As The Loved Ones opens, teenager Brent (Xavier Samuel) is out for a drive with his father when an obstruction in the road causes Brent to swerve and crash the car, killing his dad. The story picks up some time later and we find Brent to be coping with this and he's a fairly normal high school student. He and his girlfriend, Holly (Victoria Thaine), are planning to go to the dance together. When socially awkward Lola Stone (Robin McLeavy) asks Brent to the dance, he politely declines. The day of the dance, Brent goes hiking with his dog, but when only the dog arrives home -- and it's injured -- Brent's mother begins to panic. As it turns out, Brent has been kidnapped and he's about to learn that turning down a seemingly innocent invitation can be a big mistake and that some parents will go to any lengths to ensure that their children are happy.

What's with all of the naming of influences? That's because the utter lack of story in The Loved Ones gave my mind plenty of time to wander. I know that there are those who think that less can be more in this kind of movie, but The Loved Ones is truly devoid of any sort of detailed plot. Save for one minor plot twist -- which really doesn't lead to much -- the story is very linear and vague. Following the prologue, we see Brent at school, he declines Lola's invitation, makes out with Holly, goes rock climbing with his dog, and then he's captured by Lola's dad. All of this takes place within the first 21 minutes of the movie. The majority of the rest of the film is simply us watching Brent being tortured. The only scenes which don't depict this either show Brent's mom worrying or Brent's friend, Jamie (Richard Wilson), with his prom date.

Nowhere in this do we learn anything about Lola. Again, I know that some like the mystique of psychos who kill for no reason, but this simply doesn't fly with me. (Save for Halloween.) Is it supposed to be funny or simply enough that Lola wants to maim someone simply because he didn't want to go to the prom with her. Keep in mind that Brent wasn't cruel to her, he simply told her no, in an almost polite way. We do later learn that Brent isn't the first victim in Lola's household, but the details are still limited. In addition, Lola's father is certainly culpable and there is something weird going one with Lola's mom, but just having a "house of horrors" feels more like lazy writing than any attempt to create an iconic character.

The result is a movie which is somewhat shocking, but is not engrossing because we know so little about what is happening. When Brent finally gets the opportunity to fight back, we do want to see him succeed, as Lola is certainly a despicable character. But, this will actually make the viewer feel guilty as it comes from such an animalistic place. In the end, The Loved Ones seems to be yet another one of those movies which sends the message that crazy shit happens in Australia and it takes people a long time to find out about it.

The Loved Ones could have easily spread a rumor about Brent on DVD courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is fairly sharp and clear, showing no distracting grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, most notably Lola's pink dress. The image is a tad dark at times, with the shadows carrying too much weight. The level of detail is good for a DVD, showing only hints of softness. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The bulk of the film takes place in Lola's kitchen, so there aren't a lot of opportunities for great audio effects. However, the moments which take place at the prom show good surround sound effects, as does the finale. The score sounds fine and doesn't drown out other effects. The stereo effects show good separation.

The Loved Ones DVD contains only one extra feature. "Cast & Crew Interviews" offers comments from Robin McLeavy (7 minutes), Xavier Samuel (8 minutes), and Special FX Makeup Supervisor Justin Dix (8 minutes), all of who talk about their experiences on the film.