Rating: ****
Starring: Haley Bennett, Ashley Greene
Justine, a studious college girl strapped for cash, decided to post up on campus while her boyfriend and friends go home for the Thanksgiving weekend. The whole place is pretty much her oyster for a while; dancing down the empty halls whilst listening to music, keeping busy with a chore or two, and the usual snack run to keep the munchies at bay.Driving to a nearby convenience store, Justine encounters Violet, a hooded punkette with a knack for piercings who starts giving her the chills, even more so when it soon becomes apparent she followed her all the way back to campus. The thing is, Violet isn't alone; with her is a trio of masked and hooded men who are a part of an online Satanic cult dedicated to murdering random girls who they all nicknamed "Kristy", recording the kills and sharing it on their network as a sign of dedication to their war against God. Chased through empty hallways and libraries, bearing witness as the hooligans murder anybody who got in the way, it soon becomes dead clear for Justine that the only way to live through their game of Cat-and-Mouse is to fight back.
For truth's worth, Kristy (2014) isn't really anything new; it's a simple movie about a girl being stalked by a pack of merciless killers, a plot that relies heavily on tension and build-up, meaning we get plentiful of scenes in the dark where a killer or two are just feet away from our lead, empty rooms being prowled upon, and people calling out to thick fogs anticipating a response. Or an attack. It works very well as a suspense piece boasting dread and atmosphere, though not without its own little plot holes and inconsistencies popping up once in a while. (How the heck can the Kristy killers text if they use cellphone jammers?)Performances in the film are remarkably solid seeing it only has one main character to focus on; Haley Bennett plays her role as Justine with much quirk and gentleness as relatively normal girl can, making relating and rooting for the gal easy, especially once she decided to gut up and turn the tables on her attackers. And speaking of which, the murderous group did have their moments of being imposing; though they are human behind their disguises and their motives are notoriously on the cliched side, they're organized and well-experienced enough to read their prey's move with so much animalistic instinct that it's threatening. And with the brooding direction of these attacks and the workable giallo-inspired tint-lighting, I can honestly say that Kristy (2014) is redeemed fairly with these fair production quality and talent.
The movie ends with an indication that there might be more coming from this murder-cult. Should this be a hint of a future sequel at hand or not, Kristy (2014)'s simplistic campus slasher is watchable on its own, either rented for a viewing or bought for your growing collection. It may not had brought out anything out of the ordinary for our bodycounting kicks but at least it plays the game right.Bodycount:
1 female found with throat cut
1 female gets a throat cut with a meat hook (video)
1 female murdered, method unknown (video)
1 male bludgeoned with a baseball bat
1 male found murdered
1 dog killed offcamera
1 male hanged with a garden hose
1 male stabbed on the gut with a meat hook
1 male crushed against the wall with a car
1 male drowned in a pool
1 male hit on the head with a nailed baseball bat
1 female set on fire with sodium nitrate
Total: 12
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