By Kyle Laugh
Directed by Elliot Feld who also co-wrote the script with Daniel Moya and stars Alexandra Feld (Slate Your Name, Snow Bride and Oliver, Stoned!), Danielle Burgess (The Deuce, The Sinner and My Brothers Keeper), Grant Lyon (Previously from several short films including: Judgment Day, My Krazy Ex and Everybody’s a Comedian) and Robert Donovan (Nightmare Man, Cheerleader Massacre II and The Black Room).
Kate attends her estranged sister's bachelorette party at the request of their dying father. The weekend, held at a remote cabin booked on a home sharing app, turns into a savage life-or-death struggle that pits family against family, and past against present.
When originally coming up upon the poster and trailer for Killer Kate!, I was quickly sold on wanting to see this film. The trailer displayed the titular character in a full fledged assault mode, taking out several antagonists with ease which set my mind running to the many possibilities as to what the film could have in store for viewers. Showing multiple kills within the trailer (which you can check out for yourselves at the end of the article), I was expecting a complete and utter blood bath but was unfortunately left with a sour taste in my mouth.
Most of the better parts were given out for free within this trailer, leaving very little behind for viewers to take in. The likely reasoning for this move was that the creators understood that their film wasn’t very good to begin with and in order to attract buyers, they had to offer them more than they could provide and when I say this, I don’t only mean it in a special effects or kills aspect but also in a way which covers the storyline as a whole, most of the acting and the character reactions that are portrayed following certain events throughout the story.
Starting with the point of the films storyline, I personally found it to be incredibly plain. We’re given a small background regarding Kate and her sister Angie not getting along for several years but once Angie reaches out to Kate to join her for a bachelorette party, the sisters, alongside an additional pair of women, make their way to a remote cottage. Throughout the first half of the film, we receive a lot of back and forth banter between the woman, most of which are insults which are thrown back and forth to each other as well as a few small bits from the side of the antagonists who are revealing their plan to murder the women in the cabin.
These bits of dialogue last through the first half of the film but are unable to give us any real context as to why the killers are plotting this attack nor why the sisters have been estranged for so long.
Once we hit the second half of the film, we’re essentially watching an extended trailer for the film, with all the kills being shown in full with a few additional kills (Only one worth noting) being added in for good measure. There is also a small add-on to the story which gives us a slightly better background of why the antagonists are trying to pull off these murders. Albeit an original reasoning behind wanting to murder people, it was not enough to elevate the story and just added a tad towards the comedy factor.
My final issue with the film next to the sometimes terrible acting which we aren’t going to get into today, is the lack of emotion shown by Kate and Angie during larger events of the film. For example, the first time Kate kills someone, she seems to act perfectly normal, as if killing people was a typical thing for her. Even Angie seemed unfazed by what she had just witnessed and even takes a nap mere moments after, all the while, people were still coming after them. This made me feel like the story line was going to shift to something along the lines of Kate being a professional hit woman and that being the reason why her and her sisters relationship was strained but unfortunately, there was no such luck for that.
Currently sitting at a 3.5 rating on IMDB, it's no surprise that we've heard practically nothing regarding the film. However, the comedic elements paired with several nods to a variety of films in the horror genre do make for an entertaining time. For example, one of the antagonist wears a hat with the words “Shop Smart” on it, clearly a nod to the infamous Army of Darkness “Boomstick” scene as well as the easily recognizable nod to “Lucille”, the trusted barbwire bat of Walking Dead badass, Megan.
In a nutshell, had there been a few added elements, including better reactions, more kills and less dragging of the story happening throughout the first half, this could have been an exceptional film. If you're looking to kill time with a few gore filled effects, some decent jokes and weird premises, check Killer Kate! out.
4.5 out of 10.
TRAILER
This week on Beyond The Void Horror Podcast We finally finished off The Howling franchise with parts 7 & 8. One of these is probably one of the worst movies ever made. Don’t worry we soaked our childhood in gasoline and lit a match just for you. So that you don’t have to suffer through it. It was a lot of fun. It’s a big week and you are invited! You can listen here or you can Listen/Subscribe on iTunes here!