in turn was the spark that started it, if she had it coming that's anyone's own interpretation, if she did not deserve it is more like it, after her death the story focuses in Angela's guilt and how she lived her days knowing what she did until she turned herself in she turned herself in, Angela is not a bad person yes she did commit a crime but she wasn't satisfied with her actions you could tell she would to anything to turn back time, her remorse is too big to hide it anymore and she dose what she feels it right.
The acting in the movie is superb Kellie Martin commits to herself in this character making it one of her best performances, Tori Spelling surprisingly dose a great performance in this movie( most of her acting in any movie is just awful) as the shallow socialite Stacy, Margaret Langrick, Marley Shelton, Kathryn Morris do a great job as supporting characters there also Terry O'Quinn who had an interesting character as the school principal but was a bit pointless the story, you can say this movie is made a a consequence of bulling or peer pressure, i see it as a warning to what a person will become with the wrong circumstances.
I've seen this movie only 3 times and the first time was in 1994 when it first appear on TV and it's about a girl who got stab by another girl from her school and the real girl's name was Kirsten Costas and I really got interested in that movie because when I was in high school the girls who were popular were kind of like that too and there were girls who tried so hard to be part of those groups of the 'rich kids' but they never got accepted, I also have the rolling stone magazine from 1985 where there's a article about the real story behind the movie, but I've never seen pictures of the real girls or from the school they where in does anyone know where can I find pictures from the real story?.
What made this movie exciting was that the weak overcame the strong...Kellie Martin is fascinating as the unpopular girl (Angela) who has to work to get what she wants...Tori Spelling's charater is stuck up and snobbish but gets the best of everything anytime.
I loved this movie because it is rare to see Kellie Martin so evil and good at it...This movie is directed to all teenagers who have always wanted to fit in...However the end result could be tragic if one is not smart and careful enough to follow his/her tracks...Kellie Martin and Angela Delvecchio know what I mean..he he.
This film seemed to be a slice of real high school life as popular kids skated around in their cliques looking down on the poor unfortunates.
I must say that this does  not seem to be usual the Hollywood story.This is a true and a sad story about the young girl-Angela_ who is desperate to fit in with the right people at her school.
But still, DEATH OF A CHEERLEADER turns out to be an engaging, true-life story about how classroom bullying and peer group pressure led to tragedy for one high school girl back in the 1980s.For the most part, DEATH OF A CHEERLEADER takes a focused and realistic approach to the material, presenting an unbiased account of a murder, the circumstances leading up to it, and the eventual unravelling of the crime.
The story is subdued and non-exploitative throughout, with a mature script giving insight into the minds of the characters.Kellie Martin, who plays the conflicted Angela Delvecchio, gives a remarkably complex performance in the leading role, a sweet girl who gets out of her depth when everything gets a bit much for her.
I have been waiting a while to comment on this movie mainly because I had a hard time trying to be objective about it as I have met many Stacies and Angelas in my time and how bullying is done in girls.
Angela committed a horrible crime and yes, deserved to be punished and she was.Stacy was the classic female bully; People befriended her because she was "the golden girl" and even one of Angelas best friends did so because, as she admitted, was afraid of her.
Tori Spelling and Kelli Martin were great as the lead roles in this true story.
Stacy Lockwood, a cheerleader and the most popular girl at Santa Mira High School, is dead.
"It is excellence", the high school principal tells the new students, "second-best is simply not good enough." Stacy, the spoilt daughter of rich parents, is one of those who manage "to be the best".
When Stacy rejects her and Angela is afraid to be humiliated in front of the whole school by the nasty girl, the good girl turns bad...It is not a bad film.
One of the better made for TV movies out there, 'A Friend to Die For' (or 'Death of a Cheerleader' as it's known in the UK) is an incredibly touching film, with a brilliant central performance from the young Kellie Martin as the teenage girl driven to murder by frustration and torment, but it suffers in that it offers little sympathy for her victim.Based on a true story which makes it even more poignant, Angela Del Vecchio is a sweet, pretty and lovable girl who transfers from a Catholic school to a regular one and sets out to make friends with the popular crowd while striving to achieve as much as possible.
The only problem is that another girl called Stacy not only keeps beating her at everything, but also mocks Angela and treats her like dirt, despite her best efforts to befriend her.
Angela vents her frustration one night by stabbing Stacy to death, but at no point in the film does any sympathy arise for the murdered girl.Angela on the other hand is an incredibly sympathetic character.
Given that she is based on a girl who was genuinely murdered in real-life, it seems pretty unsympathetic that while we feel plenty of empathy for her loved ones following the tragic event, the general feeling the movie generates is that the dumb idiot got what she deserved.That said, the film still has much to recommend it.
This movie is based on the true story of Kirsten Costas and Bernadette Protti.
When I first saw it my sympathies were with the character "Angela" and her parents.I was very popular in HS, but Never would I behaved the way "Stacy" acted.
No one will ever know the beautiful woman she might have become, because the "less popular girl", Angela (real name Bernadette Protti) acted on a terrible impulse and ended her life.In the movie one agent says to the other about Angela "I almost feel sorry for her", and the other agent says "don't, feel sorry for the girl she murdered" True words.
SPOILER ALERT Kellie Martin gives a riveting performance as a high school girl  who just wants to fit in with the "in crowd".
Unlike those other TV movies, it has believeable characters, great acting, and a good script.SPOILERSKellie Martin plays Angela, a girl who's desperate to be friends with popular and beautiful cheerleader and head Lark Stacy (played by Tori Spelling).
Stacy's a real b*tch, and the last thing she wants is to be friends with someone like Angela, someone she feels isn't good enough to hang with the "In" crowd.One night Stacy's life comes to an abrupt end when she is murdered near her home.
Kellie Martin and Tori Spelling do incrediable acting jobs as Angela and Stacy, and it's worth watching the film just to see their performances..
I enjoy this movie and think it's one of Tori Spellings best acting jobs.
But she never gets over her obsession of being friends with Stacy which leads to tragedy.What I like about this movie is that it portrays high school much the way I remember it-the cliches and such(though no mental case ever did what Angela did).
"Death of a Cheerleader" recounts the true story of the murder of Kirsten Costas by Bernadette Protti, two students at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California, in 1984.
Stacy (Kirsten Costas), played by Tori Spelling, is a popular cheerleader and athlete and leader of the Larks social sorority.
Angela (Bernadette Protti), played by Kellie Martin, comes from a family of more normal economic means, is smart and likable, but is obsessed with being liked by Stacy.