Writer/director Jerry Artukovich’s single-location frightener Kat Crime: Tales of the Occult takes elevated horror from the ground floor to the penthouse with its clever construction and dynamite Shyamalan-style payoff. The story focuses on budding YouTuber and true-crime enthusiast Kat Van Owen (Christina Colgan). Stuck in the throes of limited views, hateful comments, and an abysmal subscriber base, Kat struggles to find validation in a world where her father still mourns the disappearance of her mother and offers little support for her content-creating ambitions. The only source of solace in Kat’s world is her part-time friend and full-time influencer, Deana Deleon (Kyla Nova), a try-hard bestie who means well but can be more than a little pesky.
When Deana isn’t sneaking into Kat’s place to evade her submissive boyfriend or exploiting Kat’s filming equipment, she’s quick with her tongue to break down and besmirch Kat’s efforts and ideas. That is, until Kat receives fan mail on one of her videos promising an exciting mystery ripe for conversion into episode material. Following a brief phone exchange, Kat welcomes the sender—an outwardly innocent young woman named Judy (Brady Reiter), who claims to have information about the disappearance of a girl last seen in the company of a member of a coven of witches. After some back-and-forth bickering with Deana over the validity of Judy’s claims, the trio agrees to meet the following day and travel together to interview the head of the coven.
“…Kat receives fan mail on one of her videos promising an exciting mystery ripe for conversion into episode material.”
After an awkward car ride, the three women arrive at the innocuous residential home of the witches. Waiting outside to make Kat and her crew feel more at ease is local Sheriff Smith (Scott Hamm Duenas). With introductions made and gear gathered, the team heads inside. There they meet the high priestess of the Coven of Jupiter, Prudence Putnum (Cameron Meyer), and her leeringly creepy subordinate husband, Winston (Kipp Tribble). The questioning begins calmly enough, with Kat operating in full professional mode as she tries to guide the conversation toward the disappearance. But as the hours drag on, the mood inside the house shifts from intriguing to deeply uncomfortable. Deana’s enduring mistrust of Judy and the entire situation begins to boil over, leading to a heated confrontation between the feisty Instagram model and the coven’s high priestess.
As mentioned at the top of this review, Artukovich’s script is the beating heart of Kat Crime: Tales of the Occult. It comes to life through strong performances from the central cast, particularly Cameron Meyer’s sublimely menacing turn as cult leader Prudence Putnum. Combined with the eerie eye of cinematographer A.J. Marson and the sinister synth scoring of Darren Geare, the film crafts a tense and atmospheric experience from a single location.
Kat Crime: Tales of the Occult is the kind of picture Hollywood should take notice of. As the old masters fade into antiquity, fresh and hungry auteurs like Artukovich are nipping at the industry’s heels. With professionalism and creativity on display at such a modest scale, it’s not a question of if the gates of the Dream Factory will open to this new blood, but when?
"…takes elevated horror from the ground floor to the penthouse..."
