Disturbing Behavior Information

Disturbing Behavior is a 1998 thriller science fiction film starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes, and Nick Stahl. The film was released on 24 July 1998. The plot follows a group of high school outcasts who are horrified by their "Blue Ribbon" classmates. Director David Nutter was a director and producer of The X-Files as well as a director and co-executive producer of Millennium.

Plot

Steve Clark (James Marsden) is a high school senior whose family moves to Cradle Bay, a picturesque coastal town in Washington state. Steve soon befriends three outcast students, Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl), U.V. (Chad E. Donella), and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes).

Gavin tries to tell Steve that he believes there is something evil about the "Blue Ribbons""? a clique of students taking part in a "special program" led by the school psychologist, Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood). Steve is understandably skeptical. The following day at lunch, Gavin walks in looking like a Blue Ribbon. When Steve tries to confront Gavin, he gets punched in the stomach for his impertinence. Now Steve and Rachel must find the source of the Blue Ribbons as well as try and save the rest of the school before it's too late. They find a DVD-rom disc that Gavin hid for them in the boiler room, before his "transformation," which tells them about the club and about the history that he learned about Dr. Caldicott.

During this, Steve also befriends Dorian (William Sadler), the school janitor, who appears to be mentally handicapped and hunts rats for the city for some exta cash. Dorian demonstrates a device called an E-Rat-icator which emits a soft, high pitched whine that is supposed to be innocuous but annoying to rats, which is an abysmal failure. Steve discovers that Dorian is actually highly intelligent, and carries classical literature pieces with him, and that he's hiding because he wishes to be left alone and does not trust society. Dorian also tells Steve that he suspects that the entire community of Cradle Bay is part of a massive conspiracy made up of nearly all of the parents, as well as the local police chief and the school principal, who hired Dr. Caldicott to "re-program" their own children to become the perfect people that they want them to be and not free thinkers. A little later, during an encounter where a Blue Ribbon assaults Rachel, the E-Rat-icator goes off, and immediately sends the student into a psychotic fit, driving him away.

During their personal investigation, Steve and Rachel try to find out what has been happening to these Blue Ribbon kids, which leads them to a mental hospital called Bishop Flats following a lead on the DVD that Gavin left behind. Here, they find out that mind control is being used to make depressed, awkward and unruly teens become perfect so they can function properly in life, but the programming has some glitches that lead to momentary relapses which cause violent fits. Also at Bishop Flats, they find Caldicott's daughter, Betty (Julie Patzwald), a failed project who spends her time repeating the same phrase: "Meet the musical little creatures that hide among the flowers".

When Rachel and Steve return, they plan to get out of town along with Steve's little sister, Lindsay (Katharine Isabelle), but when they get back, Steve's parents (Terry David Mulligan and Susan Hogan) reveal that they are also part of the conspiracy and that they moved to Cradle Bay for the sole purpose to sign him up for Caldicott's program. Steve and Lindsay try to get out but they get ambushed by a group of Blue Ribbons waiting for them. They drag Steve and Rachel to the programming center, but Steve escapes and rescues Rachel. They try to get out of town again with Lindsay and U.V., but the Blue Ribbons and Caldicott are waiting for them on the road near the ferry out of town. When hope seems lost, Dorian the school janitor drives up, his car hooked up with multiple E-Rat-icators that scramble the mind control tech inside the Blue Ribbons' heads. They chase after Dorian and try to destroy the E-Rat-icators, but, having been fatally wounded after being shot by Caldicott, he drives his car off a cliff with several Blue Ribbons hanging onto his car. This leads to a final battle between Steve and Caldicott, which Steve wins by kicking Caldicott off the cliff. Steve and Rachel then leave town on the ferry with Lindsay and U.V. to begin a new life elsewhere.

The final scene shows a classroom in an urban high school with kids playing loud music, cursing, and acting up. They are informed that they have a new teacher. The well-groomed substitute turns around, and it's Gavin, with the blue ribbon "twinkle" still active in his eye.

Cast

• James Marsden as Steve Clark
• Katie Holmes as Rachel Wagner
• Nick Stahl as Gavin Strick
• Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Edgar Caldicott
• William Sadler as Dorian Newberry
• Steve Railsback as Officer Cox
• Chad E. Donella as U.V.
• Tobias Mehler as Andy Effkin
• Katharine Isabelle as Lindsay Clark
• Ethan Embry as Allen Clark
• Terry David Mulligan and Susan Hogan as Nathan and Cynthia Clark
• Peter LaCroix and Lynda Boyd as Dan and Lucille Strick
• Jay Brazeau as Principal Weathers
• A.J. Buckley as Charles "Chug" Roman
• Derek Hamilton as Trent Whalen
• David Paetkau as Tom Cox
• Daniella Evangelista as Daniella
• Julie Patzwald as Betty Caldicott

Reception

The film opened at #7 at the North American box office making $7 million USD in its opening weekend. It had a 57% decline in earnings the following week, falling to #12.

As of December 2011, the film holds a "rotten" 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, receiving 23 bad reviews out of 34.

Alternate versions

The DVD release features 11 deleted scenes featuring more story and character development, as well as a love scene between Steve and Rachel that was present in the theatrical release but deleted on the DVD release. Also included is an alternate ending where Gavin meets a different fate than the theatrical ending and the revelation that the program is assisted by a shadowy government organization. In the film commentary, the director complained that he objected to particular scenes being removed from the film, but that the producers overrode his objections.

U.S. cable network Syfy Universal has been known to air a somewhat unofficial director's cut of the film with the deleted scenes reinstated (though the film is still shown with the theatrical ending).

Love scene

As they are leaving Bishop Flats, Steve makes the decision to return to Cradle Bay to rescue his sister, which upsets Rachel. Rachel then tells Steve that all her ambitions of escaping Cradle Bay and going to college have now evaporated with their new revelations about the blue ribbon program, and implores him to simply escape with her. When he insists on returning for his sister, Rachel relents and goes with him.

This scene was removed from all subsequent versions of the film, after the 2000 DVD release; however, it was included on VHS copies and the theatrical version of the film. On the ferry back to Cradle Bay, Steve and Rachel use the time to have sex in Rachel's truck.

Alternate ending

Gavin is not affected by the E-rat-acator, because he is wearing his headphones. He confronts Steve and his group on the ferry. Still a friend, Steve pleads with Gavin that they need to get him some help. Gavin refuses on the false belief that everything helped him without the realization of the program's effects which cause him to react. He tries to shoot Steve with a shotgun and UV shoots him three times with his own gun that Steve took away from him. As he lay dying on the ground, Gavin escapes out of his hypnosis to chastise a heartbroken UV (for not being able to kill him in fewer than three shots) while the others tend to him. His dying words are a sarcastic remark that his death will prevent him from meeting his pre-transformation idol, Trent Reznor. Despite having survived the events that preceded them, the group is reminded that they still lost a friend in the process as everyone starts to tear up.