Editor’s Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on May 9, 2006, and we’re proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.
Having seen Tamara twice with enthusiastic big-screen audiences (see original review here), I was curious to see how the high-school-revenge-from-beyond-the-grave film would play at home on Lionsgate’s DVD. The answer is just fine, and I gained an extra appreciation for the movie from learning (via the disc’s commentary) the budgetary restraints its makers labored under, which forced them to forego quite a bit of scripted material. From details (Tamara having to take a bus to her supposed assignation with her teacher, emphasizing her lower-class status) to subplots (one girl’s lesbian leanings), a significant amount of character-oriented stuff never actually made it before the cameras. The discussion of these losses by director Jeremy Haft and screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick illuminates how the best filmmaking intentions can run into roadblocks on the way to the screen, and also points up how this duo managed to persevere and still wind up with a movie containing more personality than the usual hack-and-slasher.
Speaking of personality, Haft and Reddick prove to be a couple of very likable speakers who are clearly having a good time recounting the shoot, financial warts and all. While keeping up a constant string of jokes (Haft makes some funny deadpan quips regarding the number of producers on the film, what teenagers get up to in motel rooms, etc.), they also shed plenty of light on the creative process behind the movie and what went into making it. Reddick acknowledges the obvious influence of Carrie right away, while Haft points out that there’s no red in the film beyond the blood and the dresses on the title character (Jenna Dewan) once she comes back from the dead to wreak manipulative payback on her not-quite-killers.
Those unfilmed scenes weren’t the only casualties involved on Tamara, as we also find out about assorted injuries suffered by actors and crew. Then there was the giant millipede that got loose during location filming at a Winnipeg school and never found, meaning the Tamara team is responsible “if there’s a millipede outbreak in central Canada” (hey, there’s an idea for another movie—quick, someone call the Sci Fi Channel!). And, inevitably, we’re told of scenes that did get filmed but were trimmed as a result of the eternal struggle between pacing and character depth; just as inevitably these days, those deleted moments don’t show up on the disc.
In fact, there isn’t even a Special Features menu (the commentary is accessed via the Setup screen), but Haft and Reddick’s talk is thorough and entertaining enough to make up for the lack of other extras. The movie itself looks and sounds just fine, with Scott Kevan’s accomplished photography given a polished, atmospheric sheen in the 1.78:1 transfer, backed by sharp 2.0 sound. The makers of Tamara may not have had a great deal of money, but they clearly spent it where it counted.
