Years after the death of Natty Knocks, she still haunts a small town. On the night before Halloween a serial killer emerges and threatens the life of everyone who lives there. Britt (Charlotte Fountain-Jardim) and the children that she babysits, Wyatt (Thomas Robie) and Jolie (Channah Zeitung) are forced to face off against this deadly threat, as they have accidentally inserted themselves into his life.
I think that it’s fair to say that Natty Knocks is reminiscent of nearly every nineteen-eighties horror film that often procured a cult following. Now that comes with both pros and cons–and Natty Knocks is both successful in including those pros, but also fails to avoid those negatives.
The narrative is exactly what you’d expect from a horror film. It’s not necessarily good, but it follows a tried and true formula that manages to appeal to viewers and keep them connected to the content throughout. Natty Knocks isn’t afraid to throw a ton of exposition into the pot and hope that it comes out in a cohesive fashion when all is said and done. Writer Benjamin Olson leans heavily into coincidental writing, where characters just happen to be in the right (or wrong) place at the most opportune moment in order for the film to move forward. It’s cheesy, but for what the film is, a modern take on classic horror, it does the job (for the most part).
As a result of there being so much exposition in the first thirty-ish minutes, the story becomes a tad convoluted–and interestingly enough, there are parts of the backstory of some of these characters that don’t make their way into the light until that thirty-minute mark. Interestingly, the renowned Robert Englund (Mr. Meredith) plays a role in Natty Knocks. He is tasked with filling in all of the potential holes in the script in a short, five-minute bit of dialogue. He walks viewers through the story once again, but this time he includes relevant information that seemed to slip the minds of everyone involved in the first act. This is almost a lazy way of making things make sense–but it’s Robert Englund, and I think just having him present in the film is enough to tickle the fancy of those classic horror fans.
Natty Knocks isn’t effectively wrapped up by the time it concludes–and I think that’s because Olson and Director Dwight H. Little are hoping that like the horror films that came before, this will warrant a sequel. All it needs is a bit of a following, and I’m sure that the potential for a sequel will skyrocket. I personally like the open-ended nature of the film, it gives viewers something to think about. Not everything needs a complete ending, one that answers every question that viewers might have–and I appreciate the fact that Little and Olson allow viewers to play around with the ideas of what might happen next in their head without ever actually getting answers.
This is a fun, bloody film that is made for a specific group of people. It appeals to the group that loved the gorey messes that existed decades ago, and honestly it won’t likely appeal to a great number of other viewers. The purpose of Natty Knocks, however, seems to be to reignite this bit of fire that once existed for the horror genre–and while it’s full of veritable holes, I think it achieves its goal. Again, Natty Knocks is fun, a tad silly, far from perfect, and exactly what you’d expect from a relatively safe horror film. Little has created something that is effectively accessible–and just what I was looking for.
Directed by Dwight H. Little.
Written by Benjamin Olson.
Starring Charlotte Fountain-Jardim, Thomas Robie, Noen Perez, Bill Moseley, Channah Zeitung, Danielle Harris, Robert Englund, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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