Clinger

Clinger
 

Clinger tells the unusual love story of Fern and Robert, two high school seniors who meet, fall in love quick, and suffer an end to their relationship unlike any other when Robert gets decapitated while telling Fern in an over-the-top way just how much he loves her. Being the overly affectionate hopeless romantic that he is, Robert returns from the dead as a love-sick ghost and tries to reunite with Fern. But as Fern rejects him Robert plots to kill her so they can be together forever.

Clinger starts quick and takes us through the whirlwind romance of our two young love birds, Fern (Jennifer Laporte) and Robert (Vincent Martella). We see how they meet, get some key moments, a photo montage, and then the big splatter fest ending to their relationship. Then BAM the title card CLINGER hits the screen and it's a great way of letting the viewer know that the real, supernatural, and twisted relationship in this story has just begun!
Clinger is a very colorful and charming and breezy feeling movie that reminded me of the teenage romantic comedies from the 90's and moves at a pace as fast as two teenagers in the backseat of a car. And sometimes for whacky horror-comedies like this a quick run-time is a good thing because the movie never feels like it's dragging on or the jokes are wearing thin.
Clinger is full of jokes, visual gags, and plays on words and the majority of the comedy works perfectly to create a consistently whacky and off kilter world. There's a seamless feel when the tone begins to turn darker as it maintains it's comedic elements. Every character adds to the whacky world and makes the story believable because every character is so eccentric and very funny. The cast does a great job in this. Even the ghosts in the cemetery are eccentric and visual gags themselves.
The two leads, Laporte and Martella, are very solid in their roles. The two actors have great chemistry together and Martella especially excels at portraying both sides of his innocent, charmingly awkward yet obsessively dark character.
The standout performance in the film would have to be Fern's older sister Kelsey played by Julia Aks. This girl had me cracking up at almost every line she spoke. She has a fantastic comedic delivery and a powerful presence on the screen, I looked forward to every time she was in a scene because she just had me laughing constantly! Kudos really to the entire cast for being so dedicated to both their character and the tone of the film, they all did wonderful in their parts. Plus it has the presence of cult horror legend Debbie Rochon in a subtle and very funny performance as Fern's mother, and Nightmare on Elm Street scream queen Lisa Wilcox.
As Clinger progresses and turns darker, the blood and gore fly as the film hits it's climax and let's just say you'll probably never want a teddy bear from your significant other ever again! The effects are very well done and when the blood splatters it splatters everything!
Is Clinger a great movie? Actually, yes, it is. It offers a unique story, memorable and funny characters, aptly mixes horror and comedy, and is an overall great time. I was very pleasantly surprised to enjoy this movie as much as I did, it's full of heart and charm and creativity and left me feeling like one happy hopeless romantic horror kid. Definitely check this one out!