The first time I watched Fingerprints was just after its release in 2008. I was a freshman in college, and on a boring Tuesday night the girls from next door brought this movie to my room to watch with my roommates and I. We were somewhat intoxicated and I remember thinking the movie was great. Fast-forward to the present day and legendary actor Geoffrey Lewis has passed away and I mentioned Fingerprints among his many contributions to the horror and science fiction genres. This made me curious to see the movie as a sober adult seven years later. So, I got a copy on DVD and here’s my thoughts having watched it again.
Fingerprints is directed by Harry Basil based on the screenplay by Brian and Jason Cleveland. The film was executively produced by Oscar winner Gray Frederickson (The Godfather) and John Simonelli with cinematographers Michael Goi (“American Horror Story,” “Salem”) and Andrea V. Rossotto. Cast members include Leah Pipes (“The Originals,” Sorority Row), Kristin Cavallari (“The Hills,” “Dancing with the Stars”), Josh Henderson (“Dallas,” “Desperate Housewives”), Andrew Lawrence (“Recess,” “United States of Tara”), Sally Kirkland (Anna, “Days of Our Lives”), Lou Diamond Phillips (Courage Under Fire, “Numb3rs”) Geoffrey Lewis (The Devil’s Rejects, Night of the Comet), Glen Jensen, Ashley Wyatt and Dylan Cox.
“Fresh out of rehab, a troubled teenager sets out on a grisly path to discover the disturbing truth behind a well-known urban legend. Haunted for fifty years by the horrifying tale of a train colliding with a school bus, killing all the children aboard, the small town left behind continues to suffer as a stomach-churning chain of murders claims victim after victim.” – AMAZON
One thing that’s great about Fingerprints is it features a lot of talented actors before they became household names, most noticeably Leah Pipes and Josh Henderson, as well as mainstream talent with Kristin Cavallari and Andrew Lawrence and iconic actors like Sally Kirkland and Geoffrey Lewis. It’s an interesting cornucopia of talent and one that is ultimately directed at a younger demographic. Fingerprints is definitely aimed at men and women age 14 to 19 who want a decent horror film that’s not brutal, bloody gore porn. What’s interesting about this is that it has stood the test of time and now, eight years after hitting DVD, I still think it has a massive appeal to younger viewers who want a laid back horror title.
This is both a good and bad thing, though. Fingerprints has a 3/5 star rating on Amazon, a 5/10 star rating on IMDB and a 3/5 star rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I think this is because the demographic this picture was geared to enjoys/will enjoy it greatly, while every other type of horror viewer will probably hate it. There aren’t any tense moments, it has distinctively average special effects that showcases nothing new, the ghosts aren’t scary, the killer conductor is laughable and with the cheesy backing scores and sound effects Fingerprints views more like a new age “After School Special” than a horror film, especially with the whole “drugs are bad” theme. I would seriously consider looking up the trailer for this one before you think about buying or streaming.
I wanted to like this movie after watching it a second time, given the fact that it starts with a school bus full of children getting hit by a train and I have a sick sense of humor. I also wanted to like it because of the very popular urban legend the plot focuses around. Still, my taste in movies has changed since being a drunk college student and this movie is not for me. I have a good feeling this movie will not be for a lot of you, either. I would rate it a 7 out of 10 for the young, teen audience who may read this and a 5 out of 10 for the adults that read my review over. It’s not horrible by any means, it’s just not a title for the majority of horror’s key demographic.
