I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Sassy teenager Melissa (a nicely brash portrayal by fetching brunette Aleisa Shirley) stirs things up in a sleepy small Texas town. After two boys with the hots for Melissa are murdered, both folksy sheriff Dan Burke (the always excellent Bo Hopkins) and his inquisitive wannabe Nancy Drew daughter Marci (an appealing portrayal by Dana Kimmell) decide to investigate.Director Jim Sotos adroitly crafts a strong rural backwoods hamlet atmosphere, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, and delivers a satisfying smidgen of mild splatter. While the strictly so-so script by Erwin Goldman provides a novel spin on slasher conventions by making horny dudes the key targets of the killer's wrath, the final explanation for the killer's bloodthirsty spree alas proves to be really far-fetched and thus dissatisfying. Fortunately, the fine cast of reliable pros keep this movie watchable: Susan Strasberg as Melissa's friendly mom Joanne, Patrick MacNee as Melissa's uptight archaeologist dad Dr. John Morgan, Don Stroud as rowdy hell-raiser Billy Franklin, Don Shanks as tough Indian Jason Longshadow, Steve Antin as the jocular Hank Burke, Sharon Farrell as perky forensics expert Kathy Hopkins, Logan Clarke as racist jerk Jimmy, Michael Pataki as smarmy politician George Martin, Henry Wilcoxon as aged Native American Greyfeather, and Larry Storch as a bartender. As a yummy bonus, the comely and slender Mrs. Shirley takes an utterly gratuitous, yet still much-appreciated shower and also goes skinny-dipping (don't worry folks, Shirley is clearly a good deal older than her underage character). Both James L. Carter's competent cinematography and Tommy Vig's shivery score are up to par. The less said about Melissa's hideously sappy theme song, the better. A rather flawed, but overall worthwhile picture.

SWEET 16 is a low budget and rather unknown thriller of the early 1980s, complete with various genre elements. It's a small town drama, a murder mystery of sorts, and it also contains a series of murder scenes which are straight out of a slasher film. The story revolves around a 16 year old girl whose boyfriends keep getting killed by an unknown assailant. The film's backdrop of small-town bigotry and resentment is more interesting than the somewhat slow central story, but at least there are various familiar faces showing up here.Don Stroud does his bit alongside Dana Kimmell, making a small horror niche for herself with roles in this and Friday the 13th Part III in the space of a year. Susan Strasberg and Patrick Macnee play the parents and the latter does particularly well in an against-type role. Best of the bunch is the reliable Bo Hopkins as the town sheriff.

Melissa, the 15-year-old new girl, is the main attraction for all of the small town boys. But why is it that each person that shares a connection with her ends up dead by the work of a blade? Sheriff Dan Burke investigates with the unwanted but appreciative aid of his son and daughter – Hank and Marci.Easily the most recognizable player in this low-budget cheapie is Patrick Macnee which some of you may recognize from Waxwork 1 & 2(1988 & 1992), The Howling from 1981, '77's Dead of Night, and most notably The Avengers (1961-1969). He's held a long career in both film and television with a small focus on horror. Macnee didn't receive an important role in Sweet Sixteen so his appearance is limited. The rest of the cast do a fine job of transitioning each scene to the next so Macnee's presence isn't a total waste. Another well-known actress for the time was Dana Kimmell who scored decently as the Sheriff's daughter. She's still famous for starring in 1982's Friday the 13th: Part III.Sweet Sixteen doesn't focus on the murders too much but opts to hone in on the characters instead. This decision was a poor one because at no point do we feel overly attached to any of them, rendering this exercise pointless. In maintaining the proper mindset, we have to be aware of what to expect from an entry like this – so despite a very low production, this isn't too bad of a film for what it is. The twist ending is somewhat confusing and to spin things once more, an event that plays out just moments before the curtain call isn't terribly original but classic for the era. The run-time falls somewhere in the realm of an hour and 28 minutes and although certain segments are lengthy and dull it's definitely not the worst Slasher you'll ever see.

On the surface, this would appear to be just another dreary slasher flick, but what separates this film from a lot of the crowd is the that director Jim Sotos (who also directed the rarer of the two 'Forced Entry' films) creates a real gritty atmosphere that makes the film feel a lot like a seventies exploitation flick and ensures that the film is somewhat nastier than the likes of Friday the 13th and Halloween. It has to be said that this one isn't as gory as some slashers, but the violence is much more realistic, which more than makes up for that fact. The plot isn't particularly original and focuses mainly on the theme of a young girl coming of age. Melissa is fifteen and coming up to sixteen. She's in a new town and lonely because she doesn't know anyone, but luckily for her; she's also quite fit and proves to be a hit with the local boys. However, there's a catch as every boy she goes out with ends up getting brutally slaughtered! The crimes are investigated by the town sheriff and his two kids, and naturally Melissa ends up on the suspects list.The film was obviously made on a small budget but that doesn't hinder it too much as Sweet 16 more than sets out what it clearly intended to do. In fact, the production values are actually quite high for a small eighties production; the shortcomings in the form of the cinematography helps the film as it is rewarded with a real rough feel. The cast is good, with the likes of Bo Hopkins, Patrick Macnee and Susan Strasberg leading the film, while Aleisa Shirley is more than adequate in the title role. The film feels more like a seventies movie than an eighties flick and that's another positive element if you ask me. The plot flows well and since the film is only short at about eighty minutes, it doesn't have a chance to get old or tired before the ending. With slashers, a twist at the end is pretty much mandatory and this film adheres to that - except unlike a lot of slashers, the twist here is both interesting and believable. I can't say that this is brilliant or a classic, but I went into it expecting nothing decent and found a fairly good film so I definitely do recommend Sweet 16 to my fellow horror fans!