Recently, iHorror.com had the monumental honour of being invited to the premier of Oliver Blackburn’s terrifying new slasher movie, “Kristy”.  I was the lucky one chosen to go along… don’t mind if I do.

The Introduction

Despite tickets being sold out on the website, there were plenty of seats empty and I get the feeling this was deliberate, maybe to keep the premier as intimate as possible. It was quite clear to see that many of Olly’s friends and family had come to support him in what was his biggest movie to date. What a movie it was, too. After seeing and enjoying his “British, gritty, indie” entry to the big screen,“Donkey Punch”, which was filmed in only 25 days, I did set my sights high for his new work.  All movie goers know doing so is a bad idea, and can often spoil the enjoyment gained through watching a movie when knowing nothing about the director or their background. With this in mind, Olly’s work still managed to impress me beyond my expectations, and is the best slasher movie I have seen in many years. Combining elements from movies such as “The Collector” and “Scream”, it really is worth putting on your must-see cinema list.

Oliver introduced himself as the director of the movie, and pointed out that we were currently in the town where he spent many years finding his love for the cinema in a nearby local picture house named The Scarlett. You could easily feel Olly’s love for his chosen line of work, and he was very upbeat and enjoyable to listen to; appearing to make eye contact with as many people in the audience as possible. His introduction only lasted a few minutes, and when drawing to a close, he told us to keep watching to the end of the credits as the movie would not simply end there. This excited me; I love to see a sneaky bit of extra footage at the end of a movie, and possibly witness something others may have missed.

The Film

The volume was turned up extra high and I knew what I was in for within the first two minutes of the opening credits. I was presented with a low resolution, online style video of a young female being brutally attacked and murdered, and I instantly felt compelled to look away in fear of seeing something to close to the bone (pardon the phrase). Her attackers then started to take photos of the now lifeless woman’s body in a woodland setting, showing no remorse whatsoever. Following this, was a clever insight into the purpose of the killing; an online collection of extremists promoting the idea of “Kill Kristy”. My research had pointed out that there was no one in the cast playing a character named Kristy, and when the introduction scenes explained that Kristy is actually the name given to the followers of Christianity, the movie no longer needed an explanation and I could settle into my seat and enjoy the actor’s performances.

It was a very enjoyable movie with a LOT of jumpy, but necessary moments. I never found myself rolling my eyes at pointless scares, as it all seem to flow together terrifically. It was not over the top gory, and I was told by Olly himself that this was a conscious decision. I did feel it had an adequate amount of bloodshed to whet the appetite of the horror fans, however.

Haley Bennett	Ashley Greene	Chris Coy
Images courtesy of IMDB.com

The movie followed Haley Bennett as her character was hunted throughout her empty university campus by the Kristy-killing hooligans. Haley portrays the victim brilliantly, leaving no doubt that you are watching a person in immense panic. Without giving too much away, she reaches a turning point where she decides to take matters by the horns, and starts to kick ass, which is why she landed at No. 8 in Glen Packard’s Best Bad Ass Kick Ass Final Girls.

The very popular Ashley Greene is no stranger to a horror movie or two, but is normally the actor playing the sweet and innocent girl with sex appeal. In this movie, however, she finds her true calling, and plays a bad-ass, creepy bitch who is the leader of the hooded attackers. She was amazing, and in Olly’s words, put so much into her work by tirelessly researching her role. By creating a back story for her character, she found a hatred for the privileged, and pulled off something quite brilliant.

Olly pointed out that on several occasions the actors playing the villains would bond outside of work to try to bring a togetherness within their relationship to each other.  Ashley worked closely with Chris Coy, who helped further her understanding of the “partners-in-crime” scenario, as he himself has gained several years of experience in the horror industry. He is now in the cast of “Walking Dead”, and appeared on the show for the first time in season 5 episode 1. Hats off to you, Coy!

After Movie Q&A with Oliver Blackburn

The host of the event didn’t give much time for questions and I myself only managed to ask two. So, rather than writing the conversation out, I thought I would upload the recording and let you listen for yourselves. Sorry for the poor sound recording and the rustling half way though. Olly brought several roles of aluminium foil and asked us all to make Kristy Masks!

 

Some Photos from the Event:

Oliver Blackburn at the intro	Oliver Blackburn and the Presenter of London Film Festival	Me and Oliver Blackburn (Olly not ready for the shot)
Me and Oliver Blackburn (Me not ready for the shot)	Olly trying to put the mask I made on.	Olly wearing the mask.