What Happened to Ally Palmer?: The Good Student (2006)

What happened to Ally Palmer?

So my friend picked up this movie and we planned on watching it together. I thought it was one I had seen the end of on TV. The story was of a girl who they think is dead but turns out to be alive and stays with a mortician. The townspeople thinking she was kidnapped when she stayed on purpose.

This wasn’t that movie. It was very interesting and a bit confusing.

So the film starts off as we follow Mr. Gibb, (Tim Daly) history teacher. He lives a sad and boring life-kids don’t respect him at the high school, he has no car, he lives in a dumpy trailer, life is blah.

His neighbor is super interested in him and does all she can to get his attention, but he ignores her.

One night he is watching TV at home and sees a car commercial for Phil Palmer’s used cars, staring his daughter Ally Palmer (Hayden Panettiere). In American Beauty-like fashion, he begins to fantasize about her and watch her.

One student who particularly hates him is Amber (Sarah Steele). She is constantly calling him a pervert and gross old man, even letting him know that she knows what “kind” of videos he rents from her job, the video rental place in town.

Mr. Gibb becomes so enamored with her he stops her after class one day to compliment her and then goes to the car lot to see her, purchasing the first car he spots. And how does he pay for it? He’s got a bunch of money socked away in a suitcase.

One day, Mr. Gibb is after school getting ready to leave when he witnesses an argument between Ally and her boyfriend, Brett (John Gallagher Jr.). She starts yelling “I can’t believe you did this” and sits in the hall crying. Brett is yelling at her angrily and slams his fist into the locker saying that it is her fault and she made him do this.

After Brett leaves, Mr. Gibb comes over and offers to give Ally a ride home. She goes with him and they talk a bit, she telling him that Brett and her were planning on leaving town together but he lost the money. Mr. Gibb gives her her recent test with an A on it. She kisses him in pleasure and then goes into the house.

What?

When she is inside we hear noises and see a masked man with a bowling bag kidnap her.

I know, for real.

Immediately, everyone suspects Mr. Gibb as he was the last one to admit to seeing her. Her dad doesn’t seem that broken up about it as he uses her disappearance to start a sale and makes a ton of money off her. In fact everyone is. Everyone has been selling things from prom tickets to lemonade to “support the search for Ally”.

People call Mr. Gibbs a ton of names and even spray paint pervert on his trailer. Things get worse when a picture of him and Ally kissing gets printed in the paper. Yes, Amber took a picture and put it out as she hates Mr. Gibbs.

Now this made no sense to me, why wasn’t anyone questioning Amber? What was she doing there the day Ally disappeared. And from the angle it was taken from she had to be hiding in the bushes on Ally’s property or in her house. Isn’t that weird? Why does no one care?

So which one is it?

Mr. Gibbs? Obsessed with Ally-could he have kidnapped her as he wanted her?

Phil Palmer, her dad? Was this all a scheme to make a ton of money?

Brett, the boyfriend? He wants money to escape the town, did he do this for ransom?

And run fast

Amber, the outsider? She has always been jealous ay Ally, is this her revenge? Or was it because she hates Mr. Gibbs so, that she wanted to frame him?

The Janitor? He’s creepy and when they show where Ally is being held, it looks school basementlike.

But there is more to all this people than meets the eye. But which one is the kidnapper? The clues could lead to anyone of them, but which are the red herring and which one the real deal?

***SPOLIER ALERT***

So I totally saw the Amber and Phil relationship from the way they talk in the video store. I thought she was going to be the kidnapper as she was there when the photo was taken, she has to be involved or seen something, but the movie didn’t go that way.

Instead the had Mr. Gibbs be the kidnapper which seemed weird to me. If he was gong to kidnap her why did he take her home? Why didn’t he try to establish a better alibi. How could he quickly change into the kidnapper’s clothes when he just saw her 2 mins before. Where did he even get those clothes when we only see him wear one outfit the entire movie. Most people say it was just on the spot that’s why he used a bowling bag, but if it was just on the spot then how did he have the drugs? You can’t be planned out enough to carry something but then working in the moment at the same time.

I think they wanted to pull one over on the audience and went with that twist when it actually makes no sense, And where was he keeping her? How did no one find her?

I thought the execution of the film was good until the end. It completely fell apart for me.

And what is with the title of the film? She has been struggling and finally earned an A. Is that what it means? In fact we know zero about Ally she is hardly in the film except for Mr. Gibbs lusting after her. Other than that we know nothing about what she likes and dislikes.  Its kinda weird.

Uhhhhhhh

To start Horrorfest VII from the beginning, go to It’s the End of the World: The Birds (1963)

For the previous post, go to They’re Moving From Planet to Planet…After They’ve Consumed Every Natural Resource They Move On…and We’re Next: Independence Day (1999)

For more Hayden Panettiere, go to Don’t F*** With the Original: Scre4m (2011)

For more films with disappearances, go to Have You Seen Megan Hipwell?: The Girl On the Train (2016)

The Butcher of Burtonsville High: The Death of the Queen Bee, Bones (2010)

“They say a spirit [the Butcher of Burtonsville High] lives in these woods…He takes over a person and makes him kill.”

This episode is from the fifth season. Booth as recovered from his brain surgery and has feelings for Dr. Brennan He’s not sure if they are real, or because of the story Bones wrote and was reading to him while he was in a coma.

Booth admitted his feelings for Dr. Brennan after they recounted the story of when they first met. But Dr. Brennan didn’t reciprocate.

Angela has thrown off her vows of celibacy, dating Wendall (making Dr. Jack Hodgins jealous) and having a pregnancy scare.

So let’s move on to the review!

The episode starts out with two girls going to the make out spot. They like the Katy Perry song I Kissed a Girl and decide to see if it is accurate. As they reach in for the smooch, a raccoon with a skull stmes running towards sending the skull right at them.

Leaving maggots all over her face!

Dr. Brennan and Booth get called in to check out the body.

Deputy Conway is in shock when she sees Booth. (I’m pretty sure I’d be the same way if I met David Boreanaz.

 It turns out that Dr. Brennan actually grew up in the area and went to the local high school. She recognizes Officer Conway right away.

Officer Becky Conway: Have I arrested you before, hon?

Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan: No. You were my lab partner in Chemistry at Burtonsville High.

Officer Becky Conway: Are you absolutely sure? I have an excellent memory.

Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan: Positive. Though you are thinner now, which is better for you cardiovascular system. In High School, you were quite overweight, hence the derision from the other students.

Officer Becky Conway: Yeah. I remember you now. The creepy girl.

When they find the rest of the body it brings to mind the town’s urban legend about “the Butcher.”

Officer Becky Conway: “They say a spirit lives in these woods…He takes over a person and makes him kill.”

The legend states that the butcher murders his victims and then barbecues and eats their ribs.

Ew!

It was just a story until a girl in their grade was murdered the same way, and found missing ribs.

Dr. Lance Sweets: Now this first victim Sarah Tidwyler was a member of the class of 94?

Special Agent Seeley Booth: And the second victim was killed just before the reunion of the same class that doesn’t sound like a coincidence to me. Cops here agreed to keep everything quiet until we ID the victim and catalog the evidence.

So that’s it, Dr. Brennan and Booth are going undercover. Booth will be Dr. Brennan ‘s husband.

Alright, undercover!

Meanwhile, back at the lab Hodgins lets slip to Wendell that Angela thought she was pregnant. It turned out that Angela never told Wendell anything.

Back in Burtonsville, Dr. Brennan can’t wait to introduce Booth to her only friend in high school, the janitor Ray Buxley. He used to find her creatures for her to dissect, talk to her about death, etc. essentially be creepy.

He’s creepin’ in your windows. He’s starin’ at your people.

Booth meets Julie, super popular back in the day, the organizer of the whole reunion; along with Brad, the once golden boy prom king of Burtonsville and married to the former head cheerleader, Evelyn Simms.

They then go see the janitor in his creepy basement/closet

Never a good sign.

and he is played by Robert England.

Who?

Come on, you know. This Robert England:

And just as creepy as him:

Buxley was suspected in the earlier murder, and Booth seems him still as the number one suspect, even though Dr. Brennan doesn’t think there is anything strange about him.

Back at the lab Angela and Wendall meet up to talk about everything and break up like we all know they would. Come on, Angela and Hodgins are MEANT to be.

But enough of that, it is time to get down to forensic business. They are going to try and work on the face when Angela mentions in a video chat with Dr. Brennan that the victim once had a broken jaw. That creates a lightbulb moment for Dr. Brennan and she knows who the victim is.

Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan: 33. She was 33.

Angela Montenegro: Well, how do you know that?

Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan: Because I’m the one who broke her jaw… with a tennis racket. This is one of my classmates… Evelyn Simms.

WOW

Dr. Lance “Sweets” Sweets believes it to be someone at the reunion, after all emotions and resentments can run high at those. They try looking to see if there is anything else and discover that Brad was dating Sarah at the time she was murdered, and married to the recent victim. Very interesting…

The lab has discovered that the weapon was a metal blade, but what is interesting was how uniform the cuts were and the pattern, not to mention the distinct size and angle of the blade. The two have their work cut out for them as it appears the reunion is just hopping with all types of weapons in every blade size.

WOW

They send pics of everything, and the only thing that comes close would be an ice pick. They ask about Carrie, but Officer Conway is sure that the two were fine. After all, Evelyn gave her the city council contract for her catering business. But then Julie interrupts and reveals that Evelyn and Carrie the caterer were arguing and Evelyn took everything away. Carrie lost her whole business and was ANGRY.

It is so stupid! It makes no sense!!!!

That’s a pretty powerful motive, wouldn’t you say?

They question her but it turns out to be nothing. She was in Florida with her parents, the people she is living with as she lost everything.

Not the right one.

They get a call from Hodgins and al the material found on the body go with stuff you would find in shop class. There they discover Andy making a name plate out of wood for Dr. Brennan, and he also has one there for Evelyn.

He also was interested in Sarah and believes that all women are interested in him. I know its not him; he’s just obsessive and insane.

They check around the room and discover bone dust. Evelyn was definitely dismembered in that room.

Gross

Everything seems to be pointing to Brad; mechanic who knows his way around tools, has a big insurance policy on her, and was with both victims.

That night they are dancing away at the reunion while waiting for some confirmation on information from the lab. Dr. Brennan is excited beyond words:

Special Agent Seeley Booth: Bones, you’re tearing up.

Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan: This is the prom I never got to go to.

Instead of balloons, stars are released from the ceiling. Everything is beautiful and magical…but then Dr. Brennan notices something…those stars are a perfect match for the angle of the murder weapon.

They snap a pic and send it back to the lab. It is a perfect match! They have found the murder weapon, now all is left is to catch the murderer.

Hmm…

Is it Mr. Buxley?

Dr. Brennan goes over to question Buxley about who made the stars. He has figured out that Dr. Brennan isn’t there for the reunion, but is investigating. He tells her that Julie was the one who did it, after all she made every decoration in there.

Ray Buxley: Don’t surprise me, though. One look at her and you can tell she’s off. Them smiley ones, they always give me the willies.

They arrest her and it turns out she is a regular psycho. She and Evelyn made a pact in high school to kill Sarah and share Brad. When Evelyn wouldn’t give him up, she killed her.

A great thriller episode with some fun parodies. You should definitely check it out.

To start Horrorfest V from the beginning, go to Who You Gonna Call?: Ghostbusters (1984)

For the previous post, go to Those Aren’t Men They Are the Living Dead: White Zombie (1932)

For more on Bones, go to You’re Sad So I’m Making This Day Extra Special: The Bikini in the Soup, Bones (2011)

For more creepy janitors, go to Tuesday the 17th: Psych (2009)

For more female serial killers, go to A Matter of Loaf and Death: Wallace and Gromit (2008)

For more David Boreanaz, go to She’s Been Totally Different…Like Stepford: Ted, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)

For more Robert England, go to Whatever You Do Don’t Fall Asleep: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Tuesday the 17th: Psych (2009)

I knew we never should have come back here

So this episode of Psych is a parody of Friday the 13th, hence the Tuesday the 17th. I thought that since we don’t have a Friday the 13th or a Tuesday the 17th, so I thought it would be awesome to have this on Friday the 17th, so its a combination of both.

So for those of you who aren’t Psych fans, the series is about a guy, Shawn Spencer, who pretends to be a psychic and works with the Santa Barbara Police Department. His BFF, Burton “Gus” Guster, helps him out. He works with Head detective Carlton Lassiter and junior detective Juliet O’Hara.

*Spolier Alert*

So the episode starts off with Shawn and Gus in their preteens at summer camp. They are being picked up by Shawn’s dad, and Shawn is pissed. He is mad at for Gus choosing Jason as a partner over him for the piñata contest. (They picked the name Jason in reference to the boy and later killer, Jason Voorhees.) As we transition to the present we get a the theme song from Friday the 13th series and a creepy view of Shawn’s piñata, Rick Astley, stuck under the water.

20 years later a girl, Annie (named after the stupid Annie that is killed in the original Friday the 13th) is sitting down watching one of the Friday the 13th films.

Ren Stevens: What? Honey, you’re chased by six mutants, and you just decided to take a shower?

She decides to go off, when the phone rings like When a Stranger Calls.

But its just her friends and she tells them she is feeling sick and going to stay home. All of a sudden she is attacked from behind!!!

Back at the Psych building, Shawn and Gus find Shawn’s old summer camp piñata hanging outside their building. Jason did it as a joke as he came to ask the two to help them. Jason is reopening the summer camp this upcoming Friday, but one of his counselors, Annie, is missing. Shawn doesn’t want to return, but Gus convinces him to go back there.

There the two meet Billy (named after Billy in Scream), the jock and fitness counselor; Clive, the nerd and the water instructor; and Sissy, the damsel in distress in charge of arts and crafts. They start investigating, when Jason starts acting weird. He keeps speaking strange and walking around with a dummy.

They start breaking up into twos and singles, which angers Shawn as everyone is breaking the horror film rules. Never split up!

While they go off into the woods, Billy gets taken by the killer.

They all meet up again, at 6:00 minus Billy. Sissy shows Gus and Shawn the laundry room; in which they discover Annie’s pjs, covered in blood.

Shawn gets freaked out and calls Juliet O’Hara from the SBPD to come down and check things out. She gets everyone to stay inside the cabin.  When Jason leaves, Shawn chases after him. As he is running and looking for him, he notices the laundry room going again. He goes inside and finds Annie’s strangled body. After that, a man in a potato bag (like that in Butterfinger the 13th) chases after him. Shawn screams and runs away.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only to be caught by the killer!

But all is not what it seems. Shawn figures out that Jason is behind it all and that it is merely a camp created to scare people. The counselors are actors. People pay to come and get scared out of their minds. It’s like living a horror movie, except you know you will survive in the end.

So everyone goes back to the cabin and celebrates the “rehearsal” of the event.

Everything is great until Shawn spots a dead body in the pond.

Victim #1

They all pull him out and discover that it is the creepy janitor. There is a huge storm that starts up, causing no to be able to leave. Or come to them.

All have to wait until it blows over. They decide to play strip cribbage, as stupid as the strip monopoly they play in Friday the 13th.

Well I don’t make out alive. Must have been too much strip monopoly.

Billy ends up being the one who looses all his clothes. And you know what that means…..Yep let the bodies hit the floor.

After the janitor, Annie is killed and then Billy when he goes to check the breaker after the lights go out.

Shawn figures out that it is Clive and goes after Billy, finding his dead body. Juliet chases Annie down and discovers that she is dead too. They go looking for Clive and find him fighting with Gus. One gets knocked into the pool and Shawn jumps into the pool thinking it was Gus. It’s not, it’s Clive!!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clive tries to attack Shawn, letting him know that the reason he is doing so is because his father died at this camp and he wanted to get revenge.

Very similar to the orginal Friday the 13th film

Luckily Juliet manages to shoot him before he can harm Shawn.

The episode ends with Shawn, Gus, and Juliet looking off into the distance. Thinking about the horror they’ve witnessed.

You know how the original Friday the 13th ended, with Jason coming out of the water? Well, they parodied that too, except with Rock Astley.

To start Horrorfest III from the beginning, go to Even A Man Pure of Heart

To go to the previous post, go to Part X: The Movie List that Would Not Die!

For more on Psych, go to At the End of the Rainbow

For more Friday the 13th (1980), go to Camp Blood

For more on Shawn Spencer, go to Treat Her Right

For more parodies of horror films, go to What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?

For more on summer camp, go to Someone Very Special

For more of my fav songs, go to It’s Happening Again, Isn’t It?