A Friend to Die For

A Friend to Die For
Directed by	William A. Graham
Produced by	NBC
Written by	Randall Sullivan Dan Bronson
Starring	Kellie Martin Tori Spelling Valerie Harper Marley Shelton
Music by	Chris Boardman
Cinematography	Robert Steadman
Editing by	Lance Luckey
Distributed by	NBC
Release date(s)	September 26, 1994
Running time	87 min.
Language	English

A Friend to Die For (also known as Death of a Cheerleader in the UK) is a 1994 American TV movie directed by William A. Graham. Written by Randall Sullivan,^[1] the film is based on Sullivan's Rolling Stone magazine article concerning the real-life murder of a high school girl by her jealous classmate. Kirsten Costas, a fifteen year old cheerleader at Miramonte High School, was killed by less popular classmate Bernadette Protti in 1984.^[2] The film was the highest-rated TV movie of 1994.

Plot

Angela Delvecchio (Martin) is a high school sophomore who aspires to be popular, beautiful and perfect in everything, much like the school's "queen bee" Stacy Lockwood (Spelling). She idolizes Stacy, who is the most popular girl at school, and wants to become a cheerleader. When Angela is accepted into the "Larks," the school's popular clique, she tries to forge a friendship with the snobbish and conceited Stacy, who rejects her.

Things only get worse for Angela, who suffers the double whammy of having been rejected for a coveted position on the yearbook staff and not making the cheerleading squad as the school year draws to a close. Still determined to be friends with Stacy, she calls Stacy's mother and anonymously invites her to a party under the guise of there being a special dinner for the Larks. Once Stacy gets in the car with Angela, she reveals that the "dinner" story was a lie she told Stacy's mother so she would be allowed to come, and after they drive some distance, it is revealed that Angela was not directly invited to the party herself.

Infuriated, Stacy demands to be taken home, but Angela tries to explain how much she admires Stacy and wants to be like her. Unmoved, she calls Angela "pathetic" and gets out of the car. She gets a ride home, but Angela follows her. Worried Stacy will spread rumors about her, Angela stabs Stacy multiple times and leaves her for dead.

Angela avoids capture in the weeks following the incident, as another student, Monica, is blamed for Stacy's murder - no one suspects Angela due to the fact she is seemingly too nice to commit a crime - and also because one of Stacy's friends tells Angela that no one really liked Stacy, but that they were only afraid of her.

As her junior year begins, Angela becomes more involved with the community, taking up such activities as peer counseling and candy striping. However, overwhelmed by Stacy's murder, one of the Larks brings up the idea of disbanding. Determined not to let this happen, Angela argues that they should remain active, noting that the group was not only important to Stacy, but also to the various community activities in which they take part. This idea not only saves the Larks, but also wins Angela the position of secretary/treasurer.

In the meantime, a harassment campaign is waged against Monica until she finally leaves the school. At this point, authorities resume their investigation and begin re-interviewing possible suspects, including Angela. With the authorities slowly closing in on her, she becomes more and more consumed by her guilt, until she finally confesses to her parents in a letter.

Devastated by Angela's arrest, Jamie confesses to having left Angela in a ski lodge alone during a ski trip the year before, all because she did not have the courage to stand up to Stacy. As the trial begins, the prosecutor claims it was premeditation and first-degree murder, but Angela's lawyer claims it was second-degree murder.

The judge agrees with the prosecutor, after listening to Angela's taped confession that Angela killed Stacy fearing public humiliation. Angela is then sentenced to confinement until the age of 25. As the movie ends, Jamie writes a letter to Angela that she quit the Larks (having left when she realized how mean they were to Angela) and that she plans to quit Santa Mira High and go back to her former school, St. Joe's.

Cast

• Kellie Martin as Angela Delvecchio
• Tori Spelling as Stacy Lockwood
• Marley Shelton as Jamie Hall
• Valerie Harper as Mrs. Delvecchio
• Margaret Langrick as Jill Anderson
• Christa Miller as Terri Delvecchio
• Terry O'Quinn as Principal Ed Saxe
• Andy Romano as Joe Delvecchio
• James Avery as Agent Gilwood
• Jenna Leigh Green as Meridith Ladd
• Brittney Powell as Head Cheerleader
• Kathryn Morris as Monica Whitley
• Tom O'Rourke as Mr. Lockwood
• Marnie Andrews as Mrs. Lockwood
• Robyn Bliley as Courtney Clay
• Tom Everett as Sergeant Denning (uncredited)

DVD

On March 25, 2002 the film was released on Region 2 DVD as Death of a Cheerleader.

In popular culture

• The band Marcy Playground has a song called "Death of a Cheerleader", which is based on the movie.

References

1. ^ Spelling, Tori (2008). Stori Telling. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. pp. 50. ISBN 1-4169-5073-7. 
2. ^ Girl, 16, Convicted in Classmate's Slaying Teen-ager Feared Victim `Was Going to Tell People I Was Weird'. Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1985

External links

• A Friend to Die For at the Internet Movie Database