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Kill List is another film where I'd learnt about it's existence due to the European Horror Hall of Fame thread, despite how it's from my home as it were, anyway I'm extremely glad I was able to see this film, and I'd highly recommend it! Thanks to the samoan lawyer for nominating it!
The plot follows a hitman named Jay (Neil Maskell) and his associate, Gal (Michael Smiley) who decide the undertake another job in order to ensure financial security for Jay's family. Yet the more progress the duo make, the more sinister and perplexing their environment and circumstances become.
Positives
The writing here was excellent, in regards to all aspects of it. The dialogue was authentic and true to life, and despite being a crime, thriller, horror and action film all at once, the film never once seemed messy or too inconsistent, and the balance between each genre worked extremely well. Massive credit is definitely owed to Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump for writing such a memorable and fantastic ending as well, and someone (forgot who it was, I do apologise!) said on the hall of fame thread that the less you know about this film before viewing it, the better it will be, and that description/warning is perfectly apt and if you're planning to view this, I'd definitely adhere to it! (which is why I'm including no spoilers in this review
).
The acting was just as superb really, and I wasn't expecting that to be honest because I've seen both of the leads, Neil Maskell (In Utopia) and MyAnna Buring (In The Descent) and I was indifferent to both of them, yet they were both tailor made for their roles here and embodied them pretty well. That being said, Ms. Buring was far more persuasive and emotive in her role than Mr. Maskell, who was just above average to be blunt. The supporting cast were average, they did what they were paid to do, and did so proficiently, but it was nothing memorable. The only exception I'd make is for Emma Fryer, who plays Gal's girlfriend, Fiona. She was perfectly enigmatic and puzzling in her role, and certainly created several creepy moments throughout the film, and enhanced them in others. Interestingly, Ms. Fryer is actually a comedienne, and it's not the first time I've noticed a correlation between horror and comedy in regards to acting, with other notable actors like Dyanne Thorne (the infamous Ilsa) simultaneously specialising in comedies. I guess it indicates the thin line between two genres that require extremely exaggerated situations. Anyway, it's just a thought
Moving swiftly on from that rant, the film was shot on a low budget, but it wasn't cripplingly minimal (it's estimated to be £500,000 or $760,000) and I personally believe it works supremely well for this film. The effects that we do see are actually effective and realistic enough, but this also forced them to locate and use alternative methods in other areas. For example, they have to use basic looking masks in a certain segment and due to the costumes worn, if you classify a birthday suit as wearing a costume only drew parallels to other iconic British horrors such as The Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man yet a modern retake of these was nevertheless refreshing too.
Negatives
The first hour was a bit slow really, and not a lot of note happened at all, that being said, there was enough going to keep you interested, namely the acting and unique take on the whole mob film formula, but still, it was a bit mundane and repetitive after a short while. Yet the ending totally blew me away, and I never saw it coming at all (even though I think it's foreshadowed in one of the very first scenes) so that alone made me forget about being a little bored during the first portion of the film.
The editing seemed a bit sloppy here for me too in places. Scenes would abruptly cut to black and move to a new scene, it almost seemed to me that they didn't quite know how to fittingly implement these transitions, and just worked within their limitations to produce the end result. Nevertheless, this isn't a frequent issue, and I only noticed it in a few scenes.
There's also something preventing me from loving this film, a lot of stuff was done very well here, yet something just falls flat. I'm not sure if it's because the ending is a bit rushed, or the acting or dialogue is a bit boring in places, but I think it is something that a lot of viewers have picked up upon because this film's IMDb score is unusually low (currently 6.3).
Conclusion
This small little homage to the olden days of British horror is a fitting tribute. With excellent writing, pretty good acting, and standard direction, but a sensational ending, this is quite a memorable little film. I'd certainly say it's my favourite film in this thread so far (besides my own nom of course
).
The plot follows a hitman named Jay (Neil Maskell) and his associate, Gal (Michael Smiley) who decide the undertake another job in order to ensure financial security for Jay's family. Yet the more progress the duo make, the more sinister and perplexing their environment and circumstances become.
Positives
The writing here was excellent, in regards to all aspects of it. The dialogue was authentic and true to life, and despite being a crime, thriller, horror and action film all at once, the film never once seemed messy or too inconsistent, and the balance between each genre worked extremely well. Massive credit is definitely owed to Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump for writing such a memorable and fantastic ending as well, and someone (forgot who it was, I do apologise!) said on the hall of fame thread that the less you know about this film before viewing it, the better it will be, and that description/warning is perfectly apt and if you're planning to view this, I'd definitely adhere to it! (which is why I'm including no spoilers in this review
).The acting was just as superb really, and I wasn't expecting that to be honest because I've seen both of the leads, Neil Maskell (In Utopia) and MyAnna Buring (In The Descent) and I was indifferent to both of them, yet they were both tailor made for their roles here and embodied them pretty well. That being said, Ms. Buring was far more persuasive and emotive in her role than Mr. Maskell, who was just above average to be blunt. The supporting cast were average, they did what they were paid to do, and did so proficiently, but it was nothing memorable. The only exception I'd make is for Emma Fryer, who plays Gal's girlfriend, Fiona. She was perfectly enigmatic and puzzling in her role, and certainly created several creepy moments throughout the film, and enhanced them in others. Interestingly, Ms. Fryer is actually a comedienne, and it's not the first time I've noticed a correlation between horror and comedy in regards to acting, with other notable actors like Dyanne Thorne (the infamous Ilsa) simultaneously specialising in comedies. I guess it indicates the thin line between two genres that require extremely exaggerated situations. Anyway, it's just a thought
Moving swiftly on from that rant, the film was shot on a low budget, but it wasn't cripplingly minimal (it's estimated to be £500,000 or $760,000) and I personally believe it works supremely well for this film. The effects that we do see are actually effective and realistic enough, but this also forced them to locate and use alternative methods in other areas. For example, they have to use basic looking masks in a certain segment and due to the costumes worn, if you classify a birthday suit as wearing a costume
only drew parallels to other iconic British horrors such as The Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man yet a modern retake of these was nevertheless refreshing too.Negatives
The first hour was a bit slow really, and not a lot of note happened at all, that being said, there was enough going to keep you interested, namely the acting and unique take on the whole mob film formula, but still, it was a bit mundane and repetitive after a short while. Yet the ending totally blew me away, and I never saw it coming at all (even though I think it's foreshadowed in one of the very first scenes) so that alone made me forget about being a little bored during the first portion of the film.
The editing seemed a bit sloppy here for me too in places. Scenes would abruptly cut to black and move to a new scene, it almost seemed to me that they didn't quite know how to fittingly implement these transitions, and just worked within their limitations to produce the end result. Nevertheless, this isn't a frequent issue, and I only noticed it in a few scenes.
There's also something preventing me from loving this film, a lot of stuff was done very well here, yet something just falls flat. I'm not sure if it's because the ending is a bit rushed, or the acting or dialogue is a bit boring in places, but I think it is something that a lot of viewers have picked up upon because this film's IMDb score is unusually low (currently 6.3).
Conclusion
This small little homage to the olden days of British horror is a fitting tribute. With excellent writing, pretty good acting, and standard direction, but a sensational ending, this is quite a memorable little film. I'd certainly say it's my favourite film in this thread so far (besides my own nom of course
).