Awkward and shy high schooler Neil (Jesse Carere) has taken an oath to remain celibate. How is that even possible for a teenager, I hear you ask? Well, an upcoming religious ceremony demands it, and Neil fully knows his "church" is actually a Satanist cult his parents have forced him into. However, only they and the other adult members know the ceremony will actually consist of them sacrificing him to Old Scratch himself. Once it begins and their plans dawn on Neil, he and his horny (pun somewhat intended) and more outgoing mate Matt (former Spy Kid Daryl Sabara) narrowly escape and flee. Cult leader Sheldon (Cary Elwes) sends members Collette (Hilary Jardine) and Brad (Jon Cor) to recapture them. Neil and Matt now recruit the desirable Denise (Annie Clark) to get in the cot with Neil but his frantic efforts just alarm her. Nonetheless, she joins them in an all-night drive around town to all the most likely places to find a fuck, before their desperation peaks when Neil is returned to the cult.
This proudly subversive and genuinely fresh Canadian teen horror/sex comedy from 2014 is yet another one I've only just seen (this week, actually, late at night on TV) and obviously, it tickled my fancy remorselessly for better or worse. It sounds like pure exploitation and it frankly is, but isn't that really the whole point of such flicks? In any case, it never seeks to exploit the characters (of whom we inevitably see quite a lot) but rather the "church" entrapping our two main heroes and the real-world implications and consequences it represents. These Satanists claim to embody the absolute antithesis of Christianity but in their strict fervour and dominance they are quite similar indeed, and director/co-writer Blaine Thurier (also a member of band the New Pornographers, quite appropriately) shows real balls (again, pun somewhat intended) in so directly comparing the two. He and co-writer Jason Stone also put at this lecherous story's centre three very relatable young characters with surprising smart dialogue who are all brought to life with very natural performances, particularly Carere as Neil in a quite regrettable hairdo. But stealing the show the whole way is a genuinely cast-against-type Elwes, who manages to be both threatening and hilarious as the gung-ho Sheldon.
The only fault I have with Teen Lust is its rather unimaginative title, though maybe it was chosen for marketing as being more circumspect. Regardless, for me it takes the Porky's/American Pie teen sex comedy tradition and reinvents it by satirically invoking religion (if Satanism actually is that), too. Four devil's horns out of five.
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