BY BETSY SHARLEY
LOS ANGELES TIMES
IF you're a hit man by trade, then you've already made a deal with the
devil, even if those you eliminate fall into the category of human waste of the
drug-dealing, kidnapping, warmongering sort. So really, it should come as no
surprise that Jay and Gal, the murdering blokes in the twisted horror-thriller
"Kill List," have gotten themselves into a bizarre fix, though having
to seal a contract in blood should have been a tip-off.
The provocative if not exactly pleasurable darkness that creeps into
every corner of this latest British import from filmmaker Ben Wheatley takes
its time getting to the serious evildoing that the director and his co-writer,
Amy Jump, have in mind, however.
Instead, it begins with a screaming match between Jay (Neil Maskell) and
his wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring). After botching a job, Jay has been out of work
for months, bills and tensions are piling up, all of which Shel lays out with
searing invective. To which Jay responds in kind.
That sets the stage and the tone for this grown-up house of horrors. His
old partner Gal (Michael Smiley) wants him to consider one last job together.
He does, but there is a price. It involves three hits, with Jay increasingly
unhinged, each kill more violent than the last. Gal is unable to rein him in;
their arguments about what is and isn't proper when it comes to killing still
won't prepare you for what's on screen.
This is a far more brutal film than Wheatley's first, 2009's "Down
Terrace." Though it had crime at its center as well, it was balanced by a
dry irony and far less blood. There is no offset in "Kill List," with
one scene so relentless in its gore that it makes the notorious elevator scene
in "Drive" pale in comparison.
What "Kill List" and "Down Terrace" share is
Wheatley's love of dense plotting, though like Jay, you wish someone would
occasionally rein him in too. His are stories that demand attention and
generally reward, dropping tantalizing bits along the way, then ending with a
bang. This time Wheatley is obsessed with the soul and how it can be corrupted
and co-opted. Dark stuff, but it gives the actors a lot to work with.
Maskell and Buring prove a perfect pair, scorching as they bare the
love-hate of a troubled marriage. And watching Maskell morph from a kind of
Walter Mitty of hit men to monstrous is, I have to admit, mesmerizing.
The road here leads Gal and Jay toward the
occult. Friends and strangers keep turning up in unexpected ways, and the
strange ritualistic practices that accompany devil worship start taking shape.
Adding to the general unease is the gritty, documentary look achieved by director of photography Laurie Rose, who shot "Down
Terrace" as well. The camera is unflinching, and so is Wheatley, as the
story moves toward the unthinkable. It's left to you when and whether to look
away.[]
Related articles:
'Kill List', Harrowing and Bloody Mission Into the Occult
Reviewed by theacehglobe
on
February 03, 2012
Rating:
Reviewed by theacehglobe
on
February 03, 2012
Rating:
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