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NOPE (2022) KILL COUNT is the four hundred and twenty-eighth video of The Kill Count.
Overview[]
In Agua Dulce, California, the Haywood family trains and handles horses for film productions. One day at the Haywood ranch, small metallic objects violently fall from the sky. One of these objects, a nickel, strikes Otis Haywood Sr. in the eye and kills him.
Six months later, his children, Otis Jr. and Emerald ("OJ" and "Em," respectively), are fired from a set after their horse, Lucky, reacts violently to its own reflection in a chrome ball utilized for visual effects. To raise money, OJ has been selling some of the Haywood horses to Ricky "Jupe" Park, who operates a Western theme park called Jupiter's Claim. Jupe exploits his past traumatic experience as a child actor on the set of a family sitcom that featured a chimpanzee named Gordy. During filming of an episode, Gordy reacted violently to the sound of popping balloons and attacked most of his human co-stars, but ultimately left Jupe completely unharmed, before being fatally shot by police.
One night, the Haywoods notice their electricity fluctuating and their horses violently reacting to an unknown presence. They discover an unidentified flying object (UFO) that has been taking their horses. The siblings decide to document and sell evidence of the UFO's existence, and recruit electronics store, where they meet Angel Torres and Nessie. Angel agrees to help set up surveillance cameras. The UFO arrives and abducts a horse that has broken out of the ranch stable, as well as a metal horse statue Em has stolen from Jupiter's Claim to act as a decoy.
The next day, Em attempts to recruit famed cinematographer Antlers Holst to help them record the UFO. Holst declines, not wanting to encourage Em in what he sees as an endless pursuit of wealth and fame. Angel then arrives and reveals that a cloud in the valley never moves; OJ suspects this is the UFO's hiding place before theorizing, based on the UFO's flight patterns, that it is not a ship at all.
Jupe introduces a live show in Jupiter's Claim, intending to use Lucky as bait to lure out the UFO. For months Jupe has been secretly offering the Haywoods' horses to the UFO to gain its trust and domesticate it before revealing it in the show. The UFO arrives earlier than expected and consumes Jupe and everyone in attendance, ultimately leaving only Lucky alive. OJ, attempting to retrieve Lucky, confirms his theory that the UFO is actually a territorial, predatory organism. After the creature showers the Haywood household with the detritus and regurgitated remains of the Jupiter’s Claim crowd, OJ realizes that it only attacks those who look directly at it and devises a plan to record it. Em and Angel are hesitant until Em receives a call from Holst, who now agrees to help. OJ names the organism "Jean Jacket" after a horse that had been part of the Haywoods' stable in the past.
To circumvent Jean Jacket's effect of shutting down all electrical equipment in its vicinity, Holst brings a hand-cranked IMAX film camera. The group sets up a field of battery-powered tube man props to track its location in the sky. However, a TMZ paparazzo trespasses onto the field and is thrown from his electric motorcycle when it shuts down near Jean Jacket, which promptly devours him. While capturing footage of Jean Jacket, Holst climbs a hill to sacrifice himself for a better view and is consumed along with his camera, forcing the remaining three to flee. Angel survives an attack from Jean Jacket by becoming entangled in a tarp and barbed wire, causing the creature to unfurl into a new, larger form resembling a jellyfish.
OJ intentionally looks directly at Jean Jacket, drawing the monster's attention and allowing Em to use the motorcycle to rush to Jupiter's Claim. There, she untethers the park's large helium balloon mascot of Jupe, whose winking eye attracts Jean Jacket's attention. Jean Jacket attempts to feed on the balloon while Em uses an attraction's analog camera to photograph it; the balloon bursts inside Jean Jacket's body and destroys it. With the picture as proof of the creature's existence and reporters arriving nearby, Em sees an unharmed OJ and Lucky standing outside of Jupiter's Claim.
Deaths[]
Counted Deaths[]
- Otis Haywood, Sr. - Nickel to the noggin - 6 mins in
- Tom Bogan - Mauled by Gordy - 1 hr 1 min in
- Ricky "Jupe" Park - Abducted and digested - 1 hr 11 mins in
- 56 Spectators at Star Lasso Experience (Including Mary Jo Elliot, Amber Park, Kolton Park, Phoenix Park, Max Park, Mrs. Dolan, Mr. Dolan, and The Dolan Kids) - Abducted en masse and digested - 1 hr 11 mins in
- TMZ Reporter - Sucked up by Jean Jacket - 1 hr 44 mins in
- Antlers Holst - Sucked up by Jean Jacket - 1 hr 50 mins in
Non-Counted Deaths[]
- Alistair E. Haywood - Died before the start of the film
- 2 Hikers - Sucked up by Jean Jacket (Mentioned)
- Clover - Sucked up by Jean Jacket
- Ghost - Sucked up by Jean Jacket
- Phyllis Mayberry - Likely killed by Gordy
- Gordy - Shot by cops
- Jean Jacket - Exploded
Trivia[]
- This is the first One-Off of Year 8.
- This is James' favorite film from the 2020s.
- This Kill Count debuts the new background template.
- This is the 27th Kill Count to have the set color changed.
- In the 2023 Dead Meat Horror Awards, this film was nominated for:
- Best Stunts or Choreography
- Best Digital Effects
- Best Kill (Star Lasso Experience)
- Best Supporting Performer (Steven Yeun as Ricky Park)
- Best Leading Performer (Keke Palmer as Em Haywood)
- Best Original Film
- Best Director (Jordan Peele)
- It won Best Digital Effects, Best Original Film, and Best Director for Peele.
- Gordy the Chimpanzee is the thirty-first fictional character to be featured in a Numbers Gag.
- This is the third appearance of Keith David on the Kill Count. The other two being The Thing and Tales from the Hood 2.