"Dangerously adorable" and wonderfully over the top, 'Hell's kitty' makes no apologies for being so direct, straightforward, overt, and otherwise outrageous. It very much feels like a low-budget, amateur horror short expanded to feature length. Yet even as it exists in the same region as campy low-grade (and low-value) entertainment like 'Alice in Murderland' or 'Avalanche sharks,' it relishes playing in this space. Filmmaker Nicholas Tana is well aware of his limits, and doesn't care as he makes the best, most fun movie that he can within the bounds of his constraints. I readily think of a couple other movies that against all odds achieved the same feat of artistry in the face of artlessness, and it's refreshing and gratifying to see every time it works.
What is true of one aspect of 'Hell's kitty' is true for nearly every other: dialogue, characters, scene writing, and the overall narrative; camerawork, sequencing, transitions, general editing; effects, music, performances - everything herein is blunt, forthright, indelicate, graceless, and absurd. The movie embraces tropes and convention, clichés and stereotypes, and no small amount of crude humor. However, it's also solidly written, internally consistent, well made, & all involved obviously had a great time. I think it's clear that everything that is superficially gauche about the movie is a reflection of how Tana had only so much to work with, so he leaned wholly into the ridiculousness of the movie's concept and extended that to every facet of the production. The result, in my opinion, is a surprising and unlikely great success.
As if to emphasize the self-assured purposefulness behind it all, consider that the cast, who partake in such ludicrousness with abjectly exaggerated chewing of scenery, includes established, respected actors like Adrienne Barbeau, Doug Jones, and Michael Berryman. Consider the strong attentiveness to blood and gore, including makeup that fantastically realizes protagonist Nick's (Tana) dilemma and some rather gnarly nightmares. Consider the very telling and purely self-indulgent reference to 'Killer Klowns,' or character names like Dr. Laurie Strodes, Jaimie Screech Curtis, Detective Pluto (Berryman, of course), and more. 'Hell's kitty' knows exactly what it is, and is proud of it - as I think it very well should be.
The only specific criticism that I have to make is that this is overdone in terms of being too long. For as much fun as I was having, at one point I looked at the digital timer because I figured I had to be near the end - only to find that I wasn't yet even halfway done. I don't think this needed to be 98 minutes long, and to that point, the pace slackens and the feature loses some of its gusto in the last 20-30 minutes or so. The longer it runs, the more excess we're subjected to, sadly weakening the worthy bombast we otherwise get. If the writing were genuinely a bit tighter, this could have been altogether perfect.
Still, as far as I'm concerned the strength of the preceding material, and the ending, outweighs the weaknesses. Ultimately, even if it's a bit long in the tooth, this is a joyful, brazen farce. This is self-aware, deliberate buffoonery that so totally embraces its bluster and boundaries so as to come out the other side a highly enjoyable, engaging horror comedy. Given the nature of the production I don't begrudge anyone who engages honestly with the material and comes away unsatisfied, but for my part, I all but absolutely loved it. 'Hell's kitty' is a goofy, far-fetched romp - with one very cute cat - that may not be for everyone, but if you can get on board with the most outlandish of low-budget genre flicks, then you'll be in for a good time.
