Horror Movie Review: He Knows (2022)

From director Steven Morris, who co-wrote the story with Kermet Merl Key, comes He Knows. A festive horror slasher that gets some things right, but plenty wrong. Resulting in a film of moments, bogged down by an uninteresting story, a lack of Christmas vibes, and a runtime that is absurdly long for a basic slasher mystery horror (100 minutes),

The film stars Kayla Kelly, Morgan Pyle, Zach Meiser, and Lynn Lowry. Beginning with a flashback to where an abusive father was murdered and his son was abducted by a person in an elf mask. Not the ‘elf on a shelf’ kind of mask, but something more traditional and malevolent.

Fast-forward to now and we meet the half-sister of this abducted boy, Christina (Kayla Kelly) and her pre-teen daughter, Stephanie (Morgan Pyle). Christina has a story, inspired by what happened to her half-brother and father, about an elf named Sammy that abducts those that are naughty and takes them back to his South Pole lair.

It’s just a story though, right? Something she made up to deal with her trauma, right? Maybe not, as with Christmas approaching fast, someone dressed exactly like Sammy is on a killing spree and the murders seems to be related to Christina and Stephanie in some way. Is Sammy the elf actually real? Or has the original killer/kidnapper returned, and if so, why?

The actual mystery, of who or what is behind the mask, is quite intriguing but trust me, you will feel so underwhelmed by the reveal. It’s a film all about the tease, it turns out, but tease that can often be quite lacklustre. Almost all the issues with this film come from the basic slasher story that sticks rigidly to the formula but fails to create characters that anyone would care about. In the case of the leads, they’re downright unlikable. Which is a big problem when it’s them we’re supposed to be getting behind.

Or maybe we’re not, as the killings are so random, that it often feels like we’re watching two different films jammed together awkwardly. Especially when we get bogged down with really poor familial drama. A holiday trifle made with meat. Both work and are welcome, but together, unappealing to most. A lot of this bogs the film down and bloats the runtime, so when Sammy the elf reappears, you’ll almost feel a sense of relief as chances are, some good slasher action will be on the cards. It doesn’t always prove to be true, but for the most part, the killings are violent and bloody.

Enjoy the red stuff, as it’s as close to Christmas cheer as you’re going to get here too. Even though the film is supposed to be set right around the Christmas period, you’d never really know it. It’s always so disappointing when a film claims to be a holiday film and it doesn’t embrace the season fully.

The term ‘half-assed’ comes to mind, which is a solid summation of He Knows as a whole, in the end.