Nerdly » Frightfest Glasgow 2023: ‘Hunt Her Kill Her’ Review

20th Mar2023

Frightfest Glasgow 2023: ‘Hunt Her Kill Her’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Natalie Terrazzino, JC Oakley III, Larry Bunton, Philip Zimny, Trevor Tucker | Written by Greg Swinson | Directed by Ryan Thiessen, Greg Swinson

Hunt Her Kill Her is somewhat of a home invasion thriller but on a grander scale, set in the large landscape of a warehouse rather than the small confines of a traditional home, which adds more opportunity for differences from the traditional home invasion thriller.

Karen is a desperate young mother who has just filed divorce papers on her abusive husband. Forced to take a job as the night shift janitor at a large furniture factory, she is told she will be the only one working at this time. But, after seeing a strange vehicle idling in the parking lot and finding a door to the factory ajar, Karen gets the feeling she might not be alone after all.

What also marks Hunt Her Kill Her out is that the film is essentially a metaphor for abusive relationships – Karen (Natalie Terrazzino) cut off from the outside world (phone lines cut), made to feel worthless (job as a cleaner) – and then it escalates to an ACTUAL abusive relationship as attackers are eventually revealed to be people she knows… Though it’s obvious from the outset that the culprits ARE people she knows – it’s the one downfall of what is an interesting take on a genre cliche.

And I say interesting because, unlike a LOT of similar films, Hunt Her Kill Her features some brilliantly clever kills – most of Karen’s “kills” are accidental deaths, for example one of her attackers fall over and breaks his neck, another falls on to a sharp stick she’s holding… Karen NEVER internationally, apart from the expected “final battle,” instigates an attack. Plus on top of that all her “kills” are marked by a beautiful streak of dark humour. Goofy and gory.

The fact that Karen never aims to kill anyone makes her actions feel “real” and much more like what people would do in real life, giving the film a much more different feel from movies like the recent Intruder, where the victim becomes less of a victim and instead turns on their attackers and become a “superhuman” hero rather than the timid victim that Karen remains!

Whilst the film follows the familiar tropes of the home invasion thriller, Hunt Her Kill Her does, at one point, feel like it’s going to take a MASSIVE leap into another genre as our heroine Karen is being brutally beaten when she hears the voice of her child… It’s at this point that the film could’ve turned into a LITERAL metaphor, with the film a “vision” in Karen’s mind as she is beaten by her abusive partner – which would’ve been a decent, if left-field change of pace. But no, the filmmakers stick to the story and it doesn’t all turn out to be a dream sequence thankfully, instead raising the stakes for Karen, making the film’s conclusion even more satisfying!