Knuckleball

The kid does a great job! It really is like a scary version of Home Alone. Very enjoyable!

Knuckleball is director Michael Peterson's first feature length foray into the horror genre. It is a huge improvement over his previous feature Lloyd the Conqueror, and works very well for a genre movie, with intense atmosphere throughout, some inventive scenes involving traps, even if more such scenes could have elevated the film to be a true classic in the genre.

The plot tells the story of a young boy being left with his grandfather in the country while his parents travel to a funeral elsewhere. Soon, the visit turn into a gruesome story of trying to survive a home invasion, from a deranged maniac, laying traps and uncovering some terrible secrets about the family's past.

Plotwise, the story draws many storybeats from Home Alone, with the boys parents having left him on his own, but then sensing something is wrong and hurrying back, while the boy is desperately fighting to protect himself and his home, by building death traps from whatever is lying around the grandfather's home. However, the storyline has been transplanted into the horror genre, and as such, the violence is somewhat more gruesome, and the implications of what will happen if he doesn't stop the intruder places the stakes much higher and really helps to bring the tension up.

About halfway through the movie, things take a turn for the darker, and the movie shifts the focus away from trap building towards exploring the backstory of the setting. Unlike many similar genre film, Knuckleduster manage to set up every plotline in advance without breaking the pacing. That said, having the inventive death traps in the first half of the movie does put a damper on what is probably the most enjoyable part of the film. Sure the story is effective in its own way, but the film is based around a gimmick that could be taken further to great effect. Sadly it ends up feeling like the latter half of the film was just a bit less fun for that reason.

The film does falter to a few clichés towards the end which further hampers the enjoyment that was derived from the central gimmick of the movie, and seem to be mostly included because that is what is expected from such films.

That said, Knuckleball is a very serviceable film, and a coherent and enjoyable horror flick from first-time horror director Michael Peterson. I recommend it to any fan of the genre.

A special quick note: Knuckleball takes place in the present day, and not only cleverly manages to deal with smart-phones in a way that does not feel contrived and immersion breaking. It is also interestingly done from a visual standpoint, and is worth checking out for anything dealing with similar issues in their film-making.

There's just a little something left unsaid and unknown; otherwise this could have been a better film. That being said, what is present is a decent depiction of madness and survival. It has a slight nod to Home Alone, but the film takes a much more serious approach to the violence for survival. Not much in the way of set up and then the extended battle through most of the rest of the film makes for some tense pacing.

This film was better than expected. It certainly is no Hollywood blockbuster, but clearly a well made low budget film that used its budget wisely.

The directing was great - especially the camera shots and angles. The cinematography was perfect for the landscape. Even the score was surprisingly great for a B-grade film. The 89 min length was perfect as was the pace. The writing was good, as the tension was constant throughout the story, but I would liked to have seen a bit more 'pow' in certain scenes - maybe more of the creative Home Alone antics.

Nevertheless, novice director/writer Michael Peterson who's resume is mostly short films and documentaries did an outstanding job with this film.

Aside from well known actor Michael Ironside, the rest of the cast are pretty much C-listers as I've never heard of them. All performed quite well, with the exception of Chenier Hundal as the dad who I felt was too bland and seemed as if this was his first acting role.

Otherwise a very good film that I do recommend. An honest and well deserved 8/10 from me.

Full disclosure...I was an extra in this film (the airport scene, you can almost see me but not quite) so I'll admit I have a bit of a bias towards this film but I really had no idea what it was about until I saw it. Anyway, after reading the positive and negative reviews I was cautiously optimistic but set my expectations relatively low.

I was actually quite surprised at how much I enjoyed the film and think the negative reviewers either missed the point or are maybe a case of you can't please everyone all the time. Sure there are predictable elements but there are a number of surprises along the way as well. I thought it was a very taught thriller that kept up a really good sense of dread and foreboding all through the film. Right from the beginning, things don't feel right and the bleak winter Canadian prairie location (even though the film is set in the US) really add to the uneasiness. This film never lets you feel comfortable in your seat as the cinematography, score, and acting just keep things feeling tense. If you don't like that kind of feeling, this movie isn't for you.

I thought the director managed to work very well within his limited budget and put together a pretty decently acted and constructed film. The villain especially brought a spine tingling creepiness to the roll. Overall, to me it didn't feel like a low-budget or b-rater horror flick as it wasn't trying to be something that it wasn't. It was aware of it's limitations and wasn't trying to be a slick Hollywood blockbuster. Without giving anything away, my only minor beef was with one part of the ending that I thought could have had some further fleshing out or explanation. You can assume certain things but it just felt like a string or two was left hanging.