Lead Neil Maskell is family man Jay, struggling through a rapidly fracturing marriage to his wife, Shel (Buring,) while also trying to provide a decent upbringing for their young son. With Jay having been out of work for a number of months since returning, emotionally scarred and physically affected, from the military, the family is flat broke so he takes up a job brought to him by best friend Gal (Smiley). Seems that these two also have a history working on the side as contract killers, and to save his home life, Jay has no option but to accept Gal’s latest lucrative offer.
Kill list in hand, the pair set about offing their prey – but things are nowhere near as they seem. Uncovering a child porn ring in the process of taking out one of the designated targets threatens to throw Jay off the rails as he swears, and enacts, brutal retribution on those involved. Strangely, those lined up for execution have only two words to say to Jay once staring down the barrel of his gun: "Thank you."
Approaching the final target (a well known Member of Parliament), Jay discovers that his actions have been as a pawn within a much more insidious scheme and is unwittingly drawn into a maniacal circle of ritualistic murder and mayhem that may just involve people closer to him than he ever would have imagined.
Marvelously acted across the board (especially Smiley as Gal),
Kill List is an impeccably crafted thriller that takes a sharp, and startling, detour into horror territory. Wheatley’s pacing is spot on, and he deftly shifts styles from early social realist drama to threatening mystery through to violent thriller and a final metamorphosis to survival horror. His direction is tight and confident, generating some very proficient scares during the claustrophobic shriek-fest of a climax.
Kill List also contains some of the most vicious and brutal violence seen in a film this year. When Jay begins meting justice to those involved in the uncovered child abuse, the results can be very nasty. One particular scene involving an incapacitated man and a claw hammer will stay with you for a very long time.
Where
Kill List fails, however, is the script. While the old friend relationship dynamic between Jay and Gal is instantly believable and delivered with precision by the players, Jay’s tendency for violence and intimidating behaviour seems a little too selective. He’s drawn as an extremely volatile individual, handled by Gal like one might handle a glass of nitroglycerin, and yet we’re supposed to believe that in the midst of his many, many destructive rows at home (and undoubtedly further afield), he has never lashed out to strike the worst choice of person, including his wife and child.
Similarly, while the film is steeped in mystery and thus highly engaging, it’s catastrophically disappointing that literally zero answers as to the machinations of Jay’s forced journey are given. Of course, as intelligent audiences we don’t need every single thing explained for us, but when characters are secretly scrawling arcane symbols in hidden corners of Jay’s home and the entire affair reeks of some clandestine predetermination, it’s criminal not to offer even surreptitious clues as to the point behind it all.
Still,
Kill List remains a strikingly violent success. As thrilling as it is horrifying, and absorbing as it can be frustrating, it’s dramatic, weighty and gripping stuff. Keep your expectations in check, don’t expect too many answers, and you should find Jay’s journey to hell a suitably impressive one.
StudioCanal bring
Kill List into UK homes in fine style with a Blu-ray transfer that’s solid, crisp and clean. It isn’t a particularly textured experience and very rarely demonstrates the visual “pop” of the kind offered by some of the best hi-def material, but it can’t be faulted for what it does bring to the table. On the audio side of things, the DTS HD Master Audio track provided here is similarly clean, with plenty of isolated audio in the mix across a meticulously channelled soundstage, while the bass drones of the film’s soundtrack are likely to have your home shaking at the very foundations.
Moving on to the special features here, we have a slightly disappointing “Making of” which consists mainly of random on-set footage containing only a few glimpses of interest. A selection of short interviews follow, featuring director Ben Wheatley, actors Neil Maskell and Myanna Buring, and producers Claire Jones and Andrew Starke. They’re pretty predictable with the most interesting takes actually garnered from producers Jones and Starke – it’s pretty rare to get the producers’ takes amongst extra materials, and their opinions on the film and getting it made are both insightful and humorous.
The star pieces of the show here, however, are the two independent commentary tracks. Director Wheatley and writer Amy Jump take us through the film first, with Wheatley proving to be just as bad as the rest of us when it comes to picking movies apart. His tongue in cheek approach to his own work makes this track a highly enjoyable and entertaining accompaniment to
Kill List. Unfortunately, those out there looking for some answers are likely to be left feeling extremely unfulfilled, as Wheatley himself also appears to have no idea just what exactly is going on. Indeed, the biggest belly laugh found here is likely his summation at the film’s closing – "
And that’s what happens... when you’re a bit of a cock."
Coming out of the first commentary, you’re likely to be thinking that it’s a hard one to follow. Well, principal cast members Maskell, Smiley and Buring are on hand to give it a run for its money with a track that’s consistently engaging and an absolute hoot to listen to. Smiley just can’t keep himself from saying something funny or inappropriate at every turn, and the three of them get on like old friends at a get-together. This one just flows effortlessly, and when they aren’t revealing interesting details behind the making of the film (including details of alternate/deleted scenes that would have been nice to see alongside the current special features,) they’re making fun of themselves, each other or the film itself with the best possible humour. Seriously -- this release sports two of the best commentary tracks heard all year and is absolutely essential for fans of the film. Those who aren’t too enamoured with commentary tracks, though, are likely to find the remaining special features distinctly underwhelming.
I called bullshit on Snowmageddon the very first time the kid laid hands on the supernatural snow globe at the center of this non-pocalypse. Ever owned a snow globe? Ever held a snow globe? What’s the very first thing you do upon picking up a snow globe? You shake it up real good, right? Not this kid. Nope. He handles it with the reverence of an antique clock. I can suspend my disbelief to accept that a magical snow globe can trigger natural disasters few of which actually have anything to do with ice or snow. No way in hell I can believe a kid holding a snow globe will resist the urge to shake it up something fierce.
After the ridiculousness of the fourth Final Destination flick, The Final Destination, I, like many of you, was done with the franchise. Wanna talk about a coffin nail for a series? Look no further. The odds of a franchise rebound seemed nil. It's a good thing for us the folks behind Final Destination 5 had other plans. 
After Wes Craven's abomination My Soul to Take, I wasn't sure that Scre4m would cut it for me. However, the film surprised me, and it definitely redeemed Craven's slip up with My Soul to Take. Scream 4 is the best entry in the franchise since the first film. Many people have said so, and I myself agree. 12 years has past since the release of Scream 3, lots has changed in the horror landscape. Studios are obsessed with remaking timeless horror classics. Luckily, Scre4m manages to be a breath of fresh in terms of a horror film and Slasher film. Using the same rules that have applied to every Scream film before such as the use of horror clichés in a creative manner to elevate a films plot are present. Scre4m is a perfect final to an entertaining series.
In 1982 John Carpenter remade (or just made a more faithful adaptation of the original story depending on your point of view) Howard Hawk's film "The Thing From Another World". Howard Hawks film was a decent B-sci-fi film, but Carpenters was fantastic. Now the film industry today learned that "remake" is a dirty word...people don't like em! So they've created and used every other word they can think up to avoid using the term "remake" yet keep making them. The word they chose this time was "prequel". Don't let them fool you...this is only a prequel in the flimsiest of senses...its a damn remake. Why? Plots the same, a lot of the plot points are recycled, and visual it bears resemblance to Carpenter's fantastic film. Yes there are certain aspects that are lead into the 1982 film, but the title and everything else just lead me to calling this exactly what it is: a REMAKE. Beyond being a remake though, it is also a mundane film. Carpenter's was a master work of the ensemble cast. It has like 11 or 12 characters yet most got development and I understood who everyone was. I could barely remember the name of the main character five minutes out of the theater (it eventually dawned on me that it was Kate). The characters are grossly underdeveloped. Add onto that the suspense, tension, and paranoia that ruled Carpenter's film is all lacking. The movie just wasn't as much fun or as entertaining as Carpenter's film, and if I'm being honest: even Howard Hawks film. The thing while there was plenty of mystery about the Norwegian outpost at the beginning (and throughout) the 1982 film, the truth is it doesn't matter what happened...you can guess it was similar to what happened to the US outpost. And this movie showed that it was almost EXACTLY the same.
Carrie might be a film about high school, but it wasperhaps Brian De Palma's first completely mature film, at least equaling thenearly-concurrent release Obsession in gothic pathos. Based on StephenKing's first novel, famously written in near-poverty as the future bestsellingmogul tried to make ends meet by teaching English to high school kids, Carrieturns a fairly contemptuous source text (in the book, Carrie is nearly as unappealingas her tormentors) into, as Pauline Kael said, a "teasing, lyricalthriller." It brought both De Palma and King into mainstream visibility,kick-started the careers of nearly everyone involved (or, in Piper Laurie'scase, provided an unexpected return to form playing horror cinema's ultimatemom from hell), won two acting Oscar nominations and earned fantastic reviewsand word-of-mouth. Surely this represents De Palma's first great selling out,right?
The original ad campaign boasted that the only thing more terrifying than the last five minutes of SUSPIRIA were the first 90. Actually, it's the first 15 minutes that contain some of the most frightening footage ever committed to celluloid, but why quibble.
The Skin I Live In could have been a wonderful movie, taking us on a journey of destruction via a modern Dr. Frankenstein, doing "God's Work" in his own mind; but it suffers from some serious overacting problems from a few characters, most notably Zeca (Roberto Álamo), whose acting style is oddly reminiscent of a hyper dog. His entire segment could have been cut if not for the emotional turn it takes Vera and Dr. Ledgard on, propelling us into the second half of the movie, wherein we learn of the doctor's losses and his own depravity. 
Universal Television is producing the project, described as an imaginative reinvention of "The Munsters" as a visually spectacular one-hour drama. Fuller originally developed "The Munsters" last season and his was one of very few scripts new NBC chief Bob Greenblatt kept in play when he took over the network in January. 
Sweet, soused Sarah (Amy Seimetz) is a serial killer magnet. There's her ex Garrick (AJ Bowen) who's behind bars, and then there's creepy fellow AA frequenter Kevin (Joe Swanberg) who wants to be next in line for Sarah's misplaced affections. Between these two men, Sarah floats between the past and her possible future. When the two collide, Sarah becomes a plot twist pawn in a reasonably inventive fashion. 
Director Darren Lynn Bousman takes on a much written about phenomenon. For those who have stayed astute to numerology and the upcoming date of 11.11.11., already well know that there have been documented cases of persons who are seemingly haunted or obsessed with the reoccurrence of double digit numbers. More notably and the primary focal of the numbers is the set 11:11.
The straight-to-video revolution began in earnest during the '80s––those halcyon days of lukewarm Crazy Bread and 1 a.m. VHS rentals from Uncle Pete's Video Suppository––and producer/writer/director Charles Band was bayonet-forward, leading the charge. In 1983 he formed Empire International Pictures, a modest but ambitious production house that specialized in low-budget genre titles with high entertainment value. In 1989, Band abandoned the struggling studio to form Full Moon Entertainment, but in that brief 6-year period, Empire International Pictures managed to crank out a handful of now-classic titles like Ghoulies, Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dolls, and Intruder.
*Spoiler Warning
Marcus Miller is a bad man. I think we need to establish that fact before we go any further with this. If you take nothing else out of this review of The Orphan Killer, know this: Marcus Miller is a bad man.
