A former B-movie actress named Natty Knocks (Joey Bothwell) returns to her hometown and ekes out a living as a hooker. The local ladies don’t take kindly to her banging all the menfolk, so they burn her alive like a witch. Forty-five years later she becomes a local legend, and kids make a sort of “Bloody Mary” game out of her grisly story. When two teens play the Natty Knocks game, they witness a crazed cop (Bill Moseley) killing a woman. Of course, no one believes them, and they set out to solve the murder themselves.
I had high hopes for this one given the cast and director. It was kind of like a homecoming for director Dwight H. Little as he had previously worked with the film’s stars Danielle Harris, Robert Englund, and Jason James Richter before. Too bad the script is such a mess, which pretty much nullifies the efforts of the cast.
The backstory of the title character is cumbersome, but it might’ve worked if the I Saw What You Did-style plot device with the prying teenagers was effective. Although Moseley has one or two memorable moments (like when he’s hiding under a bedsheet), he kind of gets lost in the shuffle at some points of the film. (Heck, he doesn’t even speak until the halfway mark.)
At least he has something worthwhile to do. Poor Englund is around just long enough to provide an exposition dump before getting killed off. Harris is similarly wasted in the stereotypical single mother role.
The biggest stumbling block is the introduction of the supernatural elements in the second half. The film was already mired with a lot of subplots, and it didn’t really need a bunch of ghost shit bogging it down even further. If the script stuck with either the Natty Knocks ghost story or the teenage prankster plot line, it could’ve been worthwhile. Cramming both stories into one didn’t do the movie any favors.
In short, when Natty Knocks, don’t answer.
I thought this one was pretty solid.
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