Caden Knighten is an eighteen year old Youtube personality from Texas. Over the past few months, his channel, Knight Crime has skyrocketed to nearly 10,000 subscribers. Although Caden's content is focused primarily on true crime and creepy mysteries, he is no stranger to the world of film. This week, Caden was generous enough to agree to an interview with Cinemasters.net about his experience with unconventional movies and amateur filmmaking on Youtube.
Rua: "Thank you so much for joining us, Caden. My first question is: what do you believe draws people to disturbing films as opposed to traditional ones?"
Caden: "Hi Rua, thanks for having me! I think it stems from the idea of just morbid curiosity. Once we see something depraved or messed up, we start thinking to ourselves 'Man, how much worse can it get from here?' It's sort of a snowball effect. At least, that's how it was for me. My first 'disturbing film' was A Clockwork Orange. Granted, I was like 13 at the time, but it left me feeling terrible. It was vile and disgusting, but I was curious how much worse it could go. It's just gotta be curiosity. The idea of 'how bad can it get' is something that entices the mind. At least, that's what happened with me."
Rua: "A Clockwork Orange is my favorite movie of all time."
Caden: "Love the film now, although it did shake me up as a wee lad!"
Rua: "Ok, now what is the single most disturbing film you've seen and has your Youtube channel caused you to encounter any more upsetting movies?"
Caden: "Gosh, that's a tricky one. I would probably say Slaughtered Vomit Dolls by Lucifer Valentine. Everything about it just made me so uncomfortable. I absolutely dreaded every second of it. Of course, it's just a movie. I can usually separate a movie from reality, but it was just so messed up. Seeing this girl just fall deeper and deeper into her own head was a hard watch for me. It was a constant downward spiral. Ugh, that's one I didn't like sitting through at all. Ever since I created my movie iceberg on my channel, it only opened the door for more movies and just straight up real gore and whatnot. I tend to try and avoid the big names of depravity, the real ones at least. I don't shy away from disturbing cinema though. I think that's fascinating."
Rua: "I'm familiar with Lucifer Valentine too. His movies are almost as weird as him as a person. The Vomit Gore Trilogy definitely isn't something for the faint of heart.
Caden: "Absolutely!"
Rua: "Now, do you consider yourself a filmmaker due to your work on youtube? What are some similarities you think exist between youtube and traditional film work?"
Caden: "A professional one? Absolutely not. An amateur filmmaker? Sure. I used to shoot little videos and whatnot in the backyard of my house when I was a kid. I totally considered myself a filmmaker then. Film creation comes in many shapes and sizes. Anyone can be one. It doesn't matter the platform. If you pick up a camera and have a desire to shoot something, you're totally a filmmaker. While YouTube tends to have their vloggers and gamers on the platform, there are also some amazing videos that are produced on the site. The biggest connection I can think of when it comes to traditional film work and YouTube is passion. Those giant masters of film have the same desires as the person that's filming a video for an audience of twenty. Passion is what keeps me going with everything that I do. I love making these little videos. I get that it's a cheesy answer, but that is what instantly hit my radar. Passion. One hundred percent passion."
Rua: "I gotta say, I'm really impressed by your drive. It's about time the small filmmakers of Youtube get some more recognition."
Rua: "Caden since you are known for covering topics like true crime on your channel, what is your stance on the morality of turning real life crime/murder cases into Hollywood movies?"
Caden: "This is a great question. I really like this one. There are many roads that you can take with this one, but I'm going to try and keep it as easily said as I can. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. It's only bad when it starts either glorifying or romanticizing the killer or criminal. True crime is interesting to learn about. It's a morbid curiosity. I think that'd be weird to shame people due to being interested in that. It's only bad when it glorifies a subject matter. It's all in the hands of the people that create the content though to decide how it looks. That's the scary part, really. You don't know which person will make this person seem 'cool' and which person will actually paint them as the monster they are/were."
Rua: "Thanks so much, these answers are fantastic!"
Caden: "No problem, I'm enjoying it."
Rua: "Next, are there any famous crime cases that you would like to see get put to film?"
Caden: "Absolutely. The first video I ever did was on the case of Patricia Webb. It's a cold case that literally has nothing to go off of. They found Patricia in a hay stack. She was nude, except for a jacket around her, and her body was riddled with bullets. I can't remember every detail off the top of my head, but they basically had no leads for the case. There was no evidence to help them. There was only one eyewitness that saw her last and it was her entering a car at around 1:00am. That's it. Nothing. So dang scary. There is barley anything of it online, from the last time I checked. I would love to see a documentary on it or maybe a group of researchers doing something with it. It's just so fascinating. This happened in 1974. This case is super old but I hope that one day we get a name to her killer. It's a frustrating reality when it comes to cold cases not getting justice."
Rua: "Okay, now for our last question: are there any entry-level disturbing or crime related films or Youtube channels you would recommend for someone who wants to get into the subject?"
Caden: "In all honesty, start on YouTube. Weird right? While there are a lot of films, I think YouTube has been an amazing platform for getting people into True Crime and the mysteries of the world. I would totally recommend Buzzfeed Unsolved, Jim Can't Swim, and Bailey Sarian. Amazing creators that have done amazing jobs creating a platform for speaking on these dark subjects. Nothing but respect for all of them."
Rua: "Okay, that's all! Thank you so much for taking the time to appear on our site!
Caden: "No problem, thanks for having me!"
If you want to check out Caden's channel, you can find him at Youtube.com/KnightCrime. He creates amazing videos every week and it's been a pleasure to watch his channel grow so exponentially! Once again, thanks for supporting Cinemasters.net!