With “Killer Kites,” you’re facing a movie that’s genuinely critic proof, and has a clear idea about what it is from the first moment it starts. It’s only an hour in length and spends a lot of its time trying to turn kites in to mythological monsters. So, you either go in knowing what to expect, or you turn around look for another means of entertainment. I have to admit that Alan Dale and Austin Frosch’s horror comedy won me over from the opening credits.
When Abby’s grandma dies, the only thing she inherits a stupid kite – after giving it to her brother; he is mysteriously killed and the kite disappears. While searching for the truth, she is tangled in a strange supernatural plot, where this killer kite continues to kill! Now, Abby must string together a way to stop the kite before it blows us all away. Kites may not be the scariest monster ever, but they’re up there.
In a clear stroke of creativity, not only does the kite become a monster in Dale and Frosch’s movie, but it’s been here all along. It’s been causing havoc, setting off wars, and hell, it might have even helped assassinate JFK. You had to be there. In either case, “Killer Kites” doesn’t have too much time for filler or flab in its narrative, rushing in to the horror of the killer kites, and setting off the narrative from the starting gate. The pair of directors do what they can with their limited resources, offering some fun moments of exposition and some scenes that felt improvised. I especially loved the scene with Abby being helped by a mysterious man named the Oracle who is inexplicably hell bent on getting breakfast.
As he disseminates crucial information to her and the audience, the Oracle does nothing but stuff his mouth with food. It’s a hilarious scene like that that left me wondering what their mind set was the whole time while filming. “Killer Kites” feels created by necessity, and that allows “Killer Kites” to feel sincere in its efforts to deliver as great a horror comedy as possible. There’s good gore, some fun kite stalking scenes, plus Manon Page plays her role delightfully deadpan, complimenting the film’s sheer lunacy. You either love “Killer Kites” for reveling in its idiocy, or you hate it just for that fact. How many movies about homicidal kites can you admit to seeing?
Due to High Demand from fans, “Killer Kites” is available on Digital right now, via Amazon and bythehorns.store! It’s also available for pre-order (Shipping 5/26/23) on Blu-Ray & VHS on the official by the horns site. Every VHS or Blu-Ray pre-order is entered for a chance to have a role getting killed in the horror-comedy film “Murder-ritaville.”