Sweet 16
Tags: paranormal, cult, murder

Plot synopsis:
In a few weeks, Scottish teenager Liam will turn 16. The film opens with him using his tripod-mounted telescope outdoors on a clear night to show other children the stars and planets. He and his friends exemplify the violent "ned" subculture; they no longer attend school, but instead, hang around isolated areas or wander about all day long. They get money by illicitly selling untaxed cigarettes in a pub, and defy the police. Liam's mother is currently in prison, for a crime she did not commit. She will be released in a few weeks, in time for her son's 16th birthday. She has a boyfriend named Stan, who works as a drug dealer with Liam's grandfather, Rab.
Stan and Rab take Liam in Rab's car on a visit to his mother in Cornton Vale Prison, and try to force him to smuggle drugs to his mother while they create a distraction. In the event, Liam refuses to cooperate by passing the drugs over. When driving home his companions beat him up; he fights back and gets away. Liam arrives back to find that he has been expelled from his grandfather's flat, and his belongings thrown down into the front garden (including his telescope, which has been broken). Liam then moves to his sister Chantelle's nearby home in Port Glasgow. Chantelle agrees to let Liam live in her house if he's good to Chantelle's little son, Calum. She has been taking free evening classes to get work in a call centre, and implores Liam to do the same because she wants Liam to do something more 'constructive' with his own life.
When Liam takes Calum for a walk along Greenock Esplanade, his friend Pinball arrives in a stolen car and insists on taking them joyriding along the coast. They drive up through the Cloch caravan (trailer) park where Liam sees a caravan for sale in a spot overlooking the scenic Firth of Clyde. Liam, who loves his mother very much, fantasizes that he, his sister, and his mother can escape to the seaside and live in the caravan, away from Stan and Rab's wrath. To purchase it he and Pinball steal a delivery of drugs from Stan's house and sell them, doing the very things Liam once hated – claiming that they will never get anywhere by selling cheap cigarettes. They soon develop 'entrepreneur skills' and raise several thousand pounds, which they pay as a deposit towards the caravan in Liam's mother's name.
Liam's efforts attract the attention of the local drug 'godfather'. Liam, who only wanted a peaceful life with his mother, agrees to work with them after the local godfather tells him to 'stay away from our shops'. Pinball, meanwhile, is thrown into the health club showers due to his disrespectful manner towards the dealer, and vows revenge. Liam and Pinball carry on selling drugs to the local area, with the help of Liam's other friends who deliver pizzas. Liam and Pinball meet again with members of the drug godfather's gang, and Liam joins them in their car. Pinball is kicked out, angering him further; the gang members advise Liam to 'dump' Pinball for good. They take Liam to a Glasgow nightclub and instruct him that he has to kill someone to join the gang. Liam attempts to do so, but is stopped by the gang, who inform him it was a test (which he has passed).
Liam, Chantelle, Calum and Suzanne (Chantelle's friend) drive to the caravan to have a picnic, only to discover that it has been burned down. Liam believes it was Stan who did it, and throws a rock through his window. That evening, Pinball turns up in the drug godfather's (stolen) car, telling Liam that he wants revenge. He proceeds to crash the car into the health club. Liam speaks to the godfather in the morning and, to his chagrin, is ordered to "take care of" the Pinball problem (i.e. to kill his friend). The next morning, Pinball - aware of Liam's intentions - first tries to stab Liam, then proudly tells him that he's the one who burnt down the caravan, not Stan. He then cuts his own face in rage. Liam is seen reassuring his injured friend after phoning for an ambulance, but in the next scene he notifies the godfather that the deed has "been done", leaving a viewer to infer that he has indeed murdered his friend.
The godfather promises to buy Liam an upscale apartment, and on the day before his birthday Liam's mother is released from the prison and taken to this new house on the coast of Gourock where she is welcomed with a party. She appears uneasy, and the next morning is found to have escaped to Stan's house. Liam blames this on Chantelle. Chantelle, now fully aware that Liam is dealing drugs, attempts to warn her little brother about their mother probably not being so thankful for Liam's efforts because she is too devoted to Stan, but this only provokes Liam even further. An enraged Liam goes to Stan's house, trying to convince his mother to go back to their new home, only to receive insults from Stan. In a struggle, Liam stabs Stan.
Liam is then seen walking alone on the stony beach. He is phoned by Chantelle, who reminds him that the day is his 16th birthday. She also tells him that the police have been looking for him, but that after everything that he has done, Chantelle still loves him. He walks towards the sea.

Review: Parts of it are quite masterful like a scene near the end (prominently featured in all the promotional artwork) where the central girl and a male admirer go skinny-dipping at night in a lake lit only by a single cross-shaped key light.
(It's unfortunate that most slasher movie fans are such gore-hounds that they don't appreciate the more subtle elements of horror movies like cinematography, setting, and atmosphere).
And they all meet a sticky end because they're sniffing around the new girl in town, played by Aleisha Shirley (but then it's kind of hard to blame them).The adults in town are played by such stalwart character actors as Bo Hopkins (as the town sheriff) and Susan Strasberg (as the mother of the new girl).
Dana Kimmel from "Friday the 13th Part III" plays the sheriff's daughter who befriends the new girl and eventually solves the mystery.
She actually looks a lot more like "sweet 20-something" than "sweet 16" in this movie, but her frequent nude scenes allow the movie to make up in skin what it lacks in gore.I'm kind of surprised they haven't re-made this, although I read about a movie in Gorezone magazine called "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" that seems to have a very similar plot (for some reason though it hasn't been released in the US yet, despite the presence of a currently hot actress, Amanda Heard, in the lead role).
Good Horror/Mystery Film.
RELEASED IN 1983 and directed by Jim Sotos, "Sweet 16" chronicles events in a West Texas town when a new family moves into town and there are a series of murders revolving around the 16 year-old daughter (Aleisa Shirley).
Dana Kimmell and Steve Antin play the Sheriff's kids while Patrick Macnee and Susan Strasberg play the parents of the new girl.
I liked the movie and enjoyed trying to figure out who the killer was amidst the red herrings, but found the wrap up a little eye-rolling and unsatisfying.
This average little murder mystery, is a must for Susan Strasberg fans, since it gives her some ample screen time, and a chance to display the legendary Strasberg acting ability and beauty.
I won't post a long and detailed review of the movie, because it is a great little horror mystery film and there are several positive reviews already posted that said it better than i probably could have.An interesting note is that this movie is actually on DVD in a couple of obscure "bargain boxsets".
Beautiful teenager Melissa Morgan is a bit of a wild child, quickly attracting the attention of most of the local boys; however, those lucky enough to get close to her have a nasty habit of turning up dead.This rather obscure 80s horror opens in classic stalk 'n' slash mode with a gratuitous shower scene, the 'sweet 16' of the title, schoolgirl Melissa (played by Aleisa Shirley, actually a good few years older than 16), giving herself a thorough wash for the benefit of the viewer.
Normally, such a scene would be followed by the young woman, clad in a towel, leaving the shower to be stalked by a masked maniac, or would at least end with a false scare, but here there's no such payoff; it simply exists to get some gratuitous T&A on the screen, as does a later moment when the lovely girl goes skinny dipping.Not that I'm complaining, because without the occasional spot of nudity from Shirley, this would be a lot less enjoyable, the actual horror content being fairly lame...There are a number of killings throughout the film, but these are unexceptional stabbings shot in a frenzied manner at night, making them very disappointing for gore fans.
The rest of the film consists primarily of dull police procedure, as Sheriff Dan Burke (Bo Hopkins) slowly pieces together clues to discover the identity of the killer, plus some clichéd racial tension between the town's rednecks and local Indians, none of which is particularly thrilling.
Still, this has an awfully good cast for this sort of thing, and Sotos and company do try to give the story a little extra something by introducing racism (the poor treatment of the local Indians) into the proceedings.
"Sweet 16" also banks a lot on the importance of its central character Melissa and the actress in the role, Aleisa Shirley.
She's a hot to trot 15 going on 16 year old who seems to enjoy making trouble and being the centre of attention.One problem with this is that we seem to be getting encouraged to ogle Shirley at every opportunity, and even though Shirley was older than her character, she wasn't *that* much older, making scenes such as a shower sequence highly uncomfortable.The tale, written by Erwin Goldman, shows what happens as bloody murders begin to occur as Melissa's 16th birthday approaches.
The plodding sheriff on the case is Dan Burke (ever amiable Bo Hopkins), whose mystery junkie daughter Marci (Dana Kimmell, a.k.a. the final girl of "Friday the 13th Part III") is eager for some excitement in her small town and follows her fathers' cases with interest.
Meanwhile, Indians such as Jason Longshadow (Don Shanks, a.k.a. Michael Myers in "Halloween 5") and his grandfather Greyfeather (Henry Wilcoxon, in his final film role) are targeted by rowdy racist rednecks Billy (Don Stroud) and Jimmy (Logan Clarke).At the least, "Sweet 16" boasts solid atmosphere, although some slasher aficionados are likely to be dissatisfied with a very small body count and too much murkiness in the gore scenes.
(Still, they may be pleased with the various revealing shots of Shirley.) The cast also includes Susan Strasberg, looking lovely as always, Patrick Macnee (who replaced Leslie Nielsen), Steve Antin ("The Goonies"), Sharon Farrell ("Night of the Comet"), Michael Pataki ("Dead & Buried"), Larry Storch ("Without Warning"), Michael Cutt ("Night of the Demon" 1980), and Glenn Withrow ("The Outsiders").The music, by Tommy Vig, is good, but viewers may cringe at the ultra-sappiness of Melissas' theme song.Also available in a directors' cut.Six out of 10..
On the surface, this would appear to be just another dreary slasher flick, but what separates this film from a lot of the crowd is the that director Jim Sotos (who also directed the rarer of the two 'Forced Entry' films) creates a real gritty atmosphere that makes the film feel a lot like a seventies exploitation flick and ensures that the film is somewhat nastier than the likes of Friday the 13th and Halloween.
The crimes are investigated by the town sheriff and his two kids, and naturally Melissa ends up on the suspects list.The film was obviously made on a small budget but that doesn't hinder it too much as Sweet 16 more than sets out what it clearly intended to do.
The cast is good, with the likes of Bo Hopkins, Patrick Macnee and Susan Strasberg leading the film, while Aleisa Shirley is more than adequate in the title role.
The film feels more like a seventies movie than an eighties flick and that's another positive element if you ask me.
With slashers, a twist at the end is pretty much mandatory and this film adheres to that - except unlike a lot of slashers, the twist here is both interesting and believable.
I can't say that this is brilliant or a classic, but I went into it expecting nothing decent and found a fairly good film so I definitely do recommend Sweet 16 to my fellow horror fans!.
Plot = Melissa is a new girl in town, she's fifteen years old and her birthday is coming up in one week.
Since Melissa is beautiful, every boy in town wants to hook up with her, but the few that manage to catch her interest mysteriously die.To be honest the real reason I wanted to watch this film is because Dana Kimmel of Friday The 13th pt 3 was in it which isn't a proper reason why to rush out and see a movie.
When I started watching it I realized that "Sweet Sixteen" isn't a very good slasher, it's really dull and boring and just doesn't go anywhere.
After over an hour, only three murders have occurred and the story hasn't really developed in any possible way.The movie is nicely shot with quite nice photography and good directing but just as with many other slasher flicks from the 80s, the movie suffers from being too dark at times.
The acting is actually pretty good though and Melissa's character is easy to sympathize with, even though she's a complete slut.The story line isn't completely rubbish but it's just way too dull to keep you interested, the only things that kept me interested was Melissa she was stunning and Dana Kimmel whose really sweet and cute in this movie.All in all pretty dull slasher flick that doesn't go anywhere I'd definitely wouldn't recommend it to Slasher fans..
It is a murder mystery that takes place in a small town where a sheriff investigates the recent brutal knife attacks with all the possibility angle.
Definitely you will begin to predict the suspect, that much the film evolves a bridge between you and the contents.It was a great story, I was stunned for its underrated status and for going unnoticed, but then it ended very cheaply.
Overall surely it was a fine film, a mix of the teen theme and the cop story, obviously excluding the bad ending.6/10.
Even the murder scenes are lackluster, with real close-up shots of generic stabbings that don't look good at all.
SWEET SIXTEEN (1983) **/***** 86 minutes Director Jim Sotos Cast Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Aleisa Shirley, Patrick Macnee, Dana KimmellFifteen year old bad girl Melissa is new in a desert town and it isn't long before folks around her start dying off.
The detective has to put together the clues with the help of his Nancy Drew good girl daughter played by Friday the 13th alumni Dana Kimmell.
These events all lead up to the revealing of the killer at Melissa's sixteenth birthday party.This below average slasher isn't too memorable.
But it turns out that all the guys that she spends time with all wind up murdered in this generic '80's slasher film.
It's up to the local town sheriff Dan Burke (Bo Hopkins, The Wild Bunch) and his annoying mystery-loving goody two-shoes daughter, Marci (Dana Kimmell, Friday the 13th part 3), to get to the bottom of these killings.This film focuses more on the mystery and melodrama aspects of the movie and less on the killings themselves and thus is able to differentiate itself from a lot of it's '80's Slasher brethren.
This movie opens with a totally gratuitous scene of a young girl showering, and if director Jim Sotos really wants us to believe that she's 16 years old, than that's pretty darn disturbing!
Sheriff Burke investigates the murders, although it looks more like his annoying teenage daughter is in charge, and the search leads him to the town's old history.
Here you have a very lovely, but lonely teenage girl name Melissa(Aleisa Shirley) who just recently moved from the city into a small Texas town where she is already causing a stir with the locals.
While the production values may generally be a notch or two up from other low budget movies of the time, it doesn't break the tedium that quickly builds and isn't much erased by the (few) murder scenes.
Melissa, the 15-year-old new girl, is the main attraction for all of the small town boys.
The director's cut isn't 1 minute into the movie or Melissa is already full frontal naked.
It really is a good movie but I only gave it a 4 due the reason that it was made full slasher era and it didn't deliver what we were used to that time being.
The official synopsis for this film is teenager Melissa (Aleisa Shirley) moves into a small town filled with racial prejudice and bullying and each time she meets up with one of the boys in town, they end up murdered, but who is the killer?We kick off with an odd scene with Marci Burke (Dana Kimmell).
It is also at this point that Billy's younger brother Johnny (Glenn Withrow) tells him he's going to leave for a bit, but will be back later.Jason runs into a young woman outside, Melissa.
His truck runs out of gas and he is then brutally murdered by someone.Marci's dad is the local sheriff, Dan (Bo Hopkins).
This also sparks up the hatred of the Native Americans in the area, with Jason being the prime suspect.I do have to say that I really liked the story of this film.
I thought the rest of the cast were fine for what was needed.The effects in this film were good.
I like the mystery of this young woman turning 16 soon and going on dates, only to have each boy murdered.
Overall I'd say this is an above average film with a pretty good mystery to it..
Bo Hopkins stars as a small town sheriff, Dan Burke, trying to uncover the one responsible for a series of murders towards young men surrounding fifteen year old Melissa Morgan(Aleisa Shirley)whose "sweet sixteen" is approaching.
Susan Strasberg(..still quite beautiful at this time)is Melissa's mother, Joanne, and screen veteran Patrick Macnee is her father, archaeologist Dr. John Morgan, excavating old Indian grounds for artifacts.
The horror escalates at Melissa's sweet sixteen birthday party, put together as a way for the town to meet the Morgan family..the killer will be revealed and Billy, along with Jimmy(..his shadow, pretty much)will attempt to have a little fun with Melissa when she goes skinny dipping with Hank.The film carves a psychological path as Dan soon discovers the history of a certain character whose traumatic past could have developed a disturbed personality willing to kill those who pose a fictional danger to Melissa who represents someone else symbolically.
Aleisa Shirley, a very pretty girl, has some nude shower sequences that left me rather disoriented..as a fifteen year old character, I didn't know whether to be mortified as the camera embraced her naked flesh, or jovial because it's obvious she was a much older woman than the Melissa she was portraying.
A great asset to the movie was the camaraderie between Hopkins and his fictional family, Kimmell and Antin..their chemistry together is quite fundamental to the overall success of this rural slasher.
I honestly loved it, although I was expecting a slasher movie and this turned out to be a small-town mystery, it didn't disappoint at all!
Melissa is fifteen (going on sixteen soon), and has just moved to a rural Texas town, desperate to meet new friends.
She unfortunately meets some older guys who are kind of pervy, and witnesses first-hand the horrible racism the town aims towards the Native American community, mainly Greyfeather and Jason, a father and son who are both concerned about Melissa hanging around with bad company and advise her to go home.
and it isn't long before the curious teens at her new high school start pointing the finger at her.One thing I have to say is, whether the movie had been good or bad, I love the soundtrack!
After two boys with the hots for Melissa are murdered, both folksy sheriff Dan Burke (the always excellent Bo Hopkins) and his inquisitive wannabe Nancy Drew daughter Marci (an appealing portrayal by Dana Kimmell) decide to investigate.Director Jim Sotos adroitly crafts a strong rural backwoods hamlet atmosphere, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, and delivers a satisfying smidgen of mild splatter.
Fortunately, the fine cast of reliable pros keep this movie watchable: Susan Strasberg as Melissa's friendly mom Joanne, Patrick MacNee as Melissa's uptight archaeologist dad Dr. John Morgan, Don Stroud as rowdy hell-raiser Billy Franklin, Don Shanks as tough Indian Jason Longshadow, Steve Antin as the jocular Hank Burke, Sharon Farrell as perky forensics expert Kathy Hopkins, Logan Clarke as racist jerk Jimmy, Michael Pataki as smarmy politician George Martin, Henry Wilcoxon as aged Native American Greyfeather, and Larry Storch as a bartender.
Melissa is new in town and already meeting men at the bar, even though she's just 15 - forget the title of the film - and taking one of them to make out in a Native American burial ground.
He soon gets stabbed and killed, turning the slasher conventions around.Sheriff Dan (Bo Hopkins, Uncle Sam) gets a call from Johnny's brother Billy and they search for him, finding no signs of foul play.
Then, the sheriff's daughter Marci (Dana Kimmell, Friday the 13th Part III) finds the body.
Sheriff Dan starts his investigation in earnest, looking into Melissa, as she was the last person to see Johnny alive.Everyone who gets close to her dies - like Tommy, a dude who just wants to hang out behind the bar with her.
Small town mystery with slasher elements.
It's a small town drama, a murder mystery of sorts, and it also contains a series of murder scenes which are straight out of a slasher film.
The film's backdrop of small-town bigotry and resentment is more interesting than the somewhat slow central story, but at least there are various familiar faces showing up here.Don Stroud does his bit alongside Dana Kimmell, making a small horror niche for herself with roles in this and Friday the 13th Part III in the space of a year.
The plot of "Sweet 16" is relatively simple:a beautiful young sixteen-year-old girl named Melissa is the center of male attention until all of her boyfriends are stabbed to death by unknown knife-wielding killer.A tough Native American is one of the suspects.I must admit that I expected more from this not very well-known slasher flick.The mystery element is pretty stagnate and there certainly isn't much slashing going on.The killings are rather bloodless and are mainly knife stabbings.The final plot twist is outlandish:the killer comes totally out of left field,but with the revelation comes a history of parental abuse,repression and psychosis.The nudity provided by Aleisa Shirley is a nice touch.A generous 6 out of 10.