Cherry Falls
A serial killer targets teenaged virgins in Geoffrey Wright’s 2000 slasher film, a sensationalistic plot that led to a host of problems for the filmmaker including the MPAA’s refusal to bestow a rating on the final cut. After a parade of censorship woes the movie was finally released to television where, irony of ironies, it began to garner good reviews leading to an inevitable cult status. Brittany Murphy stars as Teen-Queen Number One alongside Jay Mohr who plays a sympathetic high school teacher.
About Michael Kennedy
Michael Kennedy is a genre-bending screenwriter whose fearless wit and empathy-driven storytelling have made him one of the most distinctive voices in modern horror-comedy. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio and now based in Los Angeles, Kennedy cut his teeth working behind the scenes in film and television before emerging as a writer with a singular knack for turning familiar tropes inside out.
His breakout feature Freaky (co-written with Christopher Landon) fused body-swap comedy with slasher horror, creating a wildly inventive mix of scares, satire, and sincerity. It announced Kennedy as a filmmaker unafraid to explore identity and transformation through both laughter and bloodshed.
He followed with It’s a Wonderful Knife, a twisted holiday riff on small-town redemption, and Heart Eyes, a rom-com-meets-horror collision that further showcased his ability to blend dark humor, heart, and genuine terror in equal measure.
Kennedy’s work thrives on contrast — empathy and anarchy, heart and horror. Beneath the outrageous premises and sly genre play lies a writer deeply attuned to questions of self, morality, and the monsters that live within us all.
Whether he’s dismantling slasher myths or finding humanity in the absurd, Michael Kennedy brings a rare mix of intelligence, humor, and emotional truth to everything he writes — the kind of sensibility that reminds us why horror and comedy have always been perfect bedfellows. 🌈