Tamara is a 2005 teen horror film written by Jeffrey Reddick and starring Jenna Dewan, Matthew Marsden, and Chad Faust. In 2014 Jeffrey Reddick along with JD Matthews wrote this novelization of the story. Notable in being based on the earlier, more extreme script for the film.
Tamara Riley is a mousy, withdrawn girl whose exposure of the football team's steroid use to the newspapers made her the personal enemy of half the school. Not helping matters is the fact that she's also into both witchcraft and her English teacher, Bill Natoli. After attempting to cast a love spell but not having the guts to actually spill her blood to complete the ritual, Tamara is taken in by a prank by her vengeful classmates, pretending to be Bill so that they can humiliate her on camera. In the commotion, however, Tamara is killed by accident, forcing the kids to hide her body and pretend that nothing happened. Briefly, it seems to have worked.
Problem is, that blow to her head was just the thing to complete Tamara's ritual. She comes Back from the Dead looking better than ever, equipped with the power to read and control people's minds and perceptions with only a touch. And she is madder than hell.
For the original film, see Tamara. All tropes regarding adaptation changes will be regarded in comparison from the original film to this version. Although as mentioned above much of these "changes" were changes from the original script version instead of the other way around.
This novelization provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Tamara's father is an alcoholic who molests his daughter and through flashbacks cheated on his wife with various strippers. Needless to say, the events of this movie go poorly for him.
- Adaptational Modesty: Averted due to putting more stuff back in. Several examples to be found
- In the locker room scene Chloe is described as only wearing her underwear. In the film she wears a tank top and shorts.
- At the motel Tamara strips down completly naked and gets on her hands and knees instead of just hopping into bed halfdressed
- Tamara's Guy on Guy Is Hot rape of Shawn and Patrick involves more details and is staged with far less modesty.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In the film version compared to the mostly preppy cast, Jesse and Chloe may be generally assumed to be more of a Surfer Dude and a skater girl. In this version both are clearly described as dressing in a classic punk style.
- Adaptational Sexuality: In this version Chloe is a closeted lesbian with a possible crush on Tamara. Jesse tries to hit on her several times with no luck. In the film version no one bats an eye when Shawn describes Chloe as Jesse's girlfriend implying she's straight.
- Asshole Victim: Patrick, Shawn and Tamara's father are portrayed with little to no redeeming qualities.
- Back from the Dead: Tamara returns from the dead following a Deadly Prank because of a magic spell Gone Horribly Right.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Tamara has problems being able to brainwash Chloe partly because of this.
- Black Bra and Panties: Tamara wears this when she believes she is meeting Bill for sex at the motel. Unlike in the movie though she takes them off as well.
- Body Horror: Tamara's Mind Rape of Roger and Kisha. All of it is in their heads, but... brrrr. Vermiphobesnote might want to skip past Roger's scene in particular.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Done to Shawn, Patrick, Kisha, Chloe's mother, probably Chloe and a cop via Tamara's touch making them do whatever she wants.
- Broomstick Quarterstaff: When attacked in the basement, Allison grabs a shovel to defend herself. When Shawn snaps the head off the shovel, Allison is left holding the handle. She then uses the sharp end of the handle to stab him.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Patrick specifically invites two freshman girls to the party intending to ply them with booze and take advantage of them. It is implied that the drinks might also be drugged.
- Character Title: The book is titled after the antagonist.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Tamara, to Bill.
- Deadly Prank: Shawn lures Tamara to the motel by arranging a Prank Date with her teacher, sets up a video feed, and invites his friends to watch her humiliation. Tamara goes berserk when discovers the deception, and is accidentally killed in a scuffle with the pranksters.
- Death by Falling Over: Tamara dies when she gets thrown to the floor during the motel room and strikes her head on the edge of a stand on her way down.
- Death by Gluttony: Tamara psychically forces the bulimic Kisha to gorge herself to death. Chloe and Jesse manage to drag her away from the buffet before she can do so, but not before she has gnawed several of her fingers down to the bone in the process.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted. While they were undoubtedly assholes, Tamara's homoerotic "rape" of Shawn and Patrick is morally equated, by Tamara herself, to their date raping of countless young women.
- Ear Ache: Under Tamara's influence, Roger cuts his own ear off, Van Gogh-style.
- The End... Or Is It?: Kisha, still Brainwashed and Crazy even after Tamara's death, grabs Tamara's spell book out of the car.
- Erotic Dream: The film opens with Tamara having an erotic dream about her English teacher Mr. Natally. However, then it turns into a nightmare as Tamara realises her entire class is watching and laughing.
- Evil Makeover: Tamara goes from a nerd to a Femme Fatale after her Face–Heel Turn.
- Eye Remember: When Tamara touches someone and takes mental control of them, flashbacks appear of the victim's past appear in her pupil; generally showing her victim to be a horrible person. However, when she tries this on Chloe, all she gets is memories of Chloe being to nice to her she tries several times before she finally gets control of her.
- Eye Scream: Roger kills himself by driving a knife through his own eye.
- Face–Heel Turn: Tamara before the prank: a girl who put her very safety on the line by exposing a concerted campaign of wrongdoing by the football team. Tamara after her resurrection: a murderous Femme Fatale on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Fingore: Kisha gnaws several of her fingers down to the bone when psychically compelled to gorge herself by Tamara.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Almost the entire class bursts out laughing when Patrick humiliates Tamara in English by grabbing her witchcraft book and reading it out loud.
- Gorn: The kills can get very bloody.
- Guy on Guy Is Hot: Tamara brainwashes Shawn and Patrick into making out and having sex for her enjoyment, so that they can experience what it's like to be in the position of the girls whom they exploited for sex.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Tamara towards the end of book. Even though Tamara had a good reason for hunting down the "monsters" responsible for her torment even before her death, she nonetheless became just like the "monsters" before her by tormenting innocent people in her quest for revenge.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Bill kills himself in order to break Tamara's curse and kill her again.
- Hot Teacher: Bill. No wonder Tamara wants him. Ditto for his wife Allison, though she's a guidance counselor.
- If I Can't Have You…: Tamara's attitude towards Bill. Later inverted when Bill decides that, since Tamara can have nobody but him, he should kill himself.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Allison stabs Patrick in the throat with a screwdriver when he attacks her in the basement. He then pulls the screwdriver out and stares at it blankly as he bleeds out.
- Jerk Jock: Shawn and Patrick. They take performance enhancing drugs, use date rape drugs on girls, and swear vengeance on Tamara for exposing them as drug cheats.
- Karmic Death: Tamara loves to play with her victim's insecurities and deficiencies before inflicting Psychic Assisted Suicides on them. Roger, who did nothing while the rest of the group (minus Chloe) agreed to cover up Tamara's death, kills himself in a manner referencing the Three Wise Monkeys. Her father, a man who loved the bottle more than his (now ex-)wife, eats a glass beer bottle that tears apart his mouth, throat, and esophagus from the inside.
- Kitchen Chase: Chloe and Jesse have to fight a Brainwashed and Crazy Kisha in the kitchen of the hospital.
- Literal Metaphor: Roger's death. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: The only people besides Tamara to die in the film are the male characters, while Chloe, Allison, and Kisha all live (Kisha is still under Tamara's spell though).
- Mind Rape: Tamara does this to everyone she touches, but special mention goes out to what she does to Roger, forcing him to experience what it's like being Buried Alive, and to Kisha, exploiting her insecurity over her body. It gets graphic. Although with Chloe she goes for a kiss and it doesn't work, so she tries again a couple times with both hands.
- Monkey Morality Pose: The quotation the pose comes from is referenced by Roger during his Psychic-Assisted Suicide, in which he cuts off an ear (hear no evil) and the tip of his tongue (speak no evil) before finally shoving the box-cutter into his eye (see no evil).
- Ms. Fanservice: Tamara is made for this trope (even without actually seeing her portrayed by Jenna Dewan) as being described in eye popping outfits fit for the imagination.
- Named by the Adaptation: Via introducing her mother into the storyline we learn Chloe's last name is Bowman. It was never mentioned in the film.
- Novelization: A version based on purpose on an older version of the script.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The two freshmen Tamara saves from Patrick's date rape drinks are never named, Tamara just kind of calls them "Teen Whore Number One and Two".
- Only Sane Man: Chloe is the only one who stands firm on wanting to go to the police after the party.
- Parental Incest: Part and parcel of Tamara's... troubled home life. The flashback when Tamara touches him shows he has at least been thinking about it, even if he hasn't acted on it yet.
- Percussive Prevention: Chloe sees that Kisha is on the phone to Tamara and asks her to lean in close so she can explain the plan, and then punches Kisha in the face to prevent her from telling Tamara their location.
- The Power of Love: While still playing a key role in Tamara's motivation this trope now comes into effect on her relationship with Chloe who here is a closet lesbian and seems to have liked her. Tamara aims to brainwash her with a kiss but unlike anyone else she tried it on with just a touch, it doesn't work. She frantically tries again and at least by the narration manages to overcome it as Chloe follows her orders for a few mintues.
- Prank Date: Shawn, Patrick and Kisha arrange for Tamara to think she is meeting her English teacher (whom she has a crush on) at a sleazy motel, so they can video her and show the video around school to humiliate her. It turns into a Deadly Prank when Tamara snaps and fights back; suffering a fatal injury in the ensuing struggle
- Professionals Do It on Desks: Tamara has an Erotic Dream about her English teacher Mr. Natolly. He sweepes the papers off the desk in his classroom and lifts her on to the desk to do her, but as it goes along the dream shifts.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: How Tamara kills Roger and her father. Roger is compelled to drive a knife through his eye, and her father to eat glass until he dies.
- Self-Harm: Roger cuts his wrists.
- Sequel Hook: Kisha grabs the spellbook at the end of the book.
- Setting Update: Despite still having some out of the norm by now elements, the film seemed to take place at a 2000s American highschool. The pop culture references in the book version clearly moved it up to the 2010s.
- Sexual Karma: What Tamara does to Shawn and Patrick, as their punishment for using date rape drugs on girls.
- Shout-Out: In what more than likely was a deliberate nod to the similarities Tamara's dad namedrops to Tamara that this isn't a Stephen King story and that she isn't Carrie.
- Shovel Strike: When Allison is attacked by Shawn in the basement, she grabs a shovel to defends her self. When Shawn snaps the head off it, she uses the handle as Broomstick Quarterstaff.
- Soft Glass: Averted with Tamara's father's death, in a very graphic manner.
- Tap on the Head: Averted with Tamara, who is killed when she knocks her head on the edge of a table. Played straight when Chloe punches out Kisha, though, and when Allison knocks out Shawn.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Tamara wants this with Bill, much to his embarrassment and eventual misfortune.
- Tongue Trauma: Under Tamara's control, Roger cuts out his own tongue.
- The Vamp: Tamara, after her resurrection becomes this able to seduce anyone she wants.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Tamara makes Kisha think that she's vomiting to the point where she's coughing up her guts.
