We enjoy Richard Bates Jr’s movies. Ever since Excision, we’ve longed to return to his twisted world time and time again. His latest, King Knight, has a lighter tone but is still a gem of a production.
Thorn (Matthew Gray Gubler) is a suburban witch who presides over a coven of misfits. However, he has a secret that he is hiding even from his devoted partner Willow (Angela Sarafyan). An email he is dodging holds the key to this dark moment of his past: an invitation to his class reunion. The worst is yet to come as Thorn shamefully admits that he was his year’s prom king.
With King Knight, Bates Jr has crafted a gloriously hilarious, camp masterpiece that pokes fun at both the expected norms of American school life and the sage-burning new age breed that so earnestly embrace their outsider status. Genre royalty Barbara Crampton and Ray Wise pop up in small roles but make their presence felt. Aubrey Plaza even provides the voice of a pinecone. Yep, it’s that sort of film. A lo-fi animated sequence is the topping on the cake.
There’s an in-character voiceover from Gubler – who is understatedly superb – that gives the introduction a Woody Allen feel, and there’s more than enough entertaining lines that you’ll be dying to drop into everyday conversation – well if you’re like us, anyway.
King Knight is destined to be a beloved cult classic, adored by those who discover its charms. Don’t let it pass you by.
