IFC Midnight is back at it again, in a good way, with ‘The Clovehitch Killer’, adding to an impressive year of delivering quality horror flicks, making IFC Midnight one of the premier destinations to find solid horror movie content on a consistent basis.
In Duncan Skiles’ movie, it tells the story of Tyler (Charlie Plummer) who begins to unravel a deadly mystery involving his father (Dylan McDermott). According to the synopsis:
“After Tyler finds a cache of disturbing images in his father’s possession, he begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be responsible for a series of unsolved murders.”
Tyler’s dad, Donald, is heavily involved in the community, and in the church. The community itself is still reeling over a string of murders attached to the infamous Clovehitch killer, whose calling card is a knot tied to a random part of a victim’s home, or where a victim’s body is discovered, and whose murderous reign ended a decade ago.
However, Tyler’s new friend Kassi (Madisen Beaty) believes that the killer had not stopped, and has continued murdering. After Tyler discovers some disturbing photos hidden in his father’s work shed, he forms a friendship with Kassi and joins her obsession with unraveling the mystery of the identity of the killer.
As they start theorizing that Don is the killer, Don start covering up his tracks and doing his best work in trying to convince Tyler that he is not the killer, instead placing full blame on his brother Rudy (Mark A. Nash) who is in a vegetative state due a car accident that occurred, coincidentally, 10 years ago.
However, the clues continue to point to Don, and both Tyler and Kassi are faced with a life-and-death situation as they inch closer to uncovering the truth behind the Clovehitch killer.
The movie is perfectly placed, with plenty of logical twists and turns to deliver a refreshingly realistic telling of a serial killer-based thriller. McDermott delivers a fine performance as a slowly unraveling psychopath who has played his clean-cut alter-ego perfectly, but has finally succumbed to his inner, devious, urges. A solid film from start to finish, with an ending that will stay with you for it’s tragic nature.
