Kruel

Robert Henderson's "Kruel" is a psychological thriller with hints of horror in one intensely drawn nightmare. Unfortunately though, It is a horror film without any horror. Yeah I know that that statement is argumentative considering the subject matter, but I didn't feel that "Kruel" had enough horror genre elements to be classified as a real horror movie.

Now the story that Henderson has devised is captivating and deals with some very horrific realities of society. There is an antagonist that is creepy and nightmarish as all get out. The acting and direction that Robert Henderson takes with this film is stellar on almost all levels of story telling. It is dark, emotional, and often insanely intense. However the story stays in very dramatic, suspense thriller areas where character development and scene building reach a fevered pitch but never deliver any real heat.

The special effects aren't really present in this "horror" film through 98% of the movie. It is all melodrama, high emotion dialog, and really cool scene transitions that combine with some very retro horror designed sounds. Only there is no real horror present. Everything stays suggestive or just not approached. Which sucks because had Henderson thrown in some noticeable giallo styled gore or graphic violence, then "Kruel" could have been a breakaway hit. Unfortunately everything stays pretty PG-13. There is one singe boob shot and one moment of gushing blood, but that comes "too little too late" for me personally.

Overall I have to say that "Kruel" is going to disappoint almost all horror fans going into this film expecting anything other than a really emotional, dramatic story. As I have said-there is no real horror here. The subject matter is horrific, the drama is intense and the story is well written. It is all just a bit "Lifetime Movie Network Adjacent". I got the same experience while watching this film that I have gotten mistakenly watching a few of the church produced "horror films". Still the acting and story are pretty nice. Just wish that the film was marketed as psychological thriller or dramatic thriller, instead of Horror thriller.

As some of the others have stated, yes this movie is terrible. The acting is terrible and lacks any emotion. The plot is dumb and has been done already many times before. Everyone involved should be ashamed for being attached to this horrible film. Do yourself a favor and don't waste any of your time watching this.

Dear lord Ben has the most dreary voice in history Jo overacts The mother is a cow Don't waste your time

The main Actress who plays Jo has a shower scene where you get a glimpse of her breasts from the side, no real view of the nipple so can't give a rating.

The movie itself wasn't that bad, it's hilarious that it's listed as a horror however as I wouldn't even class this as a thriller, it's a drama with a crime element, the main actress is very over the top with her acting at times and her delivery of the role is very messy, some of the movie is ridiculously dark and you can't see what's happening (this was likely done to get a scare effect) It could have been done better and it seems rushed at times. Overall 4 stars.

If you haven't seen this film before, you've seen one like it. There is a lunatic at large, and he is driving an ice cream van. A young boy disappears and is believed drowned accidentally, although his body is not found. The police may believe this, and his parents, but his nanny knows better. Unfortunately she is the one the child's mother especially holds responsible because instead of watching her charge she'd been in a lengthy discussion/argument with her boyfriend who'd confessed to having it off with someone else.

Trying desperately to win her back he panders to her claims of foul play, the two find and break into the ice cream man's home, hoping to find what exactly? Then the bad guy reappears. To cut a long story short, he murders the boyfriend and kidnaps her. Well, it would have been a very short film if he'd murdered them both. Surprise, surprise, he is not simply a lunatic in the evil sense but delusional, because he thinks he can take her boyfriend's place.

That's about all you need to know. What happens next is fairly conventional but not totally predictable. What makes it so tedious is the long goodbye which is played out from the damsel's hospital bed. On the bright side, the soundtrack could have been a lot worse.