NOW ON TUBI! Sure, catching a predator is fine, but filmmaker Loren W. Lepre wonders if that is truly justice. He takes on Chris Hansen with his found-footage thriller, Camera X (To Kill A Pedophile).
Something sinister has been happening in a small Pennsylvania town. Kids have gone missing, and their raped and murdered bodies keep turning up. Grieving families want answers, but the local police have none. Average citizen Laddie Harris (Loren W. Lepre) has had enough, and he and a group of friends — Katrina Ford (Sushii Xhyvette Holder), Brady Lloyd (Bryan Enright), Amelia Carrey (Rosaria Eraso), and Ian Bates (Dennis Newman) — are going to kill a pedo.
They are more than just activists. Every one of them survived sexual abuse as a child, and now it is their time to exact revenge. As a warning to anyone wanting to hurt children, Laddie and the crew are going to film it all for the public. They’ve gone as far as to produce pre-kill interviews, allowing everyone to testify about their pasts and justify why this killing must be done.
Unbeknownst to the police, the gang already knows who the pedophile is, so the cameras capture every moment of the planning, right up to the day they’re ready to “Kill A Pedophile.” The problem is, someone else is following them with a camera.
The vigilantes study something on a laptop while their camera keeps rolling in Camera X (To Kill A Pedophile).
“Every one of them survived sexual abuse as a child, and now it is their time to exact revenge.”
First, I love some good old low-budget indie crime thrillers. Not a lot of money is spent on this production, and it relies on the emotional performances of its cast. They aren’t just vigilantes seeking revenge; they have painful pasts that instantly make you sympathize with them.
Then writer/director/star Loren W. Lepre builds a true horror element into the story, which clearly lands us in spoiler territory. I’m not saying there’s a twist, but I am… and it goes there, and it’s really juicy. The effects are definitely on the cheap side, but damn, you feel everything.
These are the stories Hollywood should be telling, and for some strange reason, it isn’t. That’s precisely why indie filmmaking is poised to take down the giant.
Sure, Camera X (To Kill A Pedophile) wears its tiny budget on its sleeve, but Loren W. Lepre makes up for the cheap effects with emotional performances and a twist into horror that makes you wonder whether taking justice into your own hands is worth it in the end.
For screening information, visit the Camera X (To Kill A Pedophile) official website.
"…He takes on Chris Hansen with his found-footage thriller..."
