2013

Director: Joe Lynch

Genre: Comedic Fantasy

I think now is a good time to talk about film premise vs film execution. 

A good film premise and can help get a film made. They can make the audience choose your film while scrolling through available titles on Netflix. The same could be said for the title of a film, the actors, or the poster. 

I believe that the execution of a film is vastly more important that its premise. If a film has a bad premise, it can be vastly improved and even become totally separate through its execution. But if a film has a bad execution, then a clever premise cannot hold it up.

Knights of Badassdom has a really fun premise. The idea of a group of people in the middle of a live action role playing session actually having to fight a real monster is great! It's clearly what sold the film and what attracted all these good actors. 

I've done some film casting myself and I've noticed that some actors don't train to actually be good at acting; they train to be good at auditioning. If you're good in an audition you're more likely to get the part. Similarly, if your film premise is good, you don't have to worry too much about the rest of the film. That is, if your intention is purely monetary gain. 

This may sound like I'm being down on this film quite a bit, and that's not true. It just made me think of all these things. 

Unfortunately, if you ignore the premise, this film can feel like a bit of a slog as you watch characters walk around the woods for ninety minutes. Every actor in the film seems unsure if they're making a horror film, a comedy film, or a mixture of both. People get brutally murdered, but no one has any strong reactions to these events. The death of a friend feels more like an annoyance. 

I guess what I really want if for the filmmakers to pay more attention to the complete narrative, rather than just trying to sell a premise.

This is some harmless fun and could be very enjoyable depending on your current mood. I wish they were fighting the succubus the entire time and that she didn't turn into a big monster for the end. 

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