First off - I liked this film. I liked it more than I thought I was going to. I feel that there are several positive qualities about KATIEBIRD *CERTIFIABLE CRAZY PERSON that I wasn't expecting. That being said, there are some big flaws too that keep this film from being what I would consider and indie "mini-masterpiece".
The story follows the obviously psychotic Katiebird immediately after the death of her father. The film starts with Katiebird restraining her psychiatrist who is also a family friend and her lover, and telling her "story". Katiebird is a bugged-out and twisted chick with a penchant for sadistic torture and masochistic behavior, whose family comes from a long line of killers. When KB hit's her mid/late teens, her Pops shows her the ropes (so to speak) of the finer points of torture and murder. KB tells her psychiatrist pal of her first kill, and this sweet little story is shown in some graphic detail through flashbacks. During her "confession", KB employs the techniques that she's refined over the years to make her point to her shrink-buddy. This continues on up until the films "climax"...and KB's realization that "nothing lasts forever"...
First things first - yes...as others have mentioned, the overlapping and size-shifting "window-pane" editing technique is completely unnecessary and annoying. It was fine for the first five minutes but becomes distracting to the point of annoyance when it is used CONSTANTLY throughout the film. It could have been used effectively in certain scenes had it not been done through every frame of the film. I never feel that it's a positive thing when people talk more of the technical aspects of a film or how it was made than the film itself - and I already see that happening with KB*CCP. Also, the pacing IS a little off at times and certain scenes could have been shortened to allow for more "action". Being a sleaze-fiend myself, there was also a glaring lack of nudity that could have "helped" things, given that there were several strange "sex scenes"...but this is just a personal preference and didn't really impact the film all that negatively. I can't be quite sure that I'd really want to see the older KB nekkid anyway, as she looked kinda like a strange mix of Uma Thurman and Cloris Leachman - if you can picture that combo. But - the performances by all the leads are very notable. Both the teen KB (especially) and older KB are very believable as whackadoo psychos - without going too overboard. KB's father is also good in his role as the quiet and nurturing psychopathic "teacher". The psychiatrist role is handled well - but he's pretty much just getting either talked to or tortured the whole time, so his part ain't that hard. The "gore-level" is above average and well-done - and this will almost always get a "plus" in my book. Not nearly as rough as some stuff out there, but definitely stronger that the average horror film. I also liked the lighting (especially in the "shed") and the score was decent for this type of film.
Overall, KB*CCP is an ambitious and quirky film from first-time director Justin Ritter - and I'm interested to see what he'll do next. I think fans of some of the newer wave of off-beat horror films like MAY or LOVE OBJECT will dig this one - if you can get past the annoying editing. As much as I will be interested in Ritter's upcoming projects -FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAN - DON'T USE THE "WINDOW-PANE" TECHNIQUE ANYMORE!!!!8/10 for KATIEBIRD...
The story follows the obviously psychotic Katiebird immediately after the death of her father. The film starts with Katiebird restraining her psychiatrist who is also a family friend and her lover, and telling her "story". Katiebird is a bugged-out and twisted chick with a penchant for sadistic torture and masochistic behavior, whose family comes from a long line of killers. When KB hit's her mid/late teens, her Pops shows her the ropes (so to speak) of the finer points of torture and murder. KB tells her psychiatrist pal of her first kill, and this sweet little story is shown in some graphic detail through flashbacks. During her "confession", KB employs the techniques that she's refined over the years to make her point to her shrink-buddy. This continues on up until the films "climax"...and KB's realization that "nothing lasts forever"...
First things first - yes...as others have mentioned, the overlapping and size-shifting "window-pane" editing technique is completely unnecessary and annoying. It was fine for the first five minutes but becomes distracting to the point of annoyance when it is used CONSTANTLY throughout the film. It could have been used effectively in certain scenes had it not been done through every frame of the film. I never feel that it's a positive thing when people talk more of the technical aspects of a film or how it was made than the film itself - and I already see that happening with KB*CCP. Also, the pacing IS a little off at times and certain scenes could have been shortened to allow for more "action". Being a sleaze-fiend myself, there was also a glaring lack of nudity that could have "helped" things, given that there were several strange "sex scenes"...but this is just a personal preference and didn't really impact the film all that negatively. I can't be quite sure that I'd really want to see the older KB nekkid anyway, as she looked kinda like a strange mix of Uma Thurman and Cloris Leachman - if you can picture that combo. But - the performances by all the leads are very notable. Both the teen KB (especially) and older KB are very believable as whackadoo psychos - without going too overboard. KB's father is also good in his role as the quiet and nurturing psychopathic "teacher". The psychiatrist role is handled well - but he's pretty much just getting either talked to or tortured the whole time, so his part ain't that hard. The "gore-level" is above average and well-done - and this will almost always get a "plus" in my book. Not nearly as rough as some stuff out there, but definitely stronger that the average horror film. I also liked the lighting (especially in the "shed") and the score was decent for this type of film.
Overall, KB*CCP is an ambitious and quirky film from first-time director Justin Ritter - and I'm interested to see what he'll do next. I think fans of some of the newer wave of off-beat horror films like MAY or LOVE OBJECT will dig this one - if you can get past the annoying editing. As much as I will be interested in Ritter's upcoming projects -FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAN - DON'T USE THE "WINDOW-PANE" TECHNIQUE ANYMORE!!!!8/10 for KATIEBIRD...