Review of Disturbing Behavior (1998) by Rebecca L — 06 Aug 2008

Disturbing Behavior takes place in a small town in the San Juan Islands of northern Washington State. Its high school is full of your typical cliques: the stoners, the gearheads, the nerds?and the Blue Ribbons.

They are the epitome of good behavior. They excel in their classes and sports, and are model citizens. That's what makes them so creepy. A new kid, Steve (James Mardsen) is befriended by two of the kids who don't easily fit into the other groups: the paranoid Gavin (Nick Stahl) and Rachel (Katie Holmes) Gavin is worried that there are sinister forces at work in Cradle Bay, and the entire problem seems to lead back to the school counselor, Dr.

Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood). Gavin's friends humor his delusions until one night he is transformed from his druggy, underachieving self into a member of the Blue Ribbons. It's at that point that Steve and Rachel realize that there really is something amiss, and try to unravel Caldicott's machinations while avoiding the zombified state of the Blue Ribbons.

The performances are better than the average horror film. Nick Stahl and Bruce Greenwood are the standouts of the film, although Holmes hones her natural talent to some degree. Disturbing Behavior is a promisingly better film than most of the other abovementioned contemporary teen horror films, which really ended up being not much more than 1980s slasher films with studio budgets.

There?s some deft characterizations and sharply cynical writing.