This film was announced years ago, during the height of the "Scream" craze. In that context, it was pretty anxiously awaited by some of us, who thought Australia was going to produce a decent clone of that Wes Craven movie.

It took about two years for the movie to finally reach the U.S., long after interest in "Scream" had abated. It went straight to video. Unfortunately, there isn't much to recommend in it, even as a direct-to-video rental at Blockbuster. Its attempts to emulate "Scream" are tepid, its characters unbelievable and, ultimately, its entire premise silly.  I knew it was going to suck the moment a group of young film students gathered at a table and started talking about making a horror film "bigger than 'Halloween,' creepier than 'Friday the 13th.'"

Ringwald (the only American in the cast as far as I can tell) plays a stuck-up actress who once killed an actor during the making of a slasher movie. The actor, who was playing a slasher, killed the movie's female director after she threatened to fire him. Ringwald defeated him by kicking him the balls before fatally wounding the nutcase. The movie is never completed.

Flash forward many years later. A group of Australian film students get the nutty idea to buy the rights and finish the movie. Their professor (Roberts), who worked on the original movie, warns them not to. The film has a curse, he tells them. Every time anyone has attempted to screen the film, they've been killed.

Naturally, the kids decide to go ahead anyway, and raise enough money to re-hire Ringwald to once again participate in the film. It isn't long before someone else on the set, wearing the same type of mask the killer in the movie uses, is out and about, chopping off heads of various cast and crew members.

The ending is ludicrous. It does feature some decent make-up effects and is a bit gorier than the average direct-to-video fear flicks  these days. Ringwald's performance is about as dull as the character she inhabits. She wasn't given much to work with in terms of a script, so it's not her fault if her jokes fail to pentetrate. The best thing that can be said about this movie is that it is, at least, a genuine slasher film. But that's about all.

My advice: Cut this out of your video rental or buying plans.