Directed by Conor Boru
Written by Conor Boru and Ed Hartland
Starring Ed Hartland, Jared Rogers, Octavia Gilmore, Kaitlin Reynell
Runtime: 88 minutes
Premiers at Frightfest on August 28

by Matt McCafferty, Staff Writer

Everything about this film feels very familiar. With the mockumentary format in place, it hits on so many of the beats we’ve seen from these types of horror-comedies in the past. That may sound like a knock on the film, but to be honest, I had a great time watching this. Once you get past the fact that it feels so much like that of other mockumentary comedies, it really is a lot of fun. As the story starts to take off, you pretty much know what to expect for the most part. Again, there’s a sort of familiarity that flows throughout the film — a feeling that doesn’t get in the way of it being a fun watch.

The story follows Norman Graysmith (Jared Rogers), a documentary filmmaker who is looking to make a truly groundbreaking kind of film. He pins his hopes on Aidan Mendle (Ed Hartland), an aspiring serial killer. Norman’s idea is to capture the events of a serial killer as they play out in real time. Right away, Aidan has zero issues opening up about his desire to be a famous serial killer. With the help of his girlfriend (Kaitlin Reynell), the two of them decide to start a murder cult, or a “family” as Aidan calls it. This process involves interviewing potential candidates who they think would make good serial killers to be a part of their family, much like that of the Manson family. Their little cult is eventually made up of a quirky group of misfits; each of them lost in life, and of course, completely psychotic.

With so many characters, the mockumentary format actually serves a decent purpose. First-time director Conor Boru does a nice job ensuring that each of the side characters get a good chunk of time to develop their narratives. While the interview with the camera is a great comedic device for sure, Boru uses it to help us keep track of all of the characters throughout the chaos that occurs. The mockumentary approach lends a hand to giving us some inside thoughts on its characters, but Boru still deserves credit for executing the approach as well as he did.

For those who plan to see this, I won’t spoil anything in terms of where the story goes. It takes a few twists and turns, but I wouldn’t say it does anything that will actually shock you. Again, this comes back to the fact that this movie is an easy-going watch that never breaks out of the kind of comedy-horror formula that it shapes itself after. It’s fairly obvious early on that you shouldn’t expect anything more than a silly comedy with a few touches of horror thrown in here and there.

It does lean into comedy more than it does horror. You get that dry British humor with plenty of little awkward bits to make you laugh and cringe at the same time. It’s a style of humor that’s always worked for me. Ed Hartland (who plays Aidan) is terrific with this style. He also brings a lovable goofiness to the role that makes him just likable enough — even as a wannabe serial killer. There really is no protagonist to root for here. It’s just a bunch of unstable people who get together to kill people.

Where you land on this movie is likely going to depend on how you respond to its comedic style and its familiar mockumentary format. If you connect with the humor and the familiarity of its approach doesn’t bother you much, you will likely find it to be a pretty fun 90 minutes. I’m not sure it’s one of those comedies I will revisit with regularity, but it’s one that I’m glad I saw.