KatieBird *Certifiable Crazy Person (2005)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Justin Paul Ritter

Writer:

Justin Paul Ritter (writer)

Release Date:

June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Asterisk In Title | Punctuation In Title | Character Name In Title

Cast

Lee Perkins	...	Merl 'Daddy' Wilkins
Helene Udy	...	KatieBird
Taylor M. Dooley	...	Teen KatieBird
Nicole Jarvis	...	Young KatieBird
Jun Hee Lee	...	Kevin
Todd Gordon	...	Dr. Richardson
Ben L. McCain	...	Groundskeeper
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fay Gauthier	...	KatieBird's Mom
Denise Gossett	...	Herself

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:18 (heavily cut)

Filming Locations:

Palmdale, California, USA

Company:

Digital Studios

Quotes:

Merl "Daddy" Wilkins: [as Teen KatieBird takes the hammer] Don't be nervous. Daddy's goin' to be here, every step of the way.

gruesome, unflinching movie

An intriguing premise and strong performances set Katiebird apart from the usual low budget horror fair. In fact, it is an unfair assessment to even call this a horror movie. Maybe psychological thriller or drama would be more appropriate. There is some gore, but it's harsh, non stylized, unflinching violence. I have to admit that I was squirming a bit in a few of the torture sequences. The tooth pulling scene between the title character and non affection returning would be boyfriend, who also happens to be Asian, ranks right up there with Marathon Man. Only this time we are treated to every graphic detail. The sound design here made me cringe (in a good way). The performances, especially from Katiebird herself and Lee Perkins playing her father, are very strong. No over the top campy fun here. These are very thoughtful, tightly wound performances. The one thing that keeps this movie from achieving some level of greatness is the unwise editing decision to present 99% of the film in multiple panels. There are a few moments were the technique is used to good effect. Whenever it shows multiple threads of action, even within the same scene, it works well. But when it devotes two to four frames to the exact same action and sometimes shot repeatedly. It just becomes annoying. This was a very unconventional movie and i dig that. But I wish it had been presented in a slightly more conventional manner.

Either way, this is definitely a must see.

bob out.