Kill List Movie Review
Kill List Movie Review
Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring MyAnna Buring, Neil Maskell, Harry Simpson.
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What's the difference between buzz and hype? It's harder and harder to tell these days, what with the immediacy of the internet, Twitter's town criers, the Facebook horror film factions, and bloggers galore. All I know is, I heard a lot about Kill List before I actually saw it. (Not much about the character of its content, but tons of strum and drang on its shock value.)
Perhaps that is why I left Kill List's fading final credits with a somewhat let-down feeling. Really, Kill List offers nothing new to those who have seen Rosemary's Baby, The Wicker Man, Angel Heart, House of the Devil, et al.
It's naive to expect anything new in horror these days, so a refreshing take will do. Kill List does have that, using a crime-thriller and family drama angle in the beginning. It follows unemployed lay-about former Iraq war foot soldier Jay (Neil Maskell) and his discontented wife Shel (MyAnna Buring) into a rabbit hole of horror after an old friend of Jay's resurfaces. Turns out Gal (Michael Smiley) is a blue-collar hired gun, and the two men have a history (there's an allusion to past baby-killing). Knowing his pal is hurting for money, Gal offers Jay a job they can work on together: a short "kill list" which will take them on the road and on the path to their own grisly end. (Not a spoiler.)
The cinematography is lackluster. The music is overly foreboding at times. While the dialogue is fine, the script leaves far too little to the imagination, taking long stretches of time showing our demonic duo doing their grocery shopping, walking through hallways, and even sleeping. Even so, the acting is excellent. Easy, natural, and never stagey, Maskell and Smiley are a believable team of everyday, average assassins just trying to make a living (think: 9 to .45).
The death scenes in the film are bizarre and creepy (the targets actually enjoy their deaths and ask for the pain they know they'll suffer), but unfortunately it's difficult to get lost in the moments because of flat, dull camera work and little suspense in the way of direction. The murders are in fact as cut and dried as a checklist. There are three hits on the list – the Priest, the Librarian and the MP – and those are no secret… but the identity of the employing executioner is not. (Insert your own Church Lady quote here.) And then there's the 4th victim…
No, it's not you, moviegoer. But it might as well be. (Kill List is out in limited theatrical release now, but I think it'll play better at home - it's simply not a "big screen experience".)
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson