Killer Kate! review – squabbling sisters unite in a bloody gorefest
Here’s a wacky and insouciant horrorcomedy sketch that delivers as much in its economical 80 minutes as a whole lot of boilerplate scary movies that drag on for a whole lot longer. (And it rather ingeniously finds a new way of solving the modern horror movie’s traditional problem about why you don’t just call for help on your mobile phone.)
It’s from first-time feature director Elliot Feld and stars his wife, Alexandra Feld, who has a certain elegance and sharp authority. She plays Kate, a woman astonished one day to receive an invitation to the wedding of her younger sister Angie (Danielle Burgess) – astonished because she has long been estranged from her. Kate sees it as an opportunity to reconnect and so, swallowing her misgivings and her pride, she agrees to go on Angie’s goofy “bachelorette” weekend with two of her friends in a remote cabin (uhoh) that she has rented from something called LAB&B (resemblances to Airbnb uncoincidental). But this turns out to be a very chi-chi property, and much nicer than the scuzzy Motel California down the road that Angie had been considering.
Of course there is something nasty in store, and Killer Kate! interestingly gives us the internal dynamics of not merely the squabbling women whose world is about to be invaded, but the creepy invaders themselves. A repeated gag is to show how weirdly incompetent the supposedly terrifying and demonic invaders are. Instead of being preternaturally skilled at handling weapons, they are utterly useless. And why? Why is it all happening?
Interestingly, there is a motivation here, one that satirises our consumer sense of online entitlement: the belief everyone with credit and web access deserves instant Ubers, weekend apartments etc. A neat debut.
• Killer Kate! is released in the UK on 16 August.