Monday, October 27, 2014

Review of KRISTY: Hunting Pretty Girls Down

October 27, 2014




I was not exactly expecting much with a title as nondescript as "Kristy". There were also no big name actors to speak of it seems. The news that this film had alternative titles like "Random" and "Satanic" was not too encouraging as well.  I was just in the mood for a horror film one lazy afternoon so I went and watched this. Turns out this film was not exactly horror, but it was not bad at all.

The first frame of the opening credits was the first surprise. It showed the TWC logo. So the Weinstein Company was actually involved with this film! That was a surprise because the publicity was so low key, almost non-existent. It did give me some positive encouragement about the film I was about to watch though, as TWC is known for its Oscar quality films.

The film opens with the scene of a girl being killed by a couple of men wearing hoodies and left in a grassy field. She had a big slash across her neck and a letter K carved on her right cheek. Photos and video of this crime was uploaded onto the Internet, announcing that it was the time to kill "Kristy". "Kristy" it appears is any girl they think is "pretty, pure and blessed", and therefore should be hunted down and killed. To kill "Kristy" is to kill God supposedly.

One Thanksgiving, Justine was the only girl left in their college campus as everyone else went home. When she went to the convenience store to buy some supplies, she encounters a strange girl in a pink hoodie. When she got back to her college dorm, Justine realized that Pink Hoodie and her group of hoodie-wearing hoodlums had all followed her to campus. They were hunting her down, wanting to see her dead. 

Haley Bennett should be a bigger star some day. She looks great and she did very well in the lead role of Justine. She was able to effectively portray the fear and strong will of her smart, never-say-die character. This was no timid damsel-in-distress here. This girl was determined to survive. However, Justine was all alone and outnumbered, will she indeed survive this ordeal?

I was surprised to see that Ashley Greene (better known as vampy vampire Alice Cullen in the "Twilight" films) was actually cast as the main antagonist, the mysterious girl whose internet username was "DrkViolet801". Her face was barely seen at all, always obscured by her pink hoodie. In fact, they could have used another no-name actress and we would not have known the difference. 

This film is not exactly horror though. If you like gore, there was not too much of that, which was ok by me. I would call it a suspense-thriller, and a good one at that. The exciting musical score, along with the sinister whistling and the creepy whispering, was very effective in creating the thickly tense atmosphere necessary for this film to succeed. Some jump scares were pretty good. It would have been better if they gave a little more background about the anti-Kristy cult and what it really stood for though.

With a lot of suspension of disbelief, I actually liked this film as it is. This is not any deep film to analyze or think too much about. Just sit back and enjoy your racing pulse as you watch it. By the way, there is a short extra scene after all the closing credits roll up, if you still care to wait up and watch it. 6/10.








23 comments:

  1. There should be a lot of tense moments here. It looks like a good watch.

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  2. I love to watch suck kinda exciting movies.

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  3. When you mentioned Alice Cullen I was thrilled, but when you said her face were mostly covered or covered most of the time my interest plummeted. :-) However, I might as well check if it's available with my movie supplier..haha Thanks for the review!

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  4. While I was reading your review, I was eager to know the story why they were killing "Kristy". Too bad it wasn't really told in the film. The poster looks very interesting. No wonder the woman on the top looks familiar... it's Alice! Haha!

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  5. I'm excited to watch the movie. BTW will search if it's available in PH. Scary and exciting!

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  6. "Satanic" isn't enticing. Lol. Ashley Greene has been identified with Twilight already - it's gonna take a while for people to adjust seeing her not as Alice Cullen. I'm heading to my favorite shop to get a DVD of this :)

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  7. Oh is this a new movie? Maybe this was made before the Twilight series but only came out now to bank on Ashley Greene's popularity? Just guessing.

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    1. Hi May. This is a new film. Ashley already finished all the Twilight films before this film was done.

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  8. I've never heard of this film before. I am not find of horror film but reading the plot from you, I agree that this is a suspense/thriller.

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  9. You are giving it a pretty low score given that you like it... Any reason why? Is it because it's more of a no-brainer kind of film?

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    1. I think 6/10 is not really that low. It is still above the midpoint of 5/10. isn't it? :-) Anyway, it was good, satisfactory, but it was not really that memorable, technically first rate or awards quality or anything like that.

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  10. From the image I probably wouldn't watch it, I am really not into horror films in the slightest. I do like thrillers though with not too much gore. Certainly a film I have never heard of before - good review! Simone x

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  11. I love to watch suspense-thriller movies. I find them exciting and stimulating.This film is a must-see especially those who seek heart-throbbing scenes.

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  12. I love horror movies but actually I have never heard about Kristy before reading your review so the publicity must have been a weak point there. Anyways, now that you mention about the advantages of this film, I am in the mood to try and watch it!

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  13. Looks interesting. When youmentioned that Ashley Greene was there, I became interested. Lol. Great review by the way.

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  14. Definitely not my cup of tea, but it does sound a little better then the run of the mill horrors that are all over the TV this time year. Too bad Ashley Green did not try to get a more visible role though, but I guess there is a method to her madness..

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  15. Not my kinda movie. I dislike killing scenes stuff movies.

    I guess they got Ashley Greene for that part purposefully because she can't be seen and her name sells the movie.

    Anyway, nice review. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. I'm not a fan of horror movies, but I like suspense thrillers, so i might watch this. I'm worried when you said they didn't give a substantial background to the anti-Kristy cult, and that would have made the movie better.

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  17. Hm. Now that I've read your review, if this shows up on my inflight entertainment system, I'd watch it... Not the genre I'd buy tickets to in a cinema though!

    Thanks for the review Fred!

    Ling Tan
    www.kidsonboard.net

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  18. Sounds like an interesting movie. Suspense thrillers are my thing, so me and my siblings might watch this.

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  19. This movie is really enticing! I love thrillers to death :)

    Jay Mahusay
    www.bjaymahusay.com

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  20. I dont like thrillers and Satanic. Walking Dead suits me better. This Kristy movie seems like a good movie to watch when you've finished watching all the good ones.

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