World of 1990s was full of contradictions. The author of this review lives in the country where American suburbia is promoted as embodiment of everything a successful citizen should strive for. At the same time, Black Circle Boys, 1997 drama written and directed by Matthew Carnahan, was advertised as horror despite being set in that very environment.
The protagonist of the film is Kyle Sullivan (played by Scott Bairstow), high school student and accomplished swimmer. When a celebration results in tragic incident, Kyle's life is shattered. His family tries to get over that by moving to Seattle, but Kyle still feels depressed and abandoned. In new school he notices Shane Carver (played by Eric Mabius), rebellious youth who gained charisma among pupils by confronting teachers and dealing cheap drugs. Kyle befriends Shane and becomes part of "Black Circle Boys" - group of youths, led by Shane, whose life revolves around drugs, Satanist rituals, petty crime and dreams of starting a heavy metal band. Gradually, things start to go out of control and Kyle begins to wander whether "Black Circle Boys" are really the answer to his problems. He gets the answer to this question when Shane kills one of his disciples.
In my country Black Circle Boys was advertised as Satanist horror film. In reality, this was straightforward drama inspired by real events. In his film Matthew Carnahan paints bleak and disturbing picture of American suburbia - adolescents who are supposed to enjoy prosperity and lifestyles unimaginable to previous generations have lost any sense of purpose and direction; abandoned by their parents with whom they can't connect, they turn to substance abuse and violence. This film benefits from very talented cast, especially Scott Bairstow who excels in the role of troubled teen. Eric Mabius is also good in the role of equally troubled villain. Unfortunately, the acting is, more or less, the only good thing in Black Circle Boys. Carnahan knows what he wants to tell about the state of alienated American teenagers, but he doesn't know how. The plot is weak and the obligatory romance is nothing but a waste of time. The ending is especially disappointing and compromises film's bleak realism. Because of that Black Circle Boys is a failure that could be recommended only to the fans of its young cast.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on June 17th 2004)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
