Kill List (2011)

RATED- NR
RUN TIME- 95 MINS
WRITERS- BEN WHEATLEY AND AMY JUMP
STARRING- NEIL MASKELL, MyANNA BURING AND HARRY SIMPSON
DIRECTOR- BEN WHEATLEY




Synopsis taken from IMDb
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.




Let me start off by saying that when a movie has critical quotes such as "Will unhinge even the hardest of genre fans" and "Kill List will leave your bones rattling" it's pretty much a sure thing that I'm going to watch that movie sooner rather than later. It has my name written all over it.

The movie has a real vibe to it that not only makes it seem very real, but it's unsettling. The acting is convincing and well done as well, which helps make the movie's impact more detrimental.

This film is about two friends, Jay and Gal, who are former soldiers. Since the military, they've become hitmen and partners. Gal is the one who's very relaxed and calm and has his affairs and life in order. Jay on the other hand is the complete opposite.

They don't go into detail but we're led to believe that Jay was a part of a disastrous mission in Kiev, and he hasn't worked since. Even with his wife Shel, breathing down his neck due to their running out of money.

Jay and Shel have Gal and his new girlfriend over for dinner. At the dinner Gal surprises Jay with the news that he has a job for them to do. Jay's wife Shel, eagerly wants him to take it. Meanwhile, Gal's girlfriend proves to have some suspicious intentions.

When Jay agrees to take the job, he and Gal meet up with their client who they'll be doing the job for. He's very shady to say the least, he gives them a list of 3 people he wants killed. He cuts Jay's hand, making the contract between them signed in blood.

The first person on their list is a priest, and he acts as though he knows Jay and thanks him before Jay kills him.

The second person is a child pornographer who also thanks Jay before dying. This scene was intense for me, it involves a hammer. I'll leave it at that.

At this point in the movie you're totally brain fried, trying to understand what the hell is going on and why these victims on the kill list are acting happy and relieved to be killed.

Jay proceeds to chase down some of the other pedophiles, Gal finds a folder that has information on himself and Jay as well as the incident that occurred in Kiev.

From here the movie gets very chaotic and intense until the final shot. It's complete anarchy and a fight for survival.

This movie came off like The Boondock Saints for the first 75 minutes. Kill List is more gory, brutal and gritty, but it has some similarities. But in the last 15 or 20 minutes it becomes a heart and pulse pounding horror film. This film gave me the creeps and that's not easy to do. I was genuinely scared.

The fact that you never get any answers to anything blows my mind and I loved it. You don't always need answers for everything. All ends don't always need to be tied.

After a while of sitting with the movie in your head you can start to piece it together and make some sense of it, but all of the pieces aren't there to make a full picture. When this film ended I was speechless and my first thought was "what the hell was that?". I was completely dumbfounded.

Kill List is a paranoid and brutal horror film that delivers. I'm glad I stumbled onto this movie. I'd be missing out if I hadn't.

THIS FILM GETS 4 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5