Michael Ledo Fern Peterson (Jennifer Laporte) runs track and wants to go to MIT. Her sister (Julia Aks) runs an upstart sock puppet therapy program. If she has a job, she won't have time to become a billionaire entrepreneur. Fern meets Robert Klingher (Vincent Martella) and they fall in love. Robert makes everyday seem like Valentine's Day. She is the one. Fern wants to break-up before leaving for MIT. This startles Robert who has an accident where he literally loses his head. He becomes a haunting love ghost who only Fern can see, but her problems are just starting.This was a fun comedy/horror with quirky humor and blood. If you like this style, you might want to check out, 'Night of the Living Deb." Guide: F-word. Sex. Male butt nudity.

HorrorOverEverything Horror Comedies have a reputation of either being great or terrible, the mix of genres can work and has in the past but a lot of the times (especially in low budget films) the comedy just seems forced and lame. With Clinger (a new horror comedy from first time director Michael Steves) there are glimpses of a really good movie, but there are also a lot of very sloppy attempts at comedy.The story follows Fern Peterson (player by Jennifer Laporte who did a really good job in her first feature film), Fern meets Robert Klingher (played by Vincent Martella who is best known for his appearance in the show "Everybody Hates Chris"), Fern and Robert are both fairly inexperienced when it comes to dating and they quickly fall for each other. Everything goes great at first but Robert begins to become much more invested in the relationship than Fern, it doesn't take Fern long to realize that it's time to break things off with Robert. However during the break up Robert is killed in a freak accident, now he is back as a ghost and more obsessed than ever. I really liked the plot line, it's one of the best parts of the movie in my opinion. They really do a good job of capturing the awkwardness of teenage relationships and that really gave the movie some charm. While there is a decent amount of stuff to like in "Clinger" there is also quite a bit of stuff that really throws the film off and prevents it from being great. One of the big negatives that really stood out for me was the fact the two of the characters (Fern's Sister and Fern's Coach) were extremely obnoxious. You can tell that these were the two characters that were suppose to bring most of the laughs, everything they say is an attempt at comedy but 95% of it fell flat on me and after a while it just got really annoying. There are definitely some funny parts in the film, the more subtle jokes and even some of the psychical comedy worked really well, but too many times the film tried a bit too hard to be hilarious.Parts of "Clinger" were extremely fun, gory, and entertaining as hell, unfortunately a few poor characters and a few too many bad jokes really prevented this from being a great low budget gem. Nevertheless this was still an entertaining Horror/Comedy, just a few steps away from being more than that. 5.5/10

bruce_nawrocki Saw this at Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, NC last weekend. I thought it was one of the highlights of the festival.It's difficult to set the right tone for a comic horror film, but this one hits the mark. Of course, it helped to see it on the big screen in a sold-out theater.I have to applaud the writer - clever dialog and jokes along with the scares. And the actors were all great - with close to a star-making performance from Jennifer Laporte as Fern. Vincent Martella as her first boyfriend Robert was also good - somehow walking the fine line between youthful earnestness and creepy obsession. There was appropriate time spent to make their relationship awkward and touching, like real teenagers.The writer was generous enough to provide even the supporting cast with great lines and character arcs. For instance, Fern's sister could have been a thankless role - providing easy jokes as a stereotypical airhead. But she has her own interesting subplot. And the track coach was an inspired creation - flawed, but strong and wonderful.I also liked the flashbacks, animated to resemble a child's crayon drawings. And the plot continued to build to a satisfying conclusion -- another trick that's not so easy to pull off. Very impressive.

ASouthernHorrorFan "Clinger" has a pretty straight forward story with some really dark, but funny humor written into its classic boy-meets-girl prose. While the acting is decent, and the characters are somewhat developed, a lot of the moments fall flat. I am really not sure why but during the more comedic scenes either the timing, or delivery is just not strong. And yet from a contrast point of view, the scenes that are just casual character development have a natural quality and ease that really delivers Steves and Gabi Duncombe's (writer) vision. There are plenty of funny moments, especially during the more physical comedy scenes that are also the horror scenes. The horror comedy aspect of "Clinger" is reminiscent of recent films like "Boy Eats Girl" with its all-out "stereotyped" gag humor, but the characters themselves are a bit more witty much like the characters in classic films such as "Election" with Reese Witherspoon. "Clinger" really has some nice moments. Of course most of the moments come with the bloody, death scenes, interactions between the living and the dead-that usually ends in someone getting hurt, and a few of the actors that just own their characters. The special effects are above par considering the budget. A lot of the stuff is CGI supported gory elements, but there is equal parts practical effects in the film too. Usually I trash films for relying on CGI to give us the horror but when a film is paranormal (ghosty) in nature I tend to find it acceptable and quite frankly necessary. Plus the effects team, and Steves balanced the CGI, practical effects nicely. And there was enough blood spray and splatter in the film to make any horror fan happy. The musical score wasn't that impressive, actually I don't think any song or sound effects sequence really stuck out to me personally. It doesn't suck-it just wasn't that impressive. Overall "Clinger" is a horror comedy worth checking out. I enjoyed the horror elements way more than the comedy stuff, but everything balances out in this one, and the cast are really committed to their characters.