BSA 204 W9 : The Clovehitch Killer

I watched the movie The Clovehitch Killer (2018) written by Christopher Ford (known for Cop Car and Clown) and serves as the directorial debut of Duncan Skiles.



I really enjoyed the movie quite a lot. The premise is instantly captivating and its one of those loglines that makes you wonder how no one has thought of it before. This means it's very pure and a perfect fit for a feature.

I am hesitant to even give away the official logline here because I feel that the movie might actually be more entertaining not knowing (although I'm not sure).

The thing that surprised me most and the element I was most impressed with was the writer's implementation of a Christian household into a horror/crime story.

The fact that the main character is confined to a Christian household, with Christian ideals and having Christian friends changes a lot about the way the film unfolds and affects what the character can get away with. The story is very similar to Fright Night or something of that sort, and giving the protagonist even more restrictions and a greater obstacle to overcome is perfect for this type of tale.

I am actually surprised I hadn't seen a Christian family represented like this in a horror movie before, it seems like a perfect fit for the genre. I mean the main character isn't even allowed to use his phone much (and the one he owns isn't all that modern), which is a great solution to the problem that horror movies now face with everyone having a smart phone on them at all times.


Christian dinner

I thought it was extremely well made and there was even a moment where it flipped traditional structure on its head leading into the final act, this was almost alienating and I wondered if it was maybe a mistake on the part of a writer, but I think the mix-up was a welcome surprise that kept things fresh and allowed other things to shine even brighter. Thinking back on it the story was getting possibly predictable and the change in perspective for a spell avoided this from becoming a problem, hitting the audience out of the blue making it seem it could go in any direction.

Lessons learnt:

- If the story is getting predictable playing with the structure can trick the audience into thinking it feels fresh again.
- The more restrictions on characters, the better. Especially if there is a good real world reason for them.
- Exploring a community or culture on film that is not often represented, or one that is not often represented in a specific genre, can create a lot of story possibilities and attract a new audience.