Rating: ***1/2
Starring: M.C. Huff, Emily Hall, Jenna Z. Alvarez
Yeah, you lot have heard of this song before: a group of ladies drive up to the mountains to camp, only to meet their demises at the hands of a psycho. It's the backwoods slasher and it is pretty much a staple in the horror subgenre for its simplicity. KillHer (2022) could've been another round of your typical "people go to the woods, people get killed" plot and for a while it is. Until it isn't.
Mattie is about to get married to a hunk named Jagger and to celebrate this happy occasion, she and her bestfriend Eddie plan a camp out deep into the mountains with Mattie's two other best buds, Jess and Rae, as a pre-bachelorette party. From here, we can tell the dynamic isn't too peachy fine between these girls as Jess and Rae aren't too fond of Eddie's weird sense of humor, though they're toughening it out for Mattie's sake. This situation gets a little testy, however, when it turns out that Eddie have surprises planned out for the entire camping trip involving Jagger showing up at some point, seeing that he gave her the GPS location of where his camp's at. Mattie loves it, Jess isn't buying it, and Rae's just trying to make the best of the situation.
Problems arise when, after the girls pitch their tent next to an empty one they assume belongs to Jagger, they're awfully surprised to find it occupied by a burly man named Mr. Rogers instead. The fella is gruff. The fella is big. The fella has a chainsaw and a gun back at his tent and he's not too pleased to be camping next to some loud girls. Night soon falls and the pre-marriage festivities of dancing around the bonfire and discussions of bear-related camping tips would soon pave way to something pretty concerning when a scream is heard, followed by the roar of a chainsaw...
Admittedly, KillHer (2022) isn't a slasher film in the strictest sense; it borrows the set-up of your classic backwoods horror-type, using it as a backdrop to what's practically a mystery thriller toying around with character motives and the plot's overall direction, playing up the tropes to hide where and what exactly the film's building up to. The first half of the movie, in turn, focuses solely on building its premise, who these girls are and what could be going on behind their little camping trip, often at times jumping back and forth to flashbacks that spill a little bit of what went on during offscreen scenes. It can get uneven pacing-wise, but I personally find the casts intriguing despite their flaws and the unconventional build-up to its unraveling plot have all the right twists, turns and revelations to keep me glued on the movie and focused.
That said, the film would eventually dip into bodycounting elements for its thrills, spills and scares halfway into the run, right about the time our killer finally shows their crazy and the bloody mess that comes along with it, both figuratively and literally: one one end, the reveal as to who the real threat here isn't much of a surprise seeing how much the film works its way around subverting tropes and, in all honesty, the way the killer's characterized prior to the reveal was practically a dead giveaway. On the other hand, now that our villain isn't hiding behind a façade anymore, their delightfully unhinged shenanigans have them murdering in glee and plotting seriously messed-up scenarios for the perfect killing spree, just a real treat for slasher fanatics who love little villains with a bit of personality and mischief. It's a workable display of crazed kookiness, even more so when our killer opted to play with some of their victims by setting them up in traps where they're left to die, all the while continuing to taunt and mock them in their predicament just to further break their spirit.
The backwoods nightmare would soon reach our lead gal Mattie as she's held at gunpoint and forced to discover the horrid truth about the entire trip, including the unkind fate that fell on her loved ones. This is when KillHer (2022) shifts its gear again and morphs into a cheesy action thriller as those who survive our sly maniac join forces to put a stop to them, arming to the teeth with ammo, combat knives and one mean travel van. The resulting brawl is as cheeky as it is gory and intense, a rather entertaining and oddly cathartic fight that closes on a 'feel good' note that's all but fitting to the tone of this entire fiasco of a camping trip.
To put it simply, despite its snark and subversions, KillHer (2022) is a stab at the backwoods slasher tropes that's just buzzing with palpable enthusiasm for the subgenre. You can see it in its lively camerawork and witty writing, and too the gory kills and the demented killer responsible for them. It may have gone off its rails, sure, but that's just the fun of it! The craziness in its direction is a welcome approach, all the better to keep slashers fun and fresh!
Bodycount:
1 female seen beaten dead with a rolling pin
1 male seen murdered in a bathtub with a knife
1 female hacked with a garden claw
1 male had his throat cut with a knife, bludgeoned with a trophy
1 male knifed through the jaw
1 female killed offscreen
1 male stabbed to death with a hunting knife
1 male shot to death
1 female stabbed with a hunting knife, gutted with a chainsaw and repeatedly driven over with a car
Total: 9
No comments:
Post a Comment