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Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, Richard Wilson, Victoria Thaine ... see more see more... , Jessica McNamee

Lola Stone asked Brent Mitchell to the prom, but Brent said no, and now he's screwed. What happens when Lola doesn't get what she wants? She enlists Daddy's help to throw a prom of her own where she i... read more read more...s queen and Brent is king, whether he likes it or not. The Loved Ones is what happens when puppy love goes horribly, violently wrong. Brent should have said yes. -- (C) Paramount

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3,705 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

28 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 24 min.

Directed by: Sean Byrne

Release Date: June 1, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (535)

  • SirPant
    August 26, 2011
    SirPant
    The Loved Ones isn't immediately likable, in fact, I found myself annoyed at all the classic horror 'nods' (influences/rip offs) and wondered if I cared enough to stay up late to keep watching. I'm a little tired this morning but I'm glad I did. The Loved Ones definitely grows on... read more you, it has a disjointed charm about it - I'm not sure if this is a serendipitous bonus due to it being very similar to the films that have been an obvious influence to director Sean Byrne or not but the fact that the film is shot so beautifully makes me think it stands on its own merit. Sean Byrne has thought about every single shot, all are composed beautifully and all add that certain Je ne sais quoi a horror film needs to be a success - or to at least stand out against the rest. The sub-plot seems unnecessary but there was something about it I quite liked about it, Robin McLeavy was great in her role and I look forward to seeing more from Byrne, so far he's keeping the tradition that pretty much all Aussie horror films are ace!
  • kiriyamakazou
    May 6, 2011
    kiriyamakazou
    In this creepy and simple horror thriller, a young man says no to a girl and starts to regret it. This is one of those torture porn movies, but with more attention paid to the overwhelming dread, than to the acts themselves. Imagine an extension of the dinner scene in Texas Chain... read moresaw Massacre and you'll be on the right track. The film plays with the conventions of power, as a young man is held hostage by a girl, who also has control over her father. This unsettling series of twists makes it even creepier. It is all played with some dark Australian humour, which borders on the brink of sick chuckles and uncomfortable shifting for the viewer. Many of the characters are overcoming a loss of some kind, which runs parallel to the controlling ways of McLeavy. She is unable to let things go, or not get her way, twisting her mind into something chaotic. One for the horror fans.
  • romy861
    April 22, 2011
    romy861
    Pretty damn gory for an Australian film. I wasn't expecting it to be so "torture pornish" - I don't know why. I guess it's being pitched as horror crossed with Pretty in Pink made me expect a slightly unbalanced unrequited love story gone wrong. It definitely wasn't that. Yes... read more, our villain wears a pink prom dress and is close to her father (a little too close in this case!), but that's where the similarity ends! This is one twisted, cringeable, horrible girl!
    It is actually pretty decent for it's genre. All the actors are pretty good, though I had not heard of any of them. Xavier Samuel makes Brent sympathetic even though he is clearly not at his best here after the death of his father in a car accident, which he blames himself for. Victoria Thaine is likeable as Holly and Robin McLeavy and Richard Wilson as the father and daughter from hell - I am speechless! (As is Brent himself). What a horrible pair and the things they did to this poor guy were horrible. Ditto "bright eyes". The power drill was especially hard to watch. I had to turn away from this one many, many times.
    Well, I don't think I will be watching it again any time soon, but yeah, a pretty good movie, though really horrible.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    April 20, 2011
    MidnightMadwoman
    *sigh* There are all kinds of things wrong with this movie. I didn't find it enjoyable at all. I guess I like my torture porn a little less painful than this. It's like Sean Byrne took the trope "Break The Cutie" and made a film out of it. I was shown this film by someone who doe... read moresn't watch enough horror movies, and therefore can't tell the good ones from the bad ones. If however, you've already seen Captivity and Otis, you will find The Loved Ones profoundly disappointing. It lacks the feverish focus of Captivity and won't deliver the pain, bloodshed and brutality at a satisfying pace. It lacks the humour and humanity that gave Otis its charm and lift. This movie cuts back and forth between its sadistic butchery and inconsequential characters in such a way that when it completely fails to culminate in a satusfying conclusion, you're even more pissed off since the structure promised it would. This movie throws away its exposition and doesn't flesh out the backstory you notice and care about. This movie gets points for granting the main victim a formidable measure of mental prowess, but not many. The technical ineptitude and general mean spirit of the monsters in this movie bothered me a lot, and there was a real lack of finesse to thier methods. I almost regret watching this.
  • deano
    March 21, 2011
    deano
    I believe The Loved Ones pitched as Pretty in Pink meets Wolf Creek is correct!
    The unsettling horror/black comedy takes the American Prom Horror Film and turns it on its head. Laconic, very Australian humour, combined with twists on the usual "gorno" story, ... read moreelevates it above standard torture porn.
    Tasmanian-born, first-time feature director Sean Byrne mashes a polyglot of styles and influences and comes up with something entirely new in the genre - a candy-coated nightmare.
    The juxtaposition of small-town Australian life with soulless horror is hilarious and horrifying, the performances of John Brumpton and Robin McLeavy magnetic.
  • gokhale1
    November 12, 2010
    gokhale1
    This insane, torture-horror film from Australia takes all those films belonging to the so called 'Splatter horror' or in modern Critical parlance, 'torture porn' genre, to a new level.

    "The Loved Ones" clubs the genre, already made popular by the Australian-American collabora... read moretion that is the "Saw" series or the grislier "Hostel" films made by American film-maker Eli Roth, with a facetious approach by showing some wildly demented individuals in acts which disturb as well as successfully manage to draw some guilty chuckles from the viewer!

    Brent (Xavier Samuel) is a heavy-metal loving student who is still recovering from the trauma of a car crash that killed his father. He considers himself responsible as he was behind the wheel when it happened. When he is not trying to block the guilt by smoking pot and playing some loud heavy metal mayhem on his personal stereo, he spends time with his loving girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine) with whom he makes plans to go to the high school prom.

    Sometime before the dance Brent is approached by a schoolmate, Lola Stone (Robin McLeavy) who asks him if he could go the dance with her. When he politely refuses saying he has as a date with Holly, Lola is thoroughly disappointed. Lola's heartbreak mounts when she sees Brent and Holly making out in a car. Right at that instant, the look on Lola's face almost screams 'vengeance'!

    But Lola looks so cute, one would be easily fooled into believing that she couldn't hurt a fly!

    But all these assumptions on the viewer's part are shattered as the film takes a terrifying turn and Brent finds himself in the midst of a ghastly, never-ending nightmare, which is Lola's sadistic plan of seeking revenge....


    One of the most impressive aspects of this film, I must mention (no spoilers here), is the cleverly ironic usage of the song "Not pretty enough" by Kasey Chambers juxtaposed against some disturbing imagery from scenes that take place in Lola's house and in her bedroom as she looks through her albums and memorabilia. The song is also very apt as it strongly relates to Lola's character of a rejected, not-so-popular girl in school. It is here that we are given a sample of Lola's strange behavioral characteristics and her frighteningly weird domestic environment.


    For the most part, the writer-director, Sean Byrne succeeds in creating a deathly atmosphere in this almost claustrophobic thriller. He also shows us something very original in most of the film. It would have made a greater impact if he had maintained this originality instead of borrowing some scenes (very obviously inspired) from some earlier films. Also, there are quite a few instances of implausible happenings in some scenes. But what else can you do in such a film with over-the-top violence! Some suspension of disbelief is required on part of the viewer.


    All said and done, watch this film for a fabulously demented, superlative performance from Robin McLeavy and for some commendable creativity on the part of the film-maker Sean Byrne in successfully making a tongue-in-cheek 'splatter film'!
  • c0up
    November 11, 2010
    c0up
    'The Loved Ones'. I think AICN said it best; a truly demented masterpiece! Gory as hell with ample servings of dark humour
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    November 6, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "The trick is not to go too far. Just enough to break through the skull."

    When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.

    REVIEW
    ... read morer>
    I thought it lacked direction at first but they were simply starting things with a simmer and very slowly bringing them to a boil and I mean slowly. This is a very good off the grid feel film with great production quality. Initially once it takes off I feared it was going to turn into a turd dive bombing straight into the toilet, it did the exact opposite.

    It's gory, morbid and capitalizes on a few true events as well as containing elements from a few other horror movies which I'm sure inspired these aspects. You can see a few scenarios coming well in advance and make a lot of connections but they were still creative and worth implementing. Last House on the Left, The People Under the Stairs, Jeffrey Dahmer, Storm Warning etc. It's kindred to these films without actually ripping them off.

    Lots of suspense and complete satisfaction by the time it's over. This film definitely has high re-watch value and I'm sure will become a cult classic that in 10 years is still sought after at video stores, movie sites and where ever else you'll be getting your movies by then.
  • drblood
    October 20, 2010
    drblood
    I have to admit that I'd never even heard of "The Loved Ones" until one of my Australian friends started posting things about it. In my defence, I don't think Australia has ever been known for a producing a lot of horror films and even Wikipedia only lists forty-four of them (so... read moreme of which aren't really horror at all). When Australia does horror it can either be very bad or very good unlike Canadian horror, for instance, which dips and rises just around the average level every time. If you've never seen an Australian horror film before in your life then, firstly, shame on you, and, secondly, prepare yourself to either love it or hate it as there really is no inbetween. Aussies, in general, have a similar sick sense of humour to Brits which is often quite a brutal surprise to Americans. I also don't think I've ever seen an Australian movie of any kind yet which conforms to Hollywood derived formulas.
    The only recent movie that I can think of which has a similar look and feel to it as "The Loved Ones" is the British "Mum & Dad" (2008). Both were funded with some kind of arts grant and so you can be sure that the creativity involved far outweighs the budget. Even so, neither of these films suffer from the piss-poor shaky-cams of low-budget American independents and have very high production values. Basically, "The Loved Ones" is all about having a good story with lots of tension and decent practical effects. Yeah, old school horror movie making at its best.
    The only thing which "The Loved Ones" shares with the American nasties is that you won't have heard of anyone involved in it. Unless you are a Twihard then Xavier Samuel, who plays the lead here, won't even be familiar to you as Riley from "Eclipse". In fact he looks so completely different that you won't even think it was the same actor anyway. The rest of the cast have all been around the Australian TV circuit including the soaps so you won't know who any of them are either. I find all this anonymity very refreshing but I don't think Robin McLeavy, who plays Lola, will stay hidden away for much longer. She was fantastic.
    The acting was incredibly well done overall. Although all of the characters were either a bit quirky or just downright demented, I didn't spot a weak performance anywhere. It was all played reasonably straight even if there were quite a few intentionally amusing moments and the whole thing was a very black comedy anyway. "The Loved Ones" has a slightly lighter feel to it than "Mum & Dad" but it's still pretty gruesome and twisted. It really is difficult to place into a niche as it isn't as ridiculous as any of Peter Jackson's stuff (and, yes, I do know he's a Kiwi) but it's not as mean-spirited as Sam Raimi's earlier work either. Some scenes do homage both these directors though but it really is an homage not a blatant rip-off.
    I'm sure there'll be a few people who will claim "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" inspired a lot of the scenes too and I can agree with them to a point. If you are going to have any kind of twisted murderous family set-up in a movie then obviously there will be similarities to others in the same subgenre. But just as "Mum & Dad" had more in common with the real life serial killers Fred and Rosemary West than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" so, too, "The Loved Ones" has undoubtedly been inspired by some of the even more incredible true crimes that have been revealed in the last few years. Abduction and torture are nothing new to the horror genre anyway. No matter how much "torture porn" you've seen, "The Loved Ones" is still something a little bit different.
    Before I give away the plot even more than the trailer already does, I need to mention a couple of specific things that stood out for me. The first was the sex scene between Xavier Samuel and Victoria Thaine. If you've already seen "The Loved Ones" then you'll understand exactly where I'm coming from with this. All I'm going to say is "moles" and "razor blade round his neck". To those of you who haven't seen this yet but have seen a certain "Austin Powers" movie, just have a nice long twig at the ready. Yes, I found this scene very distracting but not in the way it was probably intended. If the words, "Bite it off!" escape your lips at any point then you are coming with me straight to Hell, okay?
    Second, although I can almost tie up the subplot with Richard Wilson and hot goth chick Jessica McNamee as a kind of nicer parallel to the more horrific events that were going on, I wanted all the characters to come together at the end and I was waiting for something that never happened. The more I think about it, the cleverer it all gets because the story didn't take that too predictable route but maybe it should have done. If there is a flaw then that is it but without the subplot there wouldn't have been some important details filled in either. I'm still undecided on whether it really worked or not.
    Anyway, I actually think that "The Loved Ones" was one of the best Australian horror movies that I've seen for a long time. Don't even try to compare it to the crap that was "Wolf Creek" because you don't have to wait until the film is almost over for the action to kick-off here. When things start happening they don't really let up and the "torture porn" elements are far more brutal than anything in the "Hostel" movies even if most of the real grisliness occurs off camera.
    I'm happy to rate "The Loved Ones" as a definite 8 out of 10 based on nothing but the sheer pleasure it gave me to watch it. I always feel that it's a bit of a cop out when people say things like, "Yeah, it was bad but very entertaining" and rate an utterly worthless film higher than it should be just because they have no taste or discernment. "The Loved Ones" is not in that category at all even if it is a teeny bit superficial. "The Loved Ones" is a film that horror fans will really enjoy because it's actually good, is very well made, and is a quality product all round.
    Incidentally, God only knows how Bloody-Disgusting got a mention on the trailer as "The Loved Ones" is a good film, has nothing to do with Platinum Dunes, and doesn't deserve that kiss of death at all. If you've started to ignore recent releases because of biased internet reviewers then stick with everyone in the Horror Blogger Alliance. None of us are paid to review horror movies, we just do it because it's our passion.
    I can't honestly say that "The Loved Ones" was particularly scary and I must admit that I fancied Robin McLeavy a lot more than I really should have but, for the sheer harrowing and inventive brutality, I absolutely loved it. It's not going to make me scared of visiting Australia (the enormous deadly spiders they have there is already enough!) in the way that the "Hostel" films tried to make everyone xenophobic about Europe but it's certainly going to make me keep an eye on the Australian horror movie scene in case another gem like this ever pops up in the future.
  • fb100001056335116
    May 7, 2011
    fb100001056335116
    A reminder of how twisted the human mind can be.

View All The Loved Ones Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dennis Harvey
September 18, 2009
Dennis Harvey, Variety

Transcends mere torture porn -- though there's plenty for the squeamish to squirm over here -- in its deftly controlled mix of empathy, grotesquerie and sardonic humor. Full Review

Marc Fennell
November 10, 2010
Marc Fennell, Triple j

Edible roadkill, Frontal lobotomies, teenage psychopaths and Kasey Chambers music....Precisely what every school dance should feature, right? A surprising, fast, stylised Aussie torture porn. Full Review

Julie Rigg
November 5, 2010
Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National

It's a well made film. One for the gore fans. Full Review

Matthew Pejkovic
November 3, 2010
Matthew Pejkovic, Matt's Movie Reviews

Australian horror film The Loved Ones proves that it is the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Full Review

David Stratton
November 3, 2010
David Stratton, At the Movies (Australia)

The morbid jokes and the shocking moments of horror, all played straight by an excellent cast, plus some moments of grisly originality, combine in a film that's better than the average for this sort o... Full Review

Jim Schembri
November 3, 2010
Jim Schembri, The Age (Australia)

A blood-spattered, tongue-in-cheek horror comedy that features plenty of low-rent gore, some extra-cheesy lines and some terrific performances. Full Review

Leigh Paatsch
November 3, 2010
Leigh Paatsch, Herald Sun (Australia)

Arguably the only flaw to The Loved Ones' gore-and-guffaws approach is that Byrne does not quite have enough strong material to fill a noticeably slender 80-minute running time. Full Review

Julian Shaw
November 2, 2010
Julian Shaw, FILMINK (Australia)

Debut director Sean Byrne has carved out a flick to stand beside Brian De Palma's high school horror classic Carrie, such is the beauty and brutality of his execution. It's the best entry to the Aussi... Full Review

Simon Miraudo
November 2, 2010
Simon Miraudo, Quickflix

Sean Byrne makes one hell (and I mean hell) of a feature film debut with The Loved Ones. It's slick, confident and wickedly funny. Lola is straight out of Sam Raimi's nightmares; a terrifying cross be... Full Review

David Michael Brown
November 1, 2010
David Michael Brown, Empire Magazine Australasia

Growing pains have never been this excruciating. The Loved Ones is an instant horror classic. Full Review

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    • Lola: Will you go to the dance with me?
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The Loved Ones Trivia

  • In which famous movie starring Al pacino, did his loved one's car blow up?  Answer »
  • Walter Sparrow twists his once idyllic life into an inferno of psychological torture that could possibly lead to his death as well as the deaths of his loved ones. Spurred on by a mysterious novel. What is the name of this Novel, Also the name of this Movie?  Answer »
  • This heartbreaking 1978 movie is set in a gritty steel mill town in Pennsylvania, and tells the story of three men who go off to fight in the Vietnam war. The film depicts how the war changes and affects their lives, and the lives of their loved ones.   Answer »
  • In which film does the English actor Tom Wilkinson portray the role of Dr Howard Mierzwiak, the creator of a process which enables patients to have memories of loved ones erased from their brains?  Answer »
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