Strange Darling * * * *

Here Kitty, Kitty...

This clever murder mystery/psycho horror is on very limited release but it's definitely worth seeking out.

Shot in 35mm its got an old school look about it that works really well. It's digital of course, but it seemed like I could almost hear the clack clack of the projector.

With the opening slide we are told its a reenactment of the last few days of one of America's most notorious serial killers.  I wasn't sure if this was going to be a true story, but it isn't (thank God!)

And so we see a distressed girl, running toward us in slow motion, with the gentle ballad "love hurts' being played. "Chapter 3"a slide tells us.  

We soon learn that there are going to be a few "Chapters" and they are to be presented out of order.  It is good that it has such "bookmarks", otherwise the non-linear time shifting in this film could leave you quite confused.

Each Chapter takes us to another time and place.  We see the same girl is now driving on a country road.  She is being chased by a man in a pick-up truck. She hits the shoulder of the road, rolls her car and runs into the woods. He chases after her, his shotgun loaded: "Here Kitty Kitty", he says menacingly.

We move to other Chapters, showing how they met and what their association is.  Soon we are at "Chapter 1" and in in a motel room witnessing their kinky sex. This is where the madness - and the chase - begins. 

We learn she is known as "The Lady".   In other Chapters, suffering from a gunshot wound, she staggers into a health club, into the isolated home of an old hippy couple, desperate to get away from the man in the pick-up truck known as "The Demon". 

But all is not as it seems. The surprises and twists  in this film are unending. 

Directed by JT Mollner with outstanding cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi, and great acting from Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner who are more likely to be seen in horror movies. 

There is a bit of influence from early Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino, but Strange Darling makes its own mark. 

Catch it whilst you can.