A more horrific version of Home Alone, complete with accurate depictions of what Kevin McCallister’s traps might do to a human face, is not necessarily something we were asking for this Halloween season, but it might well be something we need. That’s what we seem to have in the form of indie horror flick Knuckleball—all that, and Michael Ironside, too. Oh yeah, we’re in prime B-movie territory for sure, with the Ironside Seal of Approval.
The trailer for Knuckleball, which you can see below, sets the stage on what looks like a cold and creepy twist on the Home Alone formula. A boy is sent off to stay with his irascible old grandfather in the wintry countryside for the weekend, presumably so Mom and Dad can spend a weekend without him filling the house with booby traps. Unfortunately, after Grandpa immediately passes away, the boy comes under attack by a particular creepy neighbor, and must defend the house with an array of improvised death traps. The only difference between this and Home Alone seems to be that this film is taking the lethal nature of those traps a bit more seriously—think First Blood, and John Rambo’s spike pits. Or as the official synopsis reads:
Alone, and targeted on an isolated farm, 12 year old Henry finds himself at the center of a maelstrom of terror, and a dark family legacy, when his secretive grandfather dies suddenly in the night.
Besides the elevating presence of Ironside, who will seemingly be in just about anything if payment is promptly, we’re left wondering about the creepy, almost perverted-looking villain of this film, who gazes at Henry in a way that seems not at all healthy. Still, early reviews have actually been quite positive, making this another potential film to track down in a year that has already been full of gory thrillers such as Revenge and Mandy.
Knuckleball hits VOD on Oct. 5. Check out the trailer below.