Kill List (Wheatley, 2011)

[shariqq]

Kill List
Ben Wheatley | U.K. | 2011
95 min
In an attempt to make a socio-realistic horror movie, the director of Kill List attempts to walk the thin line of independent cinema and gore-horror. His failure leaves the movie as one that has the shocks (the movie is violent and bloody), but little to appease those looking for a smart or even exploitative horror. Two killers-for-hire attempt to finish a job given them, but stumble after a few kills. This is mis-mashed with domestic issues and some occultists. The movie would probably benefit with more or even less of the horror. But it manages to get just the right amount to fail.

My Rating --> 1.5 of 5

[kaytee]

Shariq is being too harsh on Kill List. I think people were expecting a horror tale especially as it was showing as part of Midnight Mayhem, but this turned out to be movie about Hitmen and Witchcraft. A nice mix of genres with a lot of holes but the parts that work like the brutal kills and the scene in the tunnel towards the end of the movie made this a good watching experience. The direction was spot on as was the use of lighting, the lighting was dim and dark and a harrowing background score only enhanced the mood.

I kept comparing the pacing, lighting and the mood of the film with Brad Anderson's Machinist and Session 9 especially the last tunnel scene owing to Session 9 where all we can see is light from the helmets of the hitmen.

[ayaa1977]

Shariq is being too harsh on Kill List.

What! Shariq is being harsh on a film?! Say it ain't so

[fizz]

Kill List is a fusion of the British gangster and horror. It doesn’t completely work, but is gripping and helmed with sure confidence by first time director Ben Wheatley who creates something frightening out of the familiar hitman genre.

Jay lives a life of constant marital anxiety amidst recurring verbal spats with his wife and a growing debt issue. An evening spent in the company of his ex-military friend Gal results in the germination of a plan to take on newer contracts. What they don’t count on however is the bizarre nature of their assignments, which go from being strange to cruel to darkly diabolic. Kill List’s unique selling proposition is that it transforms itself as it goes along, moving from being a domestic drama in its first act, to a Guy Richie like gangster film in its second act to finally ending on a macabre high.

The script handles this transition well; you never get a sense of any deliberate shifts in tone and the director uses sharp dialogues along with interesting and unique camera work including dim, low key lighting, title cards and a frenzied chase in a dark dungeon like tunnel to disorienting results. The films low budget feel helps it as well, a brutal mid act killing is unflinchingly violent and the whole experience, including its morbid end is not for the faint of heart. Watching the film though is sometimes a frustrating experience because not everything is entirely clear and the film is content to end this way. But this should not daunt those who enjoy experimentation in cinema and enjoy the visceral thrills of black humour and carnage.

Rating: 4/5

[animatedude]

i remember reading the first very early very positive 5 star review of this back in the summer...

http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/kill-list

[madali]

I don't know what to make of this. Shariq hates it and Fizz loves it, and given that its, as you guys claim, gorey and stuff, I'd expect the verdicts to be vise versa!

[fizz]

I don't know what to make of this. Shariq hates it and Fizz loves it, and given that its, as you guys claim, gorey and stuff, I'd expect the verdicts to be vise versa!

The gore is a small component of it. It feels like 3 different films (in a good way) meshed together. Again...my trump card on this is that kaytee really liked it as well so that should make the decision to pick it up a bit easier.

[ayaa1977]

I really was enjoying Kill List up to the last 10 minutes, it was really terrific in making us understand the main characters as a fully flushed human being. Very flawed and capable of committing hideous actions, but human nonetheless. That is why the abrupt and less satisfying ending came like a premature climax that leaves you embarrassed and makes the who experience seems pointless. Still there many things that I really appreciated about the film, so I can not hate it the way Shariq did.

My Rating: Good