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Released by: Phase 4 Films
Released on: December 13, 2011.
Directed by: Carlos Ramos Jr.
Cast: Dean Cain, Stephen Colletti, Nick Hogan
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
Kill Katie Malone seems to want to build on the demon-intrusion theme of such films as Paranormal Activity, tapping into that franchise's success with some new take. Here, the demon comes in a box one of the protagonist's purchases online and acts out its evil on a college campus. But horrific pacing, lousy characters and a threadbare story don't help at all and the film keeps its dull flatness throughout its entire running time.
The story here revolves around three college friends who pitch in together to buy a “ghost†on the Internet. An old box arrives, they all make petty wishes for it and all three wishes come about but without these clueless main characters able to piece together any sense of connection. Soon, though, the ghost begins to manifest itself violently, first thrashing the dorm rooms of each of these characters (and their explanations for what happened are, indeed, hysterically stupid). But then the ghost begins acting out against anyone that's perceived as a threat or problem to the trio, with lethal results.
Finally bothering to do some research they discover that the ghost of Katie Malone mentioned in the box (yes, it comes with what are basically instructions) was an 18th century girl sold into slavery, basically, and just wants a happy family. Or something. So it's treating the trio as its new family and, naturally, as the story continues, it turns against the three of them as well - even though that refutes the ghost's actions in the film up to this point. The only way to stop it, apparently, is to sell the box to a new owner, this info coming from an unexplained source, just out of the blue but nevertheless driving all the action forward. So two of the three apparently get saved from the ghost because they were able to dramatically place an ad online and have it ordered. Yep - all the inherent drama of an eBay-type auction, now with ghosts and bloodshed!
Dean Cain shows up a couple times as the box's previous owner who's still trying to escape its hold so he naturally gets top billing. Nick Hogan has an appearance as the jerky, jealous boyfriend and, surprisingly, he doesn't get second-billing. The main characters are meant to behave like college students but if college students are this stupid then there's no hope for the future of the world. The ghost even shows up completely inconsistently, just enough to make some crazy murder scene happen with very little gore.
Video/Audio/Extras:
This DVD from Phase 4 Films looks great, with the dark shadows and corners where Katie Malone exists nicely dark and rarely getting blocky at all. Likewise, the soundtrack in Dolby 5.1 resonates well enough for the ghost's murderous manifestations. Scene selections and the film's trailer are the only other items on the disc, however.
Summary:
While attempting to bring a new spin to the ghost story Kill Katie Malone doesn't realize how flimsy its premise is and tries to build on it anyway. Throw in flat characters who annoy more than stir empathy into this mix and you've got a resulting flat, pointless, completely miss-able movie.
