The horror entrepreneurs at Lionsgate would have you believe Tamara is the new face of horror. Well, it's not so much a new face as a bargain-bin Halloween mask, barely covering up the fact audiences have seen this movie before. Tamara resembles an estrogen-charged Frankenstein's monster, a horror flick borrowing more than a few elements from such great genre films as Carrie and May. In the end, Tamara might put a glossy new finish on a well-worn formula, but one look at the interior reveals that viewers have taken this ride before.

Tamara (Jenna Dewan) is your typical high school outcast: quiet, meek, and incredibly shy. She dabbles in witchcraft as a means of escaping her constant torment, but it hasn't quite given her the self-confidence to stand up to her oppressors or confess her crush on an English teacher (Matthew Marsden). One fateful night, a couple of jocks decide to get revenge for an incriminating article Tamara wrote on them by playing a cruel prank on her -- a practical joke that results in Tamara's accidental death.

The jocks and some reluctant accomplices barely get the body buried when Tamara walks right into class the very next day. However, she isn't the mousy little bookworm she once was. This new Tamara is radically different, every inch of her brimming with seduction and sex appeal. Coming back from the grave has also given her some supernatural powers, which Tamara uses to get bloody revenge on those who tried to cover up her death.

Tamara gained a tiny bit of exposure earlier this year when Lionsgate suddenly yanked it from its original straight-to-DVD release in order to see how it would perform in a limited theatrical run. Had it stayed on its first intended course, Tamara could have come off more as an above-average entry into the usually dreadful category of horror flicks premiering on DVD. But with its brief theatrical detour in mind, one watches Tamara and wonders what the minor fuss was all about. As far as horror movies go, it's generally by-the-books, so much so that the story tends to walk on the tedious side.

The characters are all telegraphed, their respective fates predictable from the moment they show up (and this being a horror movie, these high school students are played by actors old enough to have kids of their own in grade school). The acting appears bland and unmemorable, save for Dewan, who makes for a decent and sympathetic victim-turned-villainous vixen. Because Tamara is written by Jeffrey Reddick, one of the creators of the modern horror classic Final Destination, I expected it to come packed with ample, creative instances of gore. But aside from a select few creepy moments of Tamara exacting justice (the most gruesome of which involves a teen cutting off various appendages live on the school's TV station), the blood 'n' guts factor plays it safe, like most of Tamara's other aspects.

With mediocre production values, a no-name cast, and reliance on tiny spins of a story that's been done before (and better) many times, Tamara is like the cinematic equivalent of a bag of generic potato chips: it's okay, and it gets the job done, but there's always this nagging feeling that the name brand tastes better. As is, Tamara is tolerable and at least more engaging than recent horror duds like The Fog. Still,  after seeing a few instances of the movie adding a little spark to the story, I'm disappointed it didn't take more chances. 

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Lionsgate and rated "R" for sequences of strong bloody violence, language, sexuality and teen drinking.)