Kristy (film)
| Kristy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Oliver Blackburn |
| Written by | Anthony Jaswinski |
| Produced by | David Kirschner Corey Sienega |
| Starring | Haley Bennett Ashley Greene Lucas Till Mathew St. Patrick James Ransone |
| Cinematography | Crille Forsberg |
| Edited by | Jeff Betancourt |
| Music by | François-Eudes Chanfrault |
Production company | David Kirschner Productions |
| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.9 million |
Kristy is a 2014 American horror film directed by Oliver Blackburn and starring Haley Bennett and Ashley Greene. The plot follows a college student who stays on campus alone over Thanksgiving break and finds herself terrorized by a cult of ritual killers. The film premiered at the London Film Festival and also had theatrical releases internationally. In the United States, the film debuted on the Lifetime Network in October 2015, and was released on Netflix on November 5, 2015.
Plot
The film opens with a hooded figure photographing a young woman's corpse in an empty field, followed by a montage of internet screenshots and video of women being killed in what appears to be ritual murders by a cybercult, and footage of the murders being uploaded on an anonymous underground website, where members are encouraged to "kill Kristy," "Kristy" coming from a Latin name meaning "follower of God."
College student Justine is attending a private university in the Northeast on scholarship and financial aid, and is unable to afford to fly home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Her boyfriend Aaron and wealthy roommate Nicole both leave for the holiday, leaving Justine to spend the holiday in solitude on a nearly empty campus, aside from the security guard, Wayne, and groundskeeper, Scott.
On Thanksgiving night, Justine uses Nicole's BMW to drive to a nearby convenience store off campus. Inside the store, a hooded girl, Violet, approaches Justine, complimenting her car. At the counter, the girl asks for a student discount on a pair of sunglasses, but has no ID. Justine offers to pay for them, but the girl refuses and calls her "Kristy." On the drive home, Justine nearly rear ends a mysterious car parked in the middle of the road. Upon returning to the campus, Justine calls Aaron and informs him of the strange occurrence, and though he offers to come stay the night with her, she declines. After falling asleep on a couch in the common room, she hears odd noises coming from the direction of her dorm. Inside her dorm, Justine finds that someone has accessed her laptop, as a snuff film plays on the screen. Violet appears in the room with a boxcutter in hand, and Justine flees to the entryway. Outside, Wayne, who had been investigating a noise, is murdered in front of her by a masked man.
The four cult killers assemble, and Violet begins recording Justine, telling her that they will hunt her, and that she should "run to God." Justine flees to Scott's house on the edge of the campus for help. Scott goes outside to confront the assailants, but the killers murder his dog before hanging him from a swingset in the yard. Justine attempts to call 911 from Scott's cellphone, but the gang has hacked into it. They begin sending Justine video clips of herself on the phone and menacing text messages. Justine attempts to hide in the library, but is chased to the roof of the building; cornered by the four assailants, she leaps from the roof, falling through the branches of a tree help break her fall.
Aaron arrives at the campus, and Justine struggles to run toward his car, but he is killed by one of the men in front of her. She uses Aaron's car to pin the man against a concrete wall, crushing him to death. She then retreats to the gymnasium where she hides in the swimming pool. She stabs one of the men in the throat with her car keys before drowning him, and beats the other man to death with a baseball bat inside the locker room. She hears a cell phone alert from the dead man's jacket, and reads a text message from Violet asking if he's "killed Kristy yet." Justine responds "yes." While accessing the killer's phone, Justine finds photos of the cult's numerous victims, and their declaration to kill the "Kristys" of the world—pure, beautiful, and privileged women who they believe follow God.
Justine uses pool chemicals from a storage closet to create a flammable powder. She then dresses herself in the dead man's mask and jacket, and approaches the car where Violet is, dousing it in the powder. Violet attempts to lash at her with a box cutter, but Justine ignites the powder, and Violet is engulfed in flames; Justine watches as she is burned alive. She then photographs Violet's corpse with the cell phone, and uploads it to the website, entitled /the fold/. A montage at the end of the film narrated by news footage reveals a series of similar cult murders had occurred in New York City; Denver; Portland, Oregon; Kansas City; Dallas; Minneapolis and Atlanta, but with Justine's testimony and access to the phone, many of the cult's members have been arrested. A post-credits scene shows a young woman being attacked by another cult killer outside her home.
Cast
- Haley Bennett as Justine
- Ashley Greene as Violet
- Lucas Till as Aaron
- Erica Ash as Nicole
- James Ransone as Scott
- Matthew St. Patrick as Wayne
- Al Vicente as Dave
- Chris Coy as Blue Hoodie
- Mike Seal as Black Hoodie
- Lucius Falick as Grey Hoodie
Production
In February 2012, it was announced that Gary Fleder would direct the film, from a screenplay by Tony Jaswinski, hoping to get Emma Watson in the lead role, while, David Kirschner will produce through his David Kirschner Productions.[1] In June 2012, it was revealed that Olly Blackburn will now direct the film, Corey Sienga and Matthew Stein joined as producers and executive producers respectively.[2] In October 2012, Haley Bennett joined the cast of the film.[3] At the American Film Market the film was re-titled Satanic.[4] In November 2012, Ashley Greene and Lucas Till joined the cast of the film.[5][6] In February 2013, it was re-titled to Random.[7]
Principal photography took place in New Orleans. Many scenes were filmed at Tulane University and Tad Gormley Stadium.
Release
In February 2013, Entertainment Weekly released the first image of Ashley Greene in the film.[8] The film was first released in Germany on August 7, 2014.[9] It also screened at the London Film Festival on October 14, 2014.[10] In August 2014, it was revealed the film was being re-edited for a U.S theatrical release.[11] It premiered on Lifetime on October 17, 2015.[12] It was released on Netflix on November 5, 2015.[13][14]
See also
References
- ^ Miska, Brad (February 7, 2016). "Dimension Plans Thanksgiving Horror 'Kristy' With 'Harry Potter' Starlette". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Miska, Brad (June 28, 2012). "New Director For Dimension's 'Strangers'-esque Slasher 'Kristy'". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (October 29, 2012). "Haley Bennett books thriller 'Kristy'". Variety. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Miska, Brad (November 1, 2012). "[AFM '12] Dimension's 'Kristy' Being Sold As 'Satanic'". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Foreman, Liza (November 8, 2012). "'Twilight' Star Ashley Greene Eyed for TWC's 'Kristy/Satanic' Horror Film (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ McNary, Dave (November 19, 2012). "Lucas Till is going with 'Kristy'". Variety. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Dicknson, Evan (February 14, 2013). "Ashley Greene Looks Beastly In Movie With 'Random' Title Change". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Woods, Kevin (February 15, 2013). "FIRST PIC OF SATANIC ASHLEY GREENE FROM RANDOM". Joblo.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Moore, Debi (August 7, 2014). "Kristy Slashes Her Way to German Blu-ray and DVD". Dread Central. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ "Kristy". British Film Institute. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Miska, Brad (August 14, 2014). "[Review] Reader's Thoughts On 'Kristy,' Dimension's Thanksgiving Slasher". Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Reyes, Traciy (16 October 2015). "'Kristy': Halloween College Campus Slasher Movie Comes To 'Lifetime' Starring Ashley Greene And Haley Bennett". Inquisitr. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Hanley, Ken W. (11 November 2015). "Stream to Scream: "KRISTY"". Fangoria. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Miska, Brad (5 November 2015). "'Kristy,' Dimension's Thanksgiving Slasher, is Now On Netflix Instant!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 22 March 2016.