[FANTASIA 2018] ‘KNUCKLEBALL’ Review

Knuckleball is a home invasion movie that is, in spirit, Home Alone for adults. It also works as a Turbo Kid reunion. If this sounds good to you, I think you’re in for a treat.

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12-year-old Henry (Luka Villacis) is taken to spend time with his grandpa (Michael Ironside) out at his ranch while his parents work out some issues. They bond over baseball (Henry is a pitcher, hence Knuckleball) and life lessons, while grandpa works on fixing up his estate. But circumstances lead to Henry being left alone here, in the middle of nowhere, during a snowstorm, and a very unsavory character intends to do him a lot of harm. But Henry is NOT easy prey.

Director Michael Peterson is someone I came across by chance the week before watching this movie on Amazon Prime called Fake Blood, which he wrote. The two movies couldn’t be more different, but the one-two combo solidified me as a fan. That’s a mockumentary about the effects of violence in film and if the creators have any responsibility in what they create and the societal impact. Knuckleball is one of those movies they’re commenting on. This is a mean little movie, and not in an unlikable way. Fun mean. There’s actual peril, and the villain Dixon (Munro Chambers) is dead set on murdering a child, pulling no punches in the process. It’s my kind of movie. Peterson has a good eye for horror, and keeps up a great pace.

Ironside is a tad miscast as the grandfatherly type, a role I just can’t see the man portraying. Granted his role is rather minor in the grand scheme, and he does get to showcase his undeniable menace in an interesting way. Villacis is a good kid actor, expressing the right qualities when it comes to alternately being afraid and being a little badass. Chambers is the stand out here, though. He is exquisitely creepy, the polar opposite of his character in Turbo Kid, but the less said about his role the better.

I really enjoyed this movie. It’s got enough heart in the right spots that it makes the horror elements shine through even more. It’s also got a few beats and twists that I wasn’t expecting, so it kept me on my toes. Ooh, idea time! Snuggle up on the couch and do a triple-feature of Home Alone, Better Watch Out, and Knuckleball. I foresee that happening for me this winter. See this movie.

Good news! In addition to playing at Fantasia 2018, the movie was just picked up by Raven Banner for distribution in Canada this fall, and hopefully the US shortly after that! We’ll keep you posted.