Kalamity (2010)

See, it's like "calamity" but with a "K", get it? Deliberate misspellings are so totally cool, dude! It's like a time machine back to 1996! Yes, the name doesn't tell us anything about the story and isn't inherently interesting…but it's "calamity" with a "K"! It's a good thing indy movies like this don't have to worry about stupid studio execs sticking them with absurd titles picked blindly out of a bag of marketing buzzwords. I mean, "calamity" with a "K"? It's genius!Putting that inspired choice aside, this is a flabby film that feels much longer than its 98 minute run time. It gets its own essential mystery wrong, bollixes the psychology of its antagonist and has a protagonist so passive he's practically in a coma. The story rests entirely on a difference between two characters that is never examined or explained and writer/director James M. Hausler wastes an enormous amount of time on a narrative device that does nothing and goes nowhere. The basic premise of Kalamity is sound and Jonathan Jackson does a nice job playing the facets of a character who's never integrated into a believable person. It's also nice to see Patricia Kalember get work. Sisters was a criminally underrated show. The bottom line on this production, though, is that it's the proverbial sound and fury, signifying nothing.Billy (Nick Stahl) is a mid-20something guy who's returned home to Virginia after breaking up with his college student girlfriend (Beau Garrett) in Ohio. And let me just stop right here. Nick Stahl is a talented performer but he can't play mid 20s anymore. He's got a lived-in actor's face that doesn't look like it's been injected, pulled back or retouched. It's a great face, but not for somebody in their mid 20s. When the film slaps a ball cap on him in a flashback to pass him off as even younger, it's pathetic. He's not acting too old for the part and maybe some make up and getting in a bit better shape would have helped, but Stahl's apparent age really screwed up the whole sensibility of Billy and put the film in a hole from the very beginning.Anyway, Billy returns home to find his best friend Stan (Jonathan Jackson) has become a raging douche who gets violently angry at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name. Then Billy learns that Stan's ex has gone missing and, well, he sorta waits around for someone else to do something, although he instantly suspects that Stan's involved in the disappearance. Oh, and Billy also goes through the whole movie seeing and talking to his ex-girlfriend as a daydream/hallucination.Here's the crux of the problem with Kalamity. It's about two guys experiencing the same heartbreak where one merely mopes around and the other turns to murder, but why Billy reacts one way and Stan another is never touched on. There's no reason even vaguely referenced at any point in the film. Without that emotional context, the only thing this movie can be about is the mystery of what Stan did and why he did it. However, any reasonably intelligent viewer figures both those things out immediately and Billy understands it the moment he first hears about Stan's missing ex. The only mystery here is why the hell Billy never calls the cops. Well, that and what the hell writer/director Hausler thought he was doing with Billy's girlfriend delusions.Kalamity is a hook and a theme that never develop into a story. It's unclear what these events are supposed to mean for Billy and his life. It's unclear what the audience is supposed to make of Stan's descent into evil. The only suspense is in wondering if this thing is going to wander into the general vicinity of a point. It doesn't. Billy's fantasies should have been dispensed with and replaced by a plot that gave him some purpose and Stan some rationale. This is a classic example of a filmmaker coming up with some good scenes but not realizing they don't add up to a film. A bunch of supporting characters should have been removed or greatly de-emphasized because they don't contribute anything to the conflict between Billy and Stan.Kalamity isn't a katastrophe. It's just a bad movie.

I love Stahl movies that's why i was excited to watch this one. Well, from the start the movie feels incomplete, this guy Billy gets back tohis town after splitting up with his girlfriend, he tries to get close to his friends after 5 years of absence, there is Stan also "recovering" from a messy break up and now he hates all women, and there is Christian, kind of dorky, shy fellow,who spends his time between working for Stan and watching TV..What make this movie slow and boring is the bloody break up IMHO,i expected a thriller, far from it!!! First of all we do not know the reasons of these break ups, until almost at the end when a "loony" Stan decide to give Al, Billy ex girlfriend, a visit. Before that all we see is inconsistency among these people, when it comes to use common sense. I still do not understand why when Billy and Christian found Ashley's body didn't call the cops, or somebody else, then if that was not enough to swallow, "moronoly" Chrisitan goes back to his home knowing that Stan is a killer! What a bloody nonsense!Furthermore Christian had already his suspicion on Stan, when he questioned him, about his shirt he changed when out with Ashley, like it was something shady, why? Also what really id annoyed me during the movies Billy's whining over his ex-girl, daydreaming too much, i was like what the heck is that all about???Get a grip DUDE!!!And the end well, after98 minutes of waiting for something to happen, instead of calling the cops again when Stan kill Chrisitan, and perhaps his girlfriend , i didn't get that part, Billy leaves Stan alone to kill himself, still we didn't know why they broke up only why he killed Ashley!!.Gosh what a pill!!I would not recommend to anyone to see this movie, it is not a horror, definitely not a thriller, only a simple story of three guys messed up but reacting in different ways, not really interesting to watch for 98 min..The only thing good about this movie is the acting, I still love Nick Stahl, and that's why i gave it 2 stars.

Kalamity, directed by James Hausler, is a psychological thriller for everyone - male or female. This is a movie for people who enjoy getting into the mind of a killer. Starring Nick Stahl, Jonathan Jackson, Christopher Clark as the leads, Kalamity tells the story of college friends - in their post college years - when life becomes real. Back from a bad breakup, Billy (Stahl) is wounded and confused. Figuring he can count on a buddy to help him through the mess, he turns to Stan (Jackson), but he quickly realizes that Jackson is a bigger mess than he is and for far more serious reasons. The plot builds steadily as Billy (Stahl) and Christian (Clark) work through the maze of madness they find themselves in. This is a good movie, well-written with a key performance by Stahl. Get your popcorn before it starts; you do not want to have to leave the theater.

Kalamity is a believable psychological thriller directed by James Hausler. Hausler anchors his cast with Nick Stahl in a lead role as well as veteran actors Robert Forster and Patricia Kalember. Stahl returns to his hometown after a broken romance in pretty bad emotional shape. Hoping to turn to his best friend, Stan, Billy (Stahl) soon learns that something is very wrong with Stan. As the plot unfolds, Hausler builds suspense keeping the audience completely engaged as the mystery unfolds.Jonathan Jackson, a relative newcomer in comparison to Stahl, believably portrays a disturbed young man, whose life changes in an instant.Christopher Clark has some difficulty in his off-beat role but does not detract from the overall quality.