Try to imagine what the child of a serial killer would be like.  How would they grow up?  Now try to imagine a fourth generation serial killer.  That is KatieBird.  Her father Merl was a killer because he said it was a part of him.  It was also a part of his father and his grandfather. Now it is a part of KatieBird.

But Katie's father didn't rub his hobbies in her face.  He was a loving father and seemingly normal.  As a matter of fact, he was very careful in his attempts to conceal his sinister deeds until he thought she could "appreciate it."  That day came when she got her heart broken by a classmate.  Then Merl decided she was ready to uncover the truth.  For the truth lies underneath the mask of skin that we all wear. He revealed her gruesome legacy and gently walked her through the course.  She discovered her love of the art of killing with her first victim and continued on her own.  Her father believed we should walk our own paths and didn't want to influence her choices.

Ritter weaves KatieBird's tale with gleeful brutality.  The riveting performances of Helene Udy as adult KatieBird and Taylor M. Dooley as the troubled teen are simultaneously touching and twisted. Gore hounds will enjoy the visceral torture scenes and psycho killer buffs will want to add this inventive vixen to their must watch list.

My only complaint with this film lies within the director's style.  I have never been a fan of the trend of split screens and Ritter's use of this technique is extremely heavy handed.  At times it was like trying to watch scrambled porn.  Surprisingly though, I got used to it after a while.  At first I thought it was merely in the beginning, but when I came to terms with the fact that it was there  to stay I was able to get past it.  The story itself is so compelling that I couldn't stop watching if I wanted to.  Perhaps Ritter used this technique in an attempt to tone down the violence.  The shame actually lies in the fact that the fantastic special effects are harder to see.  Still, it is worth a look if you don't have too much difficulty with this style of filmmaking.  Or maybe you could get past it like I did.  One word of warning, though.  I wouldn't attempt to watch this flick on a small television.  You would likely miss way too much of the good stuff.