Kristy is a 2014 horror/thriller film directed by Oliver Blackburn and starring Haley Bennett and Ashley Greene.
Justine (Bennett) is a college student unable to get home for the Thanksgiving weekend, and therefore staying on campus. Her boyfriend, Aaron, is headed home to see his family, who generally don't treat Justine very kindly. Her roommate, who was originally going to stay on campus with Justine, gets a surprise trip to Aspen with her family, but leaves Justine the keys to her BMW. And so, Justine is destined to be alone on campus, with no company except the two security guards and the groundskeeper. Then, she has a chance encounter with a oddly acting girl (Greene) at the convenience store who calls Justine "Kristy". Unbeknownst to Justine, she's been marked by an internet-based cult who kill pretty and privileged girls that they designate as "Kristy", working off of the etymology of "follower of Christ", and Justine is forced to fight for her life.
This film exhibits the following tropes:
- Action Survivor: Justine, by the end of the film.
- And Starring: Ashley Greene gets this treatment in the end credits.
- Angry Guard Dog / Big Friendly Dog: Titus, Scott the groundskeeper’s Rottweiler, is the latter to Scott and Justine, and attempts to be the former to the cultists.
- Alcohol-Induced Stupidity: Scott mentions he’s stoned when Justine runs to him for help, which might explain why he commits such stupid mistakes such as going out into the open while there are several cold-blooded killers lying in wait.
- Batter Up!: One of the hooded cult members uses a bat.
- Later Justine arms herself with a bat that she takes from the cult member after killing him. She also upgrades it by attaching nails to it.
- Big Bad: Violet is the only cult member with a name and lines, and the one with the most screen time.
- Big Damn Heroes: Subverted. It looks like Aaron returning to campus will be this, but he’s quickly stabbed to death in front of Justine.
- Big "NO!": Justine when Aaron is killed in front of her.
- Bittersweet Ending: Justine survives and kills her hunters. Also, thanks to her testimony and the evidence on the cult members’ phones many more are exposed and arrested, which means the killings might come to an end and the previous victims can be given justice. However, every other named character except Nicole is dead, and Justine is obviously deeply traumatized by the ordeal.
- Black Dude Dies First: Wayne the security guard is the first on campus to die.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: Justine, most notably after killing the knife-wielding cultist.
- Blood Is Squicker in Water: After Justine nicks one of the cultist’s throat with her keys they both fall into the swimming pool, and a cloud of blood billows out as they continue fighting each other underwater.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Wayne, with a baseball bat. Later also the knife-wielding cult member with the same, though now upgraded, bat.
- Car Fu: Justine kills the first cult member by crashing into a pillar while he's clinging to the hood.
- Chekhov's Gun: Most of the locations in the movie are covered in the montage of Justine walking and running around the empty campus. Also, the digital voice recorder Aaron used to record him telling her he loves her comes in handy.
- Justine being a science major also becomes vital as she uses the experiment her teacher showed at the beginning of the film to defeat and kill Violet at the end.
- Cool Car: Nicole’s expensive Beemer that Justine gets to borrow. It’s also what catches Violet’s attention and makes her target Justine.
- Cradle of Loneliness: Justine with Aaron’s recorder.
- Crowbar Combatant: One of the cultists uses a crowbar, both as a weapon and as a way to jam the doors and keep Wayne from helping Justine (and vice versa).
- Dead Person Impersonation: Justine as the knife-wielding cultist at the end.
- The Dragon: Arguably the knife-wielding cultist, who gets the second most amount of screen time after Violet, is the second to last to die, and even gets unmasked by Justine right before dying.
- Dramatic Chase Opening: Parts of one of the cult members’ videos is intercut with the opening scene, showing a young woman attempting – and failing – to outrun the members.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Justine puts on one of the dead cult members’ hoodie and mask in order to come close to Violet, the last one standing.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Averted with Wayne, who instantly becomes wary when Justine says that she was intimidated and followed to campus. Even after she brushes it off as nothing he tells Dave to be on the lookout, and later investigates when he thinks someone is outside. Though it’s somewhat played straight as he leaves his station and thus misses when the cultists appear on the security cameras.
- Her Boyfriend's Jacket: Aaron drapes his varsity jacket over Justine’s shoulders right before he leaves for Thanksgiving break.
- Hope Spot: As Justine is fleeing after Scott has been killed, an emergency operator calls Justine back and stays on the line while she hides in the library. It looks like the police will finally come save her ... until it’s revealed that it was Violet who called Justine, no help is coming, and the cultists known exactly where Justine is.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: The movie is set on Thanksgiving, although the only real impact it has is establishing why Justine is alone on campus.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The cultists hunt their “Kristys” before killing them.
- Impeded Communication: How the cult keeps Justine and the others from calling for help.
- Instant Death Stab: How the cultists kill Aaron.
- Intergenerational Friendship: An implied one between Justine and Wayne, and possibly also between Justine and Scott.
- In the Hood: All four cultists wear different colored hoodies.
- In-Universe Camera: The cult members film every “Kristy” as they chase and kill her.
- Jitter Cam: Again, the cult members’ footage as they chase their targets.
- Jump Scare: Several, most often involving the cult members suddenly jumping into frame.
- Kill It with Fire: How Justine finally kills Violet.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Three of the four cult members wear masks that look like they're made from crumpled aluminum foil.
- Man on Fire: Violet has powder, implied to be some form of sodium-based chemicals concocted from pool chemicals, thrown over them which is then ignited with water, leaving them staggering around in flames until they collapse.
- murder.com: Where the cultists upload their numerous “Kristy”-killing videos and photos.
- No Escape but Down: After being cornered by the cultists on the library rooftop Justine has no choice but to jump.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The bat-wielding cultist quickly and easily overpowers Wayne with a few swings.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Aaron’s snobby family is one of the reasons Justine doesn’t come with him to celebrate Thanksgiving.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Justine finds Dave, the second security guard, after she opens the door to his car and his body flops out.
- Pink Means Feminine: Violet, the only female cultist, wears a pink hoodie that makes her stand out next to her darker dressed accomplices.
- Rich Bitch: It’s implied Aaron’s mother is this, looking down at Justine for working as a dishwasher in order to pay for her tuition.
- Savage Spiked Weapons: In the latter part of the film, Justine upgrades her bat with nail spikes.
- Serial Killer: A whole cult of them.
- Scare Chord: The film is rife with these, especially after the cultists properly enter the plot.
- Scholarship Student: Justine is this, setting her apart from her rich boyfriend and roommate. It’s the reason she can’t afford to fly home over Thanksgiving.
- Sinister Scraping Sound: One of the cult members has a habit of dragging his knife against various metallic surfaces.
- Sinister Suffocation: Scott is killed by being hanged from a swing set.
- Sinister Whistling: One of the cultists keep whistling the same tune as they stalk Justine, likely to scare her by letting her know he’s close by. It also what causes Titus to run towards the cultists as Scott tries to scare them off.
- Snuff Film: Albeit not distributed commercially, the cult members record and upload video footage of them stalking and killing their victims.
- Sound-Only Death: After Titus runs headfirst into the night to attack the cult members, we hear him bark and then whimper. And then his bloodied collar lands at Scott’s feet.
- Spoiled Sweet: Nicole, who invites Justine to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family in Aspen, including offering to pay for Justine’s plane ticket. When Justine declines, Nicole insists Justine at least borrow her expensive car while she’s gone.
- Stalker Shot: Violet send Justine a video a bit into the film, revealing the cult has stalked and filmed her the entire evening.
- Start to Corpse: The film opens right after the cultists have murdered a “Kristy”.
- The Stinger: A pair of cult members are about to attack young woman, but are stopped by yet another hooded figure.
- Tears of Fear: Justine during many parts of the film.
- Token Black Friend: Justine’s black roommate Nicole only exists to lend Justine her BMW before leaving to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family.
- Villain Opening Scene: The films starts with Violet and the other hooded cultists chasing and killing a “Kristy”. The second scene then shows clips of other murders being committed and uploaded to the cultists’ website while Violet cryptically talks about their mission in a voiceover. It’s first after that we’re introduced to Justine.
