“You can't control what pops into your head right?"

What do you do when the evil that devastated your entire community comes back? What do you do... when you suspect it may have been a little closer to home than anyone thought?

The Clovehitch Killer takes a unique spin on the "small town serial killer" trope, and walks away leaving you truly shaken. Wonderfully performed with a cleverly told story, Clove's only weakness lies in its excitement to reveal itself to you. Past that, this was a very engaging journey and one that I recommend.

With a wide array of experience between cast and crew alike, Clove manages to weave a frightening tale that will leave you locking your doors and windows a little tighter for weeks to come. No cast member seems to outshine another and no one section of technical work ever truly lags while we follow Tyler Burnside through his journey of horrifying self discovery. Wonderful cinematography conveys unspoken emotions, the well placed and simple score draws you in and holds you even when you want to escape, while the performances on screen terrify and enthrall.

Proficient in most aspects, Clove's weakness comes in the form of it's writing. Parts in the beginning of the film are unintentionally funny, even though they are sincerely acted, and a few scenes towards the end leave you going "I don't know about that..." as the world just moves around them. The story is overall excellent though and told through some seriously brilliant editing, giving us a unique take on the genre… it's just a little too excited to get out in the open. The mystery is almost entirely handed to the audience and we're never really given anything to question. There are subtle hints around the film that amount to nothing in the end and other things given the spotlight that have the same effect.

Clove is one of those films that falls into the middle netherworld of writing. Had it been shorter, we could have lost some of the unnecessary dialogue and just told a very straight forward small town murder plot. Had it been a little longer, we could have had more mystery and really bought into the "who done it" aspect of the film. As it sits, Clove tells a very straight forward narrative with a few too many extracurricular parts that just don't matter. These are easy enough to look over and still really enjoy the film, it just would have made this one to categorize along genre greats like Seven and Gone Girl. While not far behind them, it was close to true greatness and that's why it hurts.

Somewhere between the crushing intensity of Prisoners and the teen drama/murder mystery of Disturbia, The Clovehitch Killer is not one to be taken lightly and leaves you with the ever upsetting question, "How well do you really know the people around you?"

Lock your doors, latch your windows, and keep a close on on everyone you know. Because he's out there, and he might just be closer than you think...

"The truth is, bad things happen to good people."