Kill List is available on Blu-ray/DVD August 14th
First off, let’s disregard the film’s name so we can have a serious discussion. “Kill List” sounds like a Direct to DVD Jason Statham action flick directed by Uwe Boll. This title does not due the film justice.
“Kill List” is actually a dense and layer film that mixes and matches genres to combine into something intriguing. Part hit man thriller, part family drama, part buddy picture; these elements make for a smart and well-constructed film. Boiled down to the bones, “Kill List” finally morphs into a psychological horror tale that has some of the most tense and frightening moments I’ve seen all year. This is the movie to beat for Horror Film of 2012. (I know it was released in the UK in 2011 but we are just getting it here in the States on Blu-ray/DVD on August 14th so go float.)
It’s been eight months since the botched job in Kiev and Jay (Neil Makell) and his supportive wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring), are running out of money. Whatever happened in Kiev stays in Kiev as we are never clued in but it has left Jay mentally scarred and distant. This has caused a touch of friction in the marriage and the two spend many waking hours screaming at each other as their 7-year-old son, Sam (Harry Simpson), watches on in glazed sadness.
When Gal (Michael Smiley), an old military buddy of Jay’s, comes over for dinner, he has a proposition for Jay. 3 jobs, one list. Quick and easy money to make things right again. Shel urges him to take the work and Jay reluctantly accepts. Instantly Jay transforms into a confident killer as he and Gal get to work. They quickly uncover something sinister waiting for them beneath the surface, as one of their victims seems to be a part of a torture porn ring. As corrupt as Jay is in his soul, he cannot stand for this, and he begins to take matters in his own hands carrying out his own executions. Of course nothing is as it seems and a gruesome reality unravels around Jay and Gal the further they go down the list.
The magic of “Kill List” is found in the performances. The material is taken very seriously and Maskell, Buring and Smiley all give us honest portrayals that make it easy to invest. Maskell’s Jay is broken man that is paper-thin close to insanity. He is a rotten, corrupt man who takes money to murder but Maskell humanizes him with subtle actions making it possible to pull for the man once he decides to go on his own killing spree. The connection with his son and Gal shows that he is capable of love (or at least was capable long ago) but his actions show he is broken. Smiley as Gal is surprisingly warm and likable as first impressions make him seem lecherous. Buring, as wife Shel, pulls off the opposite, as she begins thing with your sympathies and then shows her true colors as cold and a touch heartless. Each one of these character arches mirror the film itself. Nothing and no one are what they seem and it is this complexity that sets “Kill List” apart.
There is a foreboding feeling that is saturated throughout the film, with its menacing music, the tension explodes with bursts of hyper-violence. The final fifteen minutes are unbelievably horrific. I watched in the daylight and was crawling up my couch despite the fact. While there are parallels “The Wicker Man” with touches of “Eyes Wide Shut” sprinkled about, “Kill List” will surprise and scare you. Seek it out!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary by Director Ben Wheatley and Writer Amy Jump
Commentary by Actors Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, and Michael Smiley
“Making of Kill List” Featurette
“Behind the Scenes” Featurette
Interview with Director Ben Wheatley
Interview with Producers Claire Jones and Andrew Stark
Interview with Actors Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring