Cruel (2015) User Reviews

My Review Of "Kruel"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 5/10 · 24 June 2015]

Robert Henderson's "Kruel" is a psychological thriller with hints of horror in one intensely drawn nightmare. Unfortunately though, It is a horror film without any horror. Yeah I know that that statement is argumentative considering the subject matter, but I didn't feel that "Kruel" had enough horror genre elements to be classified as a real horror movie.

Now the story that Henderson has devised is captivating and deals with some very horrific realities of society. There is an antagonist that is creepy and nightmarish as all get out. The acting and direction that Robert Henderson takes with this film is stellar on almost all levels of story telling. It is dark, emotional, and often insanely intense. However the story stays in very dramatic, suspense thriller areas where character development and scene building reach a fevered pitch but never deliver any real heat.

The special effects aren't really present in this "horror" film through 98% of the movie. It is all melodrama, high emotion dialog, and really cool scene transitions that combine with some very retro horror designed sounds. Only there is no real horror present. Everything stays suggestive or just not approached. Which sucks because had Henderson thrown in some noticeable giallo styled gore or graphic violence, then "Kruel" could have been a breakaway hit. Unfortunately everything stays pretty PG-13. There is one singe boob shot and one moment of gushing blood, but that comes "too little too late" for me personally.

Overall I have to say that "Kruel" is going to disappoint almost all horror fans going into this film expecting anything other than a really emotional, dramatic story. As I have said-there is no real horror here. The subject matter is horrific, the drama is intense and the story is well written. It is all just a bit "Lifetime Movie Network Adjacent". I got the same experience while watching this film that I have gotten mistakenly watching a few of the church produced "horror films". Still the acting and story are pretty nice. Just wish that the film was marketed as psychological thriller or dramatic thriller, instead of Horror thriller.

DON'T TOUCH ME

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 5 July 2018]

Jo (Kierney Nelson) breaks up with her boyfriend Ben (Dakota Morrissiey) because he cheated on her with someone who has normal eyebrows. Ben attempts to apologize profusely, but Jo wants none of it. When some clown (J.T. Chinn) kidnaps Elliot (Matthew Weidle) a child in Jo's care, it seems Elliot's mom won't accept Jo's profuse apologies. I liked this element of the film with the tables being turned...that and the gratuitous shower scene.

Other than that, the film lacks. The characters were flat. The cops were unconvincing. Dakota Morrissiey was pathetic by design. Our bad guy was a partial mystery, although there weren't any other suspects. He really didn't have much character. It looks like they spent their budget on toy monkeys with cymbals. Not as good as that other ice cream truck killer film series.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex Nudity (Kierney Nelson

Barely a horror and more of a psycho/thriller

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 4/10 · 7 March 2016]

After being forced back home to her parents' house, a troubled teen finds her life turned upside down when her babysitting charge falls prey to a vicious serial killer dressed as an ice-cream vendor and must find a way of catching him to stop his rampage.

For the most part this one here wasn't all that impressive of a horror film. Most of the film's problems stem from the utterly bland and lifeless pace throughout the first half to this one, opting far more for a Drama feel than a terrifying feel. There's a lot of talk about how her life is falling apart with the break-up and returning back to live with them and the strange encounters with the ice-cream seller all tend to get featured so heavily that there's no chance for it to develop into a rather chilling story. Though it comes off a little better with the abduction angle, even still it's not so much about that as it is about the tragedy of the situation which takes center stage over the proceedings, and there's not a whole lot of action brought up by this in the meantime. Other factors here with the films' rather bland and lifeless pace are all stemming from the lack of a body count that don't offer up anything that makes for a more horror-based effort by detailing the lengths they go to with the investigation and keeping it away from the stalking they carry through together where they gradually come to believe the identity of the killer, the factor of not even getting anything remotely close to stalking or kills with the holding hostage angle that he employs against her while the the lazy search carries on to make this one feel quite bland overall. Likewise, without the body count there's very little to fear here about the killer who's quite lame in terms of being physically unscary but also with how their interactions have very little to generate any kind of actual fear with what happens. It all makes for a wholly disappointing experience overall with quite a few flaws holding this one down. There's only a few small areas that work with this one, from the actual concept here that concerns him targeting her and how he comes to the family which is quite chilling and more than appropriate in how to build that kind of story. Several of the later scenes here from how he has her trapped and kept at the house are pretty chilling as her continual escape attempts are the only part of this one that really gets any kind of action involved throughout here along with the strong final confrontation also getting some action involved as well. Otherwise, this one is more flawed than anything.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and intense themes of children- in-jeopardy.

Made for TV Horror.

[Krackoon · 1/10 · 4 September 2015]

I usually pass on 'made for TV' horror, when they actually inform you that it's made for TV horror. The acting, the dialogue - oh my, that dialogue. If you've ever seen television films, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

'Kruel' is awful in every aspect. I believe this is the lead actresses debut film, so she has room to improve... I tried keeping a straight face there, but she's one step below terrible. As bad as she is, the mother takes the prize for worst actor/actress in the film, but the competition is rough. The dialogue is by far some of the worst you'll get in 2015 - if you don't break out laughing at least five times during this disaster, you probably lost your sense of humor due to watching too many terrible horror films - understandable. I got the impression that instead of saying 'CUT!' the director just winged it, and hoped for the best. If you can make it through the 'my baby is gone' scene, kudos to you, you've just witnessed the second worst scene in the film. What's the worst scene in the film, you ask? You have several choices - any scene with Dakota Morrissiey - YOU get to decide! Oh, and who edited this piece of crap? The guy should be fired and banned from doing anything that doesn't involve the phrase - 'Your order, Sir.'

Random Ramblings of a Madman: I hope every actor in 'Kruel' reads this, because I want you all to know - If I ever see your names associated with any film in the near or distant future, it will be blacklisted by this viewer. I honestly shouldn't even click the 'send' button on this review, because it gives you more recognition than you deserve. 'Kruel' is one of the worst films I've seen in the last 10 years, and a perfect example of why IMDb should give us the option of scoring a film 0.

Best viewed as a sedative.

[Someguysomwhere · 3/10 · 20 August 2015]

This movie is as much a relationship movie as anything else: Between Jo (the main character) and her boyfriend and her mom and dad. Horror movie? I'm laughing right now so there's your answer.

After breaking up with her boyfriend when he confesses something to her (The road to disaster is oft times paved with "good intentions", Reader. Dude should have kept his pie hole shut.) and refusing any and all attempts at communications from him, Jo later has an encounter with an ice cream vendor on wheels with a weird painted-on face. She later suspects him of committing a terrible crime facilitated by her negligence. She and her ex-boyfriend go sleuthing (she reluctantly) to see if they can find something on this guy who knows she's been snooping around and decides to target her. The constables don't believe anything she tells them (Surprise!) and have already decided they know what happened.

If you have nothing better to do, this movie is best viewed at home in your underwear scratching your-- (Okay, I'm not going there). Point is, it's a "TV" movie about relationships with mild suspense (yawn) provide by the ice cream guy at the end. Needless to say, this movie was not "my cup of tea" as the saying goes. No interesting dialog, no interesting action, no senseless nudity...... Er, speaking of "senseless nudity", I think I'll go browse my video library. Love, Boloxxxi

Terrible movie

[tbd2004 · 1/10 · 16 April 2018]

As some of the others have stated, yes this movie is terrible. The acting is terrible and lacks any emotion. The plot is dumb and has been done already many times before. Everyone involved should be ashamed for being attached to this horrible film. Do yourself a favor and don't waste any of your time watching this.

Kruel

[a_baron · 3/10 · 3 September 2017]

If you haven't seen this film before, you've seen one like it. There is a lunatic at large, and he is driving an ice cream van. A young boy disappears and is believed drowned accidentally, although his body is not found. The police may believe this, and his parents, but his nanny knows better. Unfortunately she is the one the child's mother especially holds responsible because instead of watching her charge she'd been in a lengthy discussion/argument with her boyfriend who'd confessed to having it off with someone else.

Trying desperately to win her back he panders to her claims of foul play, the two find and break into the ice cream man's home, hoping to find what exactly? Then the bad guy reappears. To cut a long story short, he murders the boyfriend and kidnaps her. Well, it would have been a very short film if he'd murdered them both. Surprise, surprise, he is not simply a lunatic in the evil sense but delusional, because he thinks he can take her boyfriend's place.

That's about all you need to know. What happens next is fairly conventional but not totally predictable. What makes it so tedious is the long goodbye which is played out from the damsel's hospital bed. On the bright side, the soundtrack could have been a lot worse.

Overacting Jo and dreary Ben

[thediva-89114 · 4/10 · 2 December 2020]

Dear lord Ben has the most dreary voice in history Jo overacts The mother is a cow Don't waste your time

Not bad

[das-12601 · 6/10 · 15 September 2015]

I think too often people confuse horror with slasher. Now, I am all about a nice Friday the 13th marathon, or the original Texas Chainsaw massacre, or even Halloween (1978 version), but these are not so much horror as slasher films. I think the distinction is important before one even begins to determine how they feel about a movie. All that being said, I'm still not sure this fits into the horror category. There are a few scary moments and a lot of drama but for a low budget movie, this has some very solid moments. I would have preferred less talking and more action but overall I liked the story.

I get that some people hate it; somebody always hates a film, song, TV show, play, book etc, while others think it is great. This is definitely not great but it is certainly worth a watch if you have the right expectations.

L MN watcher

[cheryllaber · 1/10 · 19 July 2018]

I did not like this movie at all, I think there could have been written a lot better. It was so dark that I was wanting to give a flashlight to the actors. How can you watch something when you can't even see it? On to the next movie.

"I believe people are who they are"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 3/10 · 7 November 2020]

This is a dreadfully tedious film. No horror, suspense or thrills. The leading pair are inadequate, particularly Dakota Morrissiey who talks in a dreary monotone that makes you want to liven him up with a shot of electricity. Thankfully he gets killed. The killer is Willie the ice cream seller who comes across as bland rather than threatening. Nobody stands out in the cast. It is also much too long. A cruel disappointment.