Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher

AI is apparently something we will have to live with in the future. And as long as it´s used for a good purpose i can imagine there are some positive ideas where AI might be useful. For example from what i understand there are especially in some areas where AI might be helpful in health care, for example help discovering rare diseases that we usually might not discover that quickly. This is something that Harvard Medical School have confirmed as they have looked into using AI in health care treatments. If we can find ways to discover rare diseases, of course i think we should use these tools. This could save human lives before the disease might have spread too far. When it comes to using AI in movies i am a bit more skeptical, and i have ever since i watched the 2024 drama film known as Here. Directed by legendary director Robert Zemeckis ( director of classics such as Romancing The Stone, Back To The Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forest Gump among other titles ), this film tell the story about different generations of families, through different time periods in human history. Now, i have been a big fan of Robert Zemeckis films of the past ( especially the Back To The Future franchise and his classic Forrest Gump of course ), but the amount of AI effects he uses in the film Here is just too much for me personally. I was actually looking forward seeing him work together with Tom Hanks again, but truthfully the AI version of Tom Hanks does not look good. And how they used AI in other details as well, i honestly don´t understand why when they could have used a real set instead of using AI. I get it, they want to try using a different method in making a film, so why not use old school CGI instead? Either way, i can´t say Home is a completely terrible film, but i cant´recommend it compared to other films of director Robert Zemeckis. Speaking of AI, i was given an opportunity to watch a screener of the independent film Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher. I only read a little bit about this film before watching it, just to get a picture of what kind of film this could be. Is this a must watch this summer, or is Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher a film that will most likely dust on a DVD shelf?

Karen Mangione ( Jasmine Flores ) is unhappily married to her husband Ted ( Scott Bulger ). To try and find some kind of happiness, Karen joins different beauty pageant competitions hoping to win the title. But when things are not going the way she was hoping for, she have no other option but to kill other women who is standing in her way. Only she deserves to win the title.

I completely understand if you as a independent film maker want to use different methods to make your movie, while it may help you to save some money as well ( practical make up effects do cost money, depending on how gory the scenes are that needs to be included ). I understand if you want to experiment with the technology of AI in a film, just to see if it really works. My biggest issue though with this film Karen: The Beauty Queen Butcher, is that they use a lot of AI effects in this film. Anyone who knows me personally they know im a huge fan of independent horror films, and i really love old school practical make up effects. I can accept a smaller amount of CGI as long as it looks ok. I just have to ask myself;. Why use this much AI effects in this film? Did they think it would look just as cool as practical make up effects? Or perhaps the director loves AI technology and if he does that´s perfectly fine, i have no issues with that. For me personally this affect how i look at this film. What could have been a fun slasher horror film becomes too over the top with AI killer scenes, when practical killing effects would have been more effective. The AI scenes may be very brutal, but if they would have been done with practical make up effects, that would have left a stronger impact. Even the photographers running scenes are AI generated, why? The best part of this film is actually the police investigation by Detective Harry ( Philip Green ), and Detective Louis ( John Fiduccia ). Their dialogue scenes are actually a pleasant surprise, i like their chemistry on the big screen. Lead actress Jasmin Flores as Karen Mangione have some entertaining dialogue scenes, where she actually give her character a unique personality. With her bitchy attitude she does become like a true Karen. This film tries to capture the world of beauty pageant competitions, while trying to be a serial killer film as well. I like the idea behind this combination, i just feel like it could have been a stronger presentation than what we are presented with. Detective Harry and Detective Lou definetely made parts of this film work, and im grateful for these gentlemen bringing some delightful scenes. Overall, i would say this film is ok but not much more. Director Zachary Snygg ( the director of the hillarious B movie Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottenhell ) had a good idea for a slasher film, but with all the AI effects i think this film lost some of it´s charm along the way.

Rating: DD