Devil in the Flesh (1997)

This cheeky exercise in exploitation chic features a smart, knowing script, a pitch-perfect lead performance from brunette bombshell Rose McGowan, and a garish evil grandmother character brought to bossy life by Peg Shirley. Full of clever double entendres, suggestive violence, and believable high-school characters, Devil in the Flesh moves along at a brisk clip with just enough witty asides to differentiate it from lesser genre fare. The tight-lipped police detectives who quiz each other's vocabulary are a nice touch, as is the casting of Alex McArthur as the object of vixen Debbie Strand's deadly obsession. With his wiry body, flashing eyes, and cocky demeanor, McArthur is the epitome of the hot older guy, and it's his character's hubristic willingness to bask in his student's attentions that nearly proves to be his undoing. Although hardly up to the caliber of, say, the contemporaneous Freeway, Devil in the Flesh is nonetheless several notches above such other '90s murderous-Lolita flicks as The Crush and Poison Ivy. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide