Tamara (Jenna Dewan) gets a killer of a makeover. She trades her dowdy denim jumper and sensible shoes for mini skirts, bustiers and high heels, which must be in violation of the school dress code.

		'Tamara' Rating: R for sequences of strong bloody violence, language, sexuality and teen drinking. Starring: Jenna Dewan. Director: Jeremy Haft.

But that's what she wears to class once she's dead and hellbent on revenge against the classmates who pulled a cruel prank, accidentally killed her, buried her and vowed to never speak of the event again.

When "Tamara" opens, its title character is a shy, frumpy wiccan with a crush on her English teacher (Matthew Marsden). When an editorial she wrote about athletes and steroids is published in the school paper, the juiced jocks threaten her: "You're going down. ... I'll see you soon, you trailer trash whore."

They cook up a scheme to embarrass Tamara, but a struggle ends in her accidental death which, as required by movie law, they cover up. Lo and behold, though, Tamara returns to school, breezily announcing, "I almost died getting here."

Then it's her turn to try to make her wicked wishes come true about her married teacher and his guidance counselor wife, her caustic classmates and her boozy father. In her own twisted way, she tries to make the punishment fit the crime or criminal, beginning with a boy who slices off an ear -- for starters -- on the school's closed circuit TV.

Jeremy Haft, whose credits include the G-rated "Grizzly Mountain" and MTV's "Surf Girls," directed, but writer Jeffrey Reddick's bloody fingerprints are all over this one. He wrote the first "Final Destination," and he scripted "Tamara," which had been scheduled to go directly to DVD until Internet buzz reportedly bumped it into theaters.

Although Reddick adds a seductress prowling around like a devil in a red dress, he follows his usual pattern: high schoolers, enough strong bloody violence (plus language, sexuality and underage drinking) to merit an R rating and a variety of weapons including a fire ax.

As always, the very teens who might want to see the movie aren't old enough to buy a ticket.

"Tamara" tries to be cruel and clever, and its best trick may be taking a fist full of teen genres or themes -- mean girls, outcasts vs. popular kids, witchcraft, makeovers, absent or abusive parents, the supernatural, horror and revenge -- and turning them into a single witch's brew. With, of course, the chance for a sequel.

"Tamara" opens Friday at the Harris Theater, Downtown.