Movie Review // The Ghastly Ordeal of Kaitlyn Krumdick (2025)

 

Typically these days my criteria for watching a film is that it is two things: recommended to me and something I can watch.  I've actually seen a lot of trailers recently for some recent about rom-coms that are either coming to theaters (like the new one where that guy stalks that girl) and I just have no desire to see anything remotely romantic right now.  But I saw "The Ghastly Ordeal of Kaitlyn Krumdick" being promoted on Instagram (I am proud of my algo) and it came to Tubi for free, so I dove right in.

This film might feel like it's something you've seen before on the surface, but where it goes is quite different.   A haunted book makes it into the life of Kaitlyn Krumdick and turns her life upside down.  I was recently having this conversation about tropes in film and I feel like if someone is going to make a film that has a somewhat common trope in it, they better use that trope in a very unique and interesting way or else I'm going to lose interest.  It happened in a movie recently, but you'll have to stalk me on LetterBoxed to figure that one out.

While this movie is a horror-thriller because when you watch it you can be left wondering who will be possessed by this book demon and also who will make it out alive, this movie also delivers this with a lot of comedy.  But it's not funny in a comedy way (though I laughed out loud a lot) it's more of an absurdist type of comedy.  The character of Kaitlyn Krumdick is just this strange person who I would 100% want to hang out with in real life because I feel like I see a lot of myself in her, which is kind of funny because I'm not sure she's supposed to be that way.

The acting in this film is highlighted by writer-director Ryan Duff, who plays the titular character (Shakespeare had men play women all the time, get over it) and her sidekick Hannah, played by Krystyna Hutchinson.   These two characters are old high school friends reunited years later but their on screen chemistry just works and it somehow is better than if they had just been friends for their entire lives.   It's hard to explain both that want and dread of getting in touch with someone you lost touch with, but this film does it quite well.

I've seen this described as a low budget film, but the way that the main character bad guy looks when in snake-demon form is actually kind of cool and detailed, as if that was expensive.  He looks somewhere between Gooey Gus from Ghostwriter and when Cobra Commander became more snake than man in the G.I. Joe movie.    But he does still look strong and powerful, which is important as well because he is the opposition.

It's easy to think of Kaitlyn Krumdick as being the type of person who lets their intrusive thoughts win.   tt's like she says the things outloud that other people only leave inside because they don't want to see weird and awkward.  At the same time, a lot of that whimsy and charm which I see in the Kaitlyn Krumdick character reminds me a lot of Pee Wee Herman and when I first watched "Pee Wee's Big Adventure".  It's that same sort of fun, slightly innocent weird but with this film it's wrapped around a supernatural plot.

When I watch a movie on Tubi, I never really know what to expect.  Sometimes movies like this which can feel like that sci-fi/horror genre and low budget can be funny but for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes they're funny because you have someone in a monster suit and you can see the zipper.  But this movie, in the way of filmmaking, seems to take itself rather seriously- even showcasing some great camera work- but finds the humor in the dialogue and some times just the situations these characters find themselves in.  (Seriously, what was up with the neighbor's basement?)

For a film that is genuinely funny and delivers on the horror aspect as well, I wish to see this in a physical form one day.  I imagine a Blu-Ray/DVD or even VHS that is a special edition and can open up with a cover that makes it look like the evil snake book.  This is one of those films I'd watch again and again, but also would like to see in theaters so we could laugh together.  Kaitlyn Krumdick might not be the type of person that we all are, but she is the type of person that more of us should strive to be.