* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Does Penelope single out Bug while she is praying for the Riverton 7 to stay safe because she likes him, [[spoiler:because she knows he is the son of a SerialKiller]], or both?
* AntiClimaxBoss: After TheReveal, [[spoiler: Bug just stabs Alex.]]
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "You're Going Down" by Sick Puppies in the trailer.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: BlindBlackGuy Jerome and TokenWholesome Penelope have some who praise them as layered and entertaining characters and others who find their dialogue {{Narm}}y and feel they are fairly clichéd.
* CompleteMonster: The Riverton Ripper is a malevolent spirit [[note]]Either the soul of a killer or a split personality who became a separate being[[/note]] who caused a schizophrenic man named Abel Plenkov to unknowingly commit a series of murders in his town. When Abel discovered him, the Ripper took full control, killing Abel’s doctor and pregnant wife, and attempting to kill several others, including Abel’s young daughter before seemingly disappearing, but actually [[DemonicPossession jumping into the body of a baby]]. Sixteen years later, when the Riverton Seven, the teenagers who happened to be born on the day the Ripper vanished, fail to complete a ritual meant to keep the Ripper away, the Ripper returns and begins killing them off. After killing five of the seven, leaving only Bug and his friend Alex, and having also killed Bug’s foster mother and a policeman, the Ripper reveals that his soul had been in Alex, and he tries to make a deal with Bug to kill Bug’s sister and pin the murders on the recently-deceased Jerome so that they would be seen as heroes. When Bug refuses, the Ripper tries to kill him as well.
* DesignatedHero: Fang. She's intended to be a sympathetic JerkWithAHeartOfGold to [[spoiler: justify her survival]]. That said, in the film all that's really shown to the viewers is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. She beats up and bullies her brother for having the wrong birthday, bullies and belittles everyone else in the school, and is in general devoid of sympathetic qualities or redeeming personality traits.
* FanPreferredCutContent:
** The deleted scenes of Fang telling Bug the truth about him in a calmer manner, Jay’s mother exploring his room, and more puppets being shown during the party at the river are all fairly unimportant, but have fans who think they added some useful and interesting atmosphere to the film.
** Some people like the alternate ending, feeling that even though [[spoiler:TheHeroDies, there is something moving about the way the kids end up TogetherInDeath]].
* HarsherInHindsight: Creator/DanaiGurira in this movie gets a SlashedThroat, but survives. Then in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', Gurira would later play a member of the Dora Milaje who is ForcedToWatch a comrade getting her throat slashed by the BigBad during the climatic battle and unlike Gurira in this film, the woman in the latter movie doesn't survive.
* HilariousInHindsight: Actors Creator/FrankGrillo, Creator/JessicaHecht, Creator/DanaiGurira and Denzel Whitaker would later be part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Grillo would play Crossbones in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Hecht would play Audrey Eastman in ''Series/JessicaJones2015'', Gurira would later play Okoye in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' and ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and Whitaker would play the younger version of Zuri in ''Black Panther (2018)'', reuniting with his co-star Gurira from this movie.
* {{Narm}}: The killer screaming "FEAR YE THE RIPPER" is very hard to take seriously. No wonder most movie killers are silent.
* OneSceneWonder:
** Dr. Blake, Plenkov’s kind-hearted and decisive psychiatrist, only appears in the opening scene but is considered to be a big part of the reason why the opening scene sets a high bar that the rest of the scene struggles to match.
** Melanie Pratt only appears in one short scene, praying with Penelope after getting pregnant, but the scene manages to be both heartfelt and humorous.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/DanaiGurira plays the unfortunate paramedic who has her throat slashed at the beginning of the movie. She would be later known for ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' and ''Film/BlackPanther2018''.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Penelope and Brittany have hints of getting into a LoveTriangle with Bug and both get some character depth shown or hinted at, but [[spoiler:both die in the second act without ever acting on their potential feelings for Bug, when some fans think either of them or both of them together could have been a better FinalGirl than Fang]].
** A lot of fans wish {{One Scene Wonder}}s Melanie and Dr. Blake had been in more than one scene each.
*** Blake could have provided the kids with good insight into the legend surrounding his former patient.
*** Melanie is pregnant by Brandon, is the principal's daughter, and is close friends with Penelope, all of which could have given her more reasons to interact with the other characters.
* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: While the film itself is generally panned as one of Craven's worst, most viewers acknowledge that the cast try pretty hard to avoid DullSurprise and make their characters likable, with mixed success. Creator/JohnMagaro (Alex), Zena Grey (Penelope), and Creator/FrankGrillo (Detective Paterson) probably get most of this sentiment.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Arguably the AnimalMotif of the condor. The idea established at the end seems to be [[spoiler: the other kids' souls were going to Bug because he's the condor and "eats death"]]. Whether that's sufficient is up to you.
** The slash marks in Bug's shirt are diagonal down the shoulder blades, exactly where a set of angel wings would be.
----