A few nights ago, I watched a disturbing but entertaining thriller DONT TELL A SOUL (R; 96 minutes) from writer and director Alex McAulay. Like many films from 2020, its planned film festival premiere got delayed to the Fall of 2020. Saban Films snatched up the North American distribution rights and released the film to theaters and VOD in January 2021. Lionsgate Home Entertainment released it on DVD and Blu-ray last week.  

The action-adventure film VANGUARD (PG-13; 107 minutes) landed on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital last week from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It's written and directed by Stanley Tong and stars the legendary Jackie Chan.  

The plot is cliched and confusing at the same time. Qin Guoli is a Chinese accountant living in Great Britain. He tips off Scotland Yard that the terrorist organization Brothers of Vengeance is forcing him to finance a project by their leader, Maasym. SPOILER WARNING: United States forces kill Maasym during a raid. His son, Omar, survives and wants to get his greedy hands on his father's money, so he hires a mercenary gang to kidnap Qin and his wife, Meiwei.  

It's time to grab your pom-poms, pop some popcorn, and binge-watch CHEER! RALLY! KILL! 5-Film Collection, which is now available to own on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. 

After reading that, you're probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me because everyone knows I'm a horror movie fanatic. Don't worry. There's nothing clinically wrong with me. Why would I want to review five made-for-Lifetime cheerleader-themed movies? That's a question only my shrink could answer. What I can tell you is my noggin thought these five cheesy-fest flicks would be either entertaining or downright cringe. And I was kinda-sorta right to some degree.

Let's begin with the bad and move our way up to the not-so-bad. 

The Wrong Cheerleader (also titled The Wrong Cheerleader: Back In Action) centers on teenager Becky (played by Cristine Prosperi) starting her Senior year at a brand-new school. She quickly makes the cheer squad and lands a handsome boyfriend, Rob (played by David Meza). Sadly, the good luck stops there because it turns out that Rob is a psychopath. Vivica A. Fox costars as the cheerleader coach. (Rating - 1 out of 5)

The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders is a poorly-acted dramedy centering around Ava Scott (played by Savannah May) starting a new life at a new school. (Yep, there's a recurring theme in these movies.) She joins the cheer squad and instantly bunts heads with the cheer captain and Homecoming Queen Katrina (played by Allie DeBerry), who will do anything to stay at the top. Denise Richards costars as Ava's mother. (Rating - 2 out of 5)

Undercover Cheerleader centers on transfer high school student Autumn Bailey (played by Kayla Wallace) joining the cheer squad, but there's a twist - she's an undercover journalist for the school's newspaper. After her first article comes out, a psychopath starts targeting the squad. Maddie Phillips (Netflix's Teenage Bounty Hunters) costars as Autumn's friend Kara. (Rating - 2.5 out of 5)

The Cheerleader Escort is the only one of the five movies to take place in college. The plot involves a freshman student, Cassie (played by Alexandra Beaton), joining the cheer squad. After her mother (played by Cynthia Preston) doesn't have enough money for her tuition, a fellow cheerleader, Gaby (played by Joelle Farrow), helps her to make some extra cash by becoming an escort for rich men. Awful things happen, which leads Cassie to expose the escort ring. (Rating - 2.5 out of 5)

Identity Theft Of A Cheerleader is the dumbest title as it doesn't make any sense. The plot involves a 30-year-old woman, Vicky Patterson (played by Mairara Walsh), losing her retail job. She ends up stealing the photo id of her teenage coworker, signs up for unemployment, and enrolls herself in high school, so she can join the cheerleader squad in an attempt to make her cold-hearted mother proud. (Rating - 3.5 out of 5)

Final Thoughts

I don't watch very many made-for-TV movies because most of them are cheaply produced with bad acting and horrible directing. Honestly, I don't know why I requested a review copy for CHEER! RALLY! KILL!, as obviously I'm not the right audience for these types of films. Nevertheless, I watched each movie with an open mind and was entertained for the most part.

The Wrong Cheerleader is the only movie I didn't like. Hollywood has done the boyfriend stalker plot to death. The script plays out like a corny soap opera plot from the 1990s, and the acting from the entire cast is hideous, though the latter might have something more to do with the directing.

The other films are more or less the same for me, except for Identity Theft of A Cheerleader, which is the best of the five movies. Cheesy? Hell, yes! But in a fun way.

The picture and sound qualities are decent for the two-disc set. There are no special features or bonus extras.

Overall, if you're into cheesy low-budget cheerleader movies, then you might find some enjoyment watching the CHEER! RALLY! KILL! 5-Film Collection.

While cleaning off my desk, I stumbled upon Grant: The Complete Miniseries DVD, which Lionsgate Home Entertainment sent to me in October. As you can probably guess, I had forgotten about even having it. What can I say? I've been busy with non-blogging for the past two months, so I'm just now getting around to reviewing it.