Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader

Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKevin O'Neill
Written byMike MacLean
Produced byRoger Corman
Dan Golden
StarringJena Sims
Sean Young
Ryan Merriman
Olivia Alexander
Treat Williams
Sasha Jackson
Ted Raimi
Edited byYasmin Assemi
Vikram Kale
Production
company
New Horizon Pictures
Distributed byEpix
Release date
  • August 25, 2012 (2012-08-25)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million

Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader is a 2012 American 3D science fiction comedy horror film directed by Kevin O'Neill[1] and produced by Roger Corman[2] as his first 3D production.[3] The film stars Treat Williams, Sean Young, Olivia Alexander and Jena Sims.[4][5] The film was released on August 25, 2012, on Epix.[3][6]

Plot

Cassie Stratford is a plain science nerd, whose mother was captain of the cheer squad at Iron Coast University and president of Zeta Mu Sorority, so she is pressured to join both cheerleading and the sorority. However, Brittany Andrews, current Zeta President and Cheer Captain rejects her.

Cassie works in the Biology Building of the University, where she and her friend Kyle are working on a drug that turns things beautiful. In the night, Cassie steals the drug and injects herself with it. While she does become beautiful and makes the cheer squad when one of the cheerleaders is injured, she then discovers the drug has a side effect when she starts to grow taller and taller until she is a giantess.

Brittany discovers this and tries to seduce Kyle into telling her the secret, which leads to her being accidentally injected with more of the drug than Cassie and also growing into a giantess. Brittany makes her way to the stadium.

Brittany enters the stadium where Cassie confronts Brittany which leads to a catfight, Cassie wins the fight by injecting Brittany with a drug overdose of the antidote before knocking her out. Kyle then injects Cassie with the antidote and she is returned to normal. While Cassie and Kyle kiss, Brittany is shrunken to dwarf size due to the overdose and is made fun of by her fellow cheerleading squad.

Cast

Production

Roger Corman stated that for each of the 350+ films he's produced, he has worked efficiently and planned them in advance.[2] He told the Toronto Star that he hoped to premiere the film at Comic-Con in July 2012.[7] In a compliment he paid to the actress Sean Young, Corman told her, "Sean, you were great in the picture but you were miscast. You look too good to be the mother!"[7] This was Corman's first 3D production.[3][8] The actress in the title role, Jena Sims, was crowned Miss Georgia Teen USA 2007.[9]

During filming, both Sims and Olivia Alexander heavily promoted the film, sharing behind the scenes photos with fans on Twitter and videos on YouTube. Sims and Alexander even accompanied Roger Corman at Comic-Con while wearing their giant cheerleader outfits and also accompanied Corman at the 85th Academy Awards.

The movie was featured in the 2013 book Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses: Roger Corman: King of the B Movie by author Chris Nashawaty.

The song "Attack Attack", sung by Olivia Alexander, is featured during the opening credits of the film. Alexander wrote and sang three songs for the film: "Attack Attack", "It's On" and "VIP." A music video for "It's On" was filmed on August 9, 2012, and is available on Alexander's YouTube channel.

Release

The film premiered at San Diego Comic-Con on July 14, 2012.[10] It also screened at the 3D Film Festival on September 22, 2012.[11] It was formally released on August 25, 2012, on Epix.

Lionsgate released the film on DVD in 2015 with no special features. There are currently no plans for a Blu-ray release making Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader one of the few films to receive a standard DVD release without a version available in the Blu-ray format.

References

  1. ^ Barton, Steve (November 7, 2011). "M 2011: Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader Artwork Stands Tall". Dread Central. Archived from the original on November 14, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Rocca, Mo (February 26, 2012). "Roger Corman: Still "King of the Bs"". CBS News. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Kushigemachi, Todd (April 24, 2012). "Epix slates Roger Corman, Graham Chapman pics". Variety. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  4. ^ Rigney, Todd (November 7, 2011). "Sales Art for Kevin O'Neill's Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader". Beyond Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  5. ^ Alexander, Chris (April 10, 2012). "Interview: Jena Sims goes big in Corman's 3D "50 FT CHEERLEADER"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  6. ^ Brzoznowski, Kristin (April 26, 2012). "EPIX Slates Original Premieres". World Screen. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Howell, Peter (February 27, 2012). "Sean Young no party animal, pal Roger Corman says". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  8. ^ McCabe, Joseph (April 25, 2012). "Roger Corman to Tackle 'Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader' in 3D". Fearnet. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  9. ^ "Beauty Queen". Athens Banner-Herald. Athens, GA: Morris Communications. December 12, 2006. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  10. ^ "Roger Corman's Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader to Screen During Comic-Con". Daily Dead. June 20, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  11. ^ Kilday, Gregg (September 14, 2012). "Katy Perry and '50-Foot Cheerleader' Featured in 3DFF 3D Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 24, 2012.