Some people have tried to sell souls over the internet. Hell, one girl even tried to sell her virginity over the internet! But, in Killing Katie Malone, three college kids buy a ghost off the internet… Now this has my friend and I saying, “Only white people would do something like that.” In reality, the standards of stupidity have nothing to do with the color of one’s skin, but more so what one’s situation is. I remember the two and a half years I lived at college and there are a lot of dull nights. I can remember playing with a ouija board, getting wrapped up in toilet paper as a mummy, taping my roommate to a chair and leaving him in an elevator, and lots and lots of play violence. So, could I see myself being bored on Ebay one night and buying a ghost even against my better judgement? Yes…
And a dorm room really is one of the worst places to get attacked by a ghost, or anything for that matter. Think about it. You have one window and one door. You are pretty much in a box of cement walls. How do the college kids in Killing Katie Malone escape the wrath of an 18th century ghost? Hide in the bathroom, of course! A men’s bathroom is never clean and throw in the stench of drunk puke and beer shits and there is probably a smell strong enough to scare away even the most ghoulish fiend. (Although, the bathroom and dorm room are near spotless in this film, which makes me believe the film makers forgot about actuality at those points.) Speaking of the college kids – they are played by some familiar faces. The lead is played by Stephen Colletti, who our female readers may recognize as the dude from MTV’s “Laguna Beach” and CW’s “One Tree Hill.” He is joined on-screen by Masiela Lusha, George Lopez’s daughter in “The George Lopez Show.” (And I must say, her character in Killing Katie Malone is as obnoxious and bipolar as Carmen on “George Lopez.”) The trio is rounded out by Jonathan McDaniel from “That’s So Raven.”
There are two small cameos from familiar faces as well. Dean Cain aka “Superman” plays a disturbed father who originally bought the ghost online and sold it to the college kids. Nick Hogan, another reality star and Hulk Hogan’s son, appears in a small role as well. He appears for less than five minutes and then dies. Speaking of the gore, there isn’t a lot of it. I think there are only four (five tops) death scenes in Killing Katie Malone and they are all PG13. Someone’s tongue gets ripped out, but the camera cuts away before anything too gory. Someone gets an arm cut off, but the camera cuts away before the blade slices down. The only two deaths worth mentioning are someone getting melted alive and someone getting torn apart in a tunnel.
What this film really relies on the most is suspense and the supernatural with a couple slight horror elements thrown in. It never pretends to be a full-fledged horror film, but is still scary in its own way by mixing the before mentioned elements. Killing Katie Malone can best be described as Paranormal Activity in a dorm room without the “found footage” style filming. This is pretty much what kept me interested the whole way through. Oh, yeah. There is also a very cool scene towards the end that resembles the iconic Carrie dance in a big way. I bought Killing Katie Malone on DVD, but it’s currently available On Demand for far less. I would recommend watching Killing Katie Malone if you are someone who enjoys suspenseful supernatural flicks.
