22/05/2012: Kill List [2011]

I had been hearing good things about Kill List, and after watching it I tend to agree. But Kill List is a movie I am not even going to try to review spoiler free. So first go and watch this movie, and when you finish come back and we can discuss what the hell just happened and you without a doubt will.





I didn't remember much about Kill List by the time I put it on, a quick IMDb search told me it was about two hitmen with a hit-list. So as I threw it on I had a couple of thoughts. First, the movie was a British movie, which in my opinion is always great. However, Kill List is one of the rare movies where the British accents were so thick at times, I had a serious problem understanding what was being said. It might prove useful for anyone having similar problems to throw on the subtitles. However, as hard of hearing as I might have been, British thrillers are usually exceptional and so I had no doubts about powering on.

So, due to the accents, I spent the first 30 or so minutes confirming the background info with my friend who was also watching. At first, I thought that perhaps the hitmen were Gal and Shel, an ex-military couple, going through, shall we say a rough patch. I was quite happy to recognize MyAnna Burning, who always represent Swedish women nicely and is quite the scream queen in the UK. Gal and Sam who turn out to be our hitman duo, are played by Michael Smiley and Niel Maskell respectively and our recognizable from a few other films. Altogether the cast does a solid job, although I spent more time trying to figure out what the hell was unraveling plot-wise to pay much attention.

If you hadn't clued in by this point in the movie, they are hitmen. Kinda why they are packing that kinda firepower.

So by this point I am assuming you have either seen the movie or don't give a damn about spoilers. If it's the latter, think again, go watch this movie knowing as little as possible. For those of you who have seen it, I think you would agree that Kill List, is a very out-there, strange and mysterious story, and as refreshing as it is, is is not completely original. Kill List feels very much plot-wise like a mix of The Wicker Man and A Serbian Film. If you've seen The Wicker Man, you can see the whole, crazy cult ending that is Kill List takes a solid page of cliff-notes from The Wicker Man.

The comparisons of A Serbian Film are most obviously in the ending, which I will get to later. I don't compare the two films in terms of saying that Kill List is a shocking and disturbing movie with anything near the content of A Serbian Film, although Kill List is no slouch in the violence and gore categories. It's comparisons are in the strange company hiring an ex-something for a job that becomes a lot stranger and complicated than expected, and then of course there is the ending.

That was pretty close to the look on my face by the end.

I have mixed feelings on the ending. I think that what I call "the ending" is obviously the point, 20 minutes or so to the end, where things begin to get truly crazy. Personally, as soon as we got the masked cultists entering the picture I was giddy, and even said aloud "Oh boy! A cult!" because generally anytime a cult makes its appearance, I either like it, or spend the time wishing some religious zealot in particular dead. In Kill List, I was fine with a cult suddenly entering the picture, and the tunnel scene was one hell of a ride. However, the final ritual(?) was where I wasn't to sure and it left a lot of questions unanswered.

So, I'll admit I missed some things that were said, and maybe I missed some of the clues. I'm willing to watch Kill List again if it's recommended that I will understand a lot more, but I feel like no matter how many times I watch it, Kill List will remain as mysterious as ever. My problem with the ending wasn't really that it left so many things unanswered, it was just I thought it sucked to have Gal stab his own son to death in some crazy cult mental trip. I mean, I knew it was going to happen as soon as the shrouded and masked figure entered the ring but still, when I actually saw the sheet removed I was pretty angry. Maybe that is what the director wanted.

It's like Christmas!

 So what the hell did you think of Kill List. It definitely was an invigorating and some-what fresh contribution to the horror genre, and from the UK no less. I think without that crazy ending, the movie wouldn't have been nearly as great, and while it won't leave you with satisfaction, I am still trying to figure out the answer to all My Burning questions. If you didn't get that, my big question was whether Shel is still alive, as I think she might have been, as twisted and maniacal as her ending laughter was.

 So please, someone strike up a discussion with me about the ending, I would love to hear anyone's thoughts. I hope the movie will get a wider release, as the Blu-Ray and DVD aren't currently as available as they deserve to be.

Link:
Kill List IMDb