Cherry Falls at 25: The Brittany Murphy Slasher That Flipped the “Sex = Death” Rule — and Still Lacks Its Unrated Cut

Cherry Falls marks its 25th anniversary as a slasher that played with one of the genre’s familiar ideas: *a killer focused on virgins*. Directed by Geoffrey Wright and written by Ken Selden, the film stars Brittany Murphy and Michael Biehn, and it reached U.S. audiences first via cable in October 2000 after a limited theatrical run in Europe.

1. Overview
2. Plot and themes
3. Release history and ratings
4. Performances and direction
5. Legacy and approach to sexuality

Overview

Cherry Falls is a 2000 slasher film directed by Geoffrey Wright. The screenplay was written by Ken Selden. The principal cast includes Brittany Murphy as Jody and Michael Biehn as Sheriff Brent. The plot centers on a string of murders in Cherry Falls, Virginia, where victims are labeled “virgin” on their bodies.

Plot and themes

The story follows Sheriff Brent as he investigates killings that appear to target virgins, and his daughter Jody as she becomes personally involved. The screenplay frames the crimes within a social panic about sexuality, and the film ties the killings to past secrets in the town. In one scene, a principal whispers, “If word gets back to these kids that someone’s murdering virgins, we’re going to have a goddamn… fuckfest on our hands,” and a cop responds, “It’s better than a pile of dead teenagers.”

The killer’s methods are straightforward rather than highly-stylized: early attacks in the film involve abrupt confrontations instead of long stalking sequences. The revealed identity borrows elements critics have compared to other thrillers, and that reveal has been described as controversial by some viewers.

Release history and ratings

The film’s release history is notable. After submission to the MPAA, Cherry Falls received an NC-17 rating for, among other elements, a climactic party scene. Consequently, the distributor USA Films did not release the movie theatrically in the United States; instead, it premiered on cable in October 2000. The movie did receive theatrical releases in Europe.

According to the booklet from the Scream Factory Blu-ray, the original unrated or director’s cut remains unreleased. Scream Factory reported that they were unable to secure an earlier, unrated cut for their release, and the version commonly available today matches the broadcast edition.

Performances and direction

Brittany Murphy’s portrayal of Jody is prominent in the film, and Michael Biehn appears as her father, Sheriff Brent. Geoffrey Wright’s direction emphasizes a raw tone and limits stylized suspense in certain sequences. Ken Selden’s script foregrounds questions about sexual status and community responses, while leaving some investigative practicalities—such as how a killer would consistently identify virgins—unexplained in the narrative.

Legacy and approach to sexuality

Cherry Falls is often noted for addressing sexuality more directly than many contemporaneous slasher films. The screenplay inverts a familiar horror trope by having the killer target virgins rather than punishing sexual activity. Meanwhile, audiences and scholars continue to reference the film when discussing sex-and-death dynamics in the slasher subgenre; the movie is sometimes discussed alongside other titles that interrogate similar rules and panics in teen-centered horror.

Finally, critics and disc releases have pointed out that the film’s most explicit intended material remains unavailable in an unrated format, so assessments often rely on the cable-friendly version that circulated after the MPAA process and the distributor’s decision about U.S. release.

For historical context, some commentators linked the film’s “dead teenager” phrasing to earlier criticism, for example as used by Roger Ebert when discussing slasher cinema.