With a wickedly fun title like Crazy Bitches, you pretty much know what kind of movie to expect going in. And for up-and-coming director Jane Clark’s second foray into feature filmmaking, there’s a lot of unexpected surprises in store for genre fans which I really did appreciate about her work. Sadly though, the movie never quite finds its foot tonally, ultimately making Crazy Bitches a cinematic exercise that’s not nearly crazy (nor bitchy) enough.
Crazy Bitches follows seven former sorority sisters and their gay bestie who are heading out to a remote ranch in order to reunite with each other and indulge in a little ‘girl time.’ What they don’t know (initially) is that the home they’ve rented is actually the site of a blood-soaked murder spree where several teenage girls were massacred some 15 years earlier. As the group reconnects, old rivalries are rekindled and some devastating secrets are revealed, leaving the women vulnerable to the violence that awaits them during their doomed vacation. One by one, the sisters begin to go missing, leaving the survivors to fend for themselves and put a stop to the killings before it’s too late.
While the film didn’t necessarily win me over completely, that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize that there are some admirable aspects of Crazy Bitches that deserve some appreciation. Clark does her best on a micro-budget here, keeping the focus on the characters and doesn’t aim for kills that are too ambitious for the resources she has to work with. She utilizes the great location of the film to give the project a much bigger feel and the cinematography by Cecilia Guerrero is incredibly strong as well.
The cast of Crazy Bitches all do a nice job with their respective characters and the reveal of the film’s killer was a refreshing and unexpected twist that I also thought was rather clever. Unfortunately though, the material isn’t that strong as Crazy Bitches often struggles to find its comedic footing throughout and some of the character motivations and certain revelations in the movie just don’t make much sense overall (hard to discuss this aspect without going into spoilers). Also, there’s some things that happens in the third act that just feels a bit forced and rushed through which felt like a bit of a shame because it’s important stuff within the context of Clark’s story.
While it may not necessarily be a great film, Crazy Bitches is still moderately entertaining and an admirable effort from Clark who shows a lot of promise here. The film offers up some fun kills and an intriguing twist on the killer’s reveal but overall, Crazy Bitches just doesn’t quite live up to its bold and bodacious title.
Movie Score: 2.5/5
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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