Knuckleball

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.

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.

A young/teenage boy is left at his Grandfathers while his parents go to a funeral. His Grandfather (Michael Ironside) teachs him how to pitch hence the title. Then things go awry.I was rather impressed by the claustrophic feel of this film. At times it plays like a grown up version of Home Alone, at others it reminded me of The Shining. I would recommend you avoid the trailer as it has spoilers and just watch it. A small cast in one location is often the way way to go in low budget efforts and this does it really well. Michael Ironside in a fat suit is a bit wasted though. Well worth seeking out.

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

This is a one hell of a good thriller, that starts out slowly and builds and builds to a conclusion, that is totally a shock. The parents of their young son Henry, have to drop him off at his grandpas at his farm in the country, played flawlessly by Michael Ironside, while they leave to go to a funeral. After Grandpa has a heart attack doing the night and dies, Henry is left alone and goes to the closest neighbor, who happens to be a psycho killer. Henry escapes and goes back to his Grandpa's house, and prepares for the psycho killer to come after him, which he does. Henry, for a young boy, gets ready. That's the meat of the buildup, and things from there get very very dicey.

I just loved this movie, it is the kind of thriller that's white knuckles all the way until a very big twist ending, that nobody is going to see coming. I recommend this one very highly, I just loved it from start to finish. 4/5