Ask any teen-ager: It is the sacred duty of the young to frighten their elders.
Ask any parent: It is the sacred duty of elders to crunch the anarchy out of unruly teens.
What might happen when that tussle goes too far is the subject of Disturbing Behavior, an engagingly twisted, paranoid fantasy for a generation raised on Ritalin and Prozac.
Writer Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, Beautiful Girls) and director David Nutter, an X-Files grad making his debut feature, use the angst of teens and the anxiety of their parents to concoct a devilishly sinister plot.
When the Clark family arrives in the quiet, wooded island town of Cradle Bay (the film was shot near Vancouver), they expect to make a new life, especially for sullen teen-ager Steve (James Marsden). We later learn he still suffers from the unexplained suicide of his older brother (Ethan Embry, seen only in lightning flashbacks).
Moping around his new school, Steve soon encounters Gavin (Nick Stahl), a mordant, pot-smoking cynic who introduces him to the school's rigid caste system, ruled by a ''Blue Ribbon'' clique of athletes, cheerleaders and class officers.
Gavin also introduces Steve to Rachel (Katie Holmes), a dishy rebel from the wrong side of town and Steve's love-at-first-sight object.
Gavin keeps trying to persuade his friends that the Blues -- who are prone to hand out savage beatings when they're not lounging at the yogurt shop -- are some kind of manufactured monsters. They finally believe when Gavin suddenly shows up with a haircut and a chilly attitude.
Among the spooky adults the kids have to cope with are Bruce Greenwood as a too-smooth counselor, William Sadler as a too-nutty janitor and Steve Railsback as a too-compliant cop. That's a lot of talent attached to roles that could easily have been empty throw-aways. It's also an example of why the movie, though predictable, is more interesting than the typical teen thriller.
Be advised: The movie's vision of villainous ''good'' kids versus heroic substance abusers is sure to stand parents' hair on end. But that's really the whole point, isn't it?
