I Know Exactly How You Die writes up a fresh meta slasher

I Know Exactly How You Die is a fresh new meta horror concept, directed by Alexandra Speight, that follows Rían, a slasher horror writer who is staying in a roadside hotel seeking silence and clarity to finish his novel. Fresh off a breakup with a deadline rapidly closing in, Rían is already falling apart but when he runs into his novel’s female protagonist fleeing a psychopathic slasher in the very same hotel, he realizes he may be writing their story in real time. With both of their lives in his hands and a sadistic stalker on the prowl, Rían will have to use his newfound abilities to help them survive the night. 

I am a huge fan of original horror concepts. Horror is accessible and raw, and filmmakers have been wading into its waters to cut their teeth for decades. The genre has been around for long enough and has always been used as the gateway into new ideas. When a genuinely new concept like this appears, it’s incredibly exciting.  Speight and her team capture the essence of the roadside motel so well. It feels dingy and roadside but also strangely cozy. I love the little nuances she wrote in that helped really characterize the setting, from Rían smacking the broken vending machines to sitting bunched up in his big jacuzzi tub fully dressed writing on his laptop. Details like this helped the world feel real and tactile and helped elevate the burgeoning tension. Speight also does a great job of never spoon-feeding the viewer. The details or reasons behind why everything is happening is ever painstakingly explained in an exposition dump, it just exists and is happening. This is refreshing and harkens back to an era where not everything needed to be explained. 

The characters here are well fleshed out and explored. Stephanie Hogan is absolutely riveting as our damsel in distress Katie. She gave a rounded and ranged performance evolving from terrified victim to total badass by the third act. There is definitely a comprehensible style to this film. It feels gritty and grimy. The special effects and gore are done really well and the sound design fit everything they were showing on screen. 

Courtesy of MPX

While I do believe this was fun and fresh, it had plenty to work on. The story is erratic. The first act really sets everything up nicely but there is a lot of chaos in the later second and third act that can make things difficult to follow. The tone was a bit floaty, and there is a lot of comedy injected throughout and many times it feels inopportune. It felt stuck between a fully committed horror slasher and a meta horror comedy. Sometimes those genre blends can elevate a story, but here it just adds some tonal whiplash.  There are a lot of characters introduced for what seems like a body count. They are set up and developed but their loose ends are never tied up before they meet their gruesome fate. Rushabh Patel as Rian had to do some heavy lifting here, as almost the entire story flowed through him, but I did find him to be a little too cheesy and goofy at times for someone who was fighting for their life. There wasn’t a lot of on-screen chemistry between him and Hogan either. 

All in all, this is a really original meta slasher with a young and up and coming cast and director. It has fresh ideas, tasteful gore and a wild plot that will take you on a gritty ride through the underbelly of a roadside hotel. While not every shot taken hits, it’s ambitious and fun enough to definitely be worth checking out.

I Know Exactly How You Die is now available on VOD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3qUmZpQWzo