Kruel

Robert Henderson's "Kruel" is a psychological thriller with hints of horror in one intensely drawn nightmare. Unfortunately though, It is a horror film without any horror. Yeah I know that that statement is argumentative considering the subject matter, but I didn't feel that "Kruel" had enough horror genre elements to be classified as a real horror movie.

Now the story that Henderson has devised is captivating and deals with some very horrific realities of society. There is an antagonist that is creepy and nightmarish as all get out. The acting and direction that Robert Henderson takes with this film is stellar on almost all levels of story telling. It is dark, emotional, and often insanely intense. However the story stays in very dramatic, suspense thriller areas where character development and scene building reach a fevered pitch but never deliver any real heat.

The special effects aren't really present in this "horror" film through 98% of the movie. It is all melodrama, high emotion dialog, and really cool scene transitions that combine with some very retro horror designed sounds. Only there is no real horror present. Everything stays suggestive or just not approached. Which sucks because had Henderson thrown in some noticeable giallo styled gore or graphic violence, then "Kruel" could have been a breakaway hit. Unfortunately everything stays pretty PG-13. There is one singe boob shot and one moment of gushing blood, but that comes "too little too late" for me personally.

Overall I have to say that "Kruel" is going to disappoint almost all horror fans going into this film expecting anything other than a really emotional, dramatic story. As I have said-there is no real horror here. The subject matter is horrific, the drama is intense and the story is well written. It is all just a bit "Lifetime Movie Network Adjacent". I got the same experience while watching this film that I have gotten mistakenly watching a few of the church produced "horror films". Still the acting and story are pretty nice. Just wish that the film was marketed as psychological thriller or dramatic thriller, instead of Horror thriller.

This movie is as much a relationship movie as anything else: Between Jo (the main character) and her boyfriend and her mom and dad. Horror movie? I'm laughing right now so there's your answer.

After breaking up with her boyfriend when he confesses something to her (The road to disaster is oft times paved with "good intentions", Reader. Dude should have kept his pie hole shut.) and refusing any and all attempts at communications from him, Jo later has an encounter with an ice cream vendor on wheels with a weird painted-on face. She later suspects him of committing a terrible crime facilitated by her negligence. She and her ex-boyfriend go sleuthing (she reluctantly) to see if they can find something on this guy who knows she's been snooping around and decides to target her. The constables don't believe anything she tells them (Surprise!) and have already decided they know what happened.

If you have nothing better to do, this movie is best viewed at home in your underwear scratching your-- (Okay, I'm not going there). Point is, it's a "TV" movie about relationships with mild suspense (yawn) provide by the ice cream guy at the end. Needless to say, this movie was not "my cup of tea" as the saying goes. No interesting dialog, no interesting action, no senseless nudity...... Er, speaking of "senseless nudity", I think I'll go browse my video library. Love, Boloxxxi

I don't usually write reviews I tend to just leave a rating. However this movie is cheeks... It was not even ten minutes into the movie and I had to turn it off. The mom was chewing the main actress out for being late, while she's in college???? She even says she's an adult! I had to turn it off and the science didn't even finish. I need 258 more characters to use up for this review so I will briefly talk about the lighting. The once scene was very dark in some shots you couldn't even see the moms face which is made the scene look silly. 55 more to go. I hope whoever sees this movie is ready to turn it off just like I did.

I did not like this movie at all, I think there could have been written a lot better. It was so dark that I was wanting to give a flashlight to the actors. How can you watch something when you can't even see it? On to the next movie.

As some of the others have stated, yes this movie is terrible. The acting is terrible and lacks any emotion. The plot is dumb and has been done already many times before. Everyone involved should be ashamed for being attached to this horrible film. Do yourself a favor and don't waste any of your time watching this.