HUNT HER, KILL HER -- Cat-and-Mouse Thriller Bores Easily

Review by Cole Groth

Hunt Her, Kill Her didn’t click with me. While a lot of love went into the production of this horror/thriller, it doesn’t translate to the screen because of its aggressive tone and awful script. It’s neither silly enough to be fun nor straight-faced enough to be genuinely thrilling. While fans looking for a darker version of Die Hard might be satisfied, this experience is ultimately unrewarding for even the most hardcore horror fans.

After being hired for the night shift at a warehouse, single mother Karen finds herself in a brutal night where she has to escape a group of masked killers while using her instincts to beat them at each corner. In the opening sequence, we meet a few workers who treat Karen like the scum of the Earth, spitting wherever they please to make her clean it up. If you’re wondering whom the twist villains are supposed to be, something like this makes it painfully obvious.

One of this film’s biggest problems is that, frankly, the dialogue is garbage. In fact, the entire script is pretty terrible. Almost every scene plays out with our protagonist silently walking around before catching a peek at one of the bad guys and hiding from them. From there, she usually runs away or brutally murders them. The villains are also terrible. There’s no reason this girl should beat them at almost every turn, but it’s also unsatisfying to see them get killed when they almost seem helpless. They’re physically fragile, and the only reason why we hate them is that they keep calling Karen a “bitch” or a “slippery pig.”

As mentioned earlier, horror fans will probably be satisfied with the kills. There is plenty of creative and engaging sequencing of Karen getting the best of the masked killers, with the gore effects looking like the directors cared about making this a gross experience. The cinematography is decent enough to keep it a visually compelling adventure, but beyond that, it’s nothing extraordinary.

There’s something that feels almost evil about watching this. I had difficulty sitting through most scenes where Karen would slowly kill these people, and I questioned whether she was even the good guy at the end of it all. By having the villains spout misogynistic lines at every turn and making Karen a mother, the directors seem to think we’re automatically rooting for Karen. Still, I found her an unlikable character who seems somewhat psychotic by the end.

Hunt Her, Kill Her will prove an entertaining adventure for fans of terrible horror, but it’s all been done before on a similarly small scale while still feeling great. Every scene feels like a repeat of the previous one, and it’s an awful experience that grows remarkably dull and frustrating to watch as it goes on. It’s bad viewing if you’re looking for a terrible or great film since the directors couldn’t decide if they wanted something campy or terrifying. It’s a shame that they couldn’t choose to make a good movie.

Hunt Her, Kill Her releases in theaters starting March 3rd.

Rating: 1.5/5