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6/05/2015

Kill List (2011) - Wheatley's jaw-breaking, great genre-mixer



1 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Cinematography: Laurie Rose (lost to Phedon Papamichael for The Descendants)

+ Best English Movie of the Year

The ghoulish, tense poster for Ben Wheatley's Kill List

An ex-military couple in England fight a tremendous deal. The man takes on a new, shady job with his professional friend and partner: What seems like a child pornography ring is to be slaughtered, but as the two proceed, threats begin to hit home.

Kill List is British filmmaker Ben Wheatley's (Down Terrace (2009)) really intense and discomforting 5th film. The three leads all play their parts eminently and impressively real: Neil Maskell (Pusher (2012)), MyAnna Buring (The Descent (2005)) and Michael Smiley (The Lobster (2015)) who won the Best Supporting Actor award as Gal at the British Independent Film Awards.
Kill List is flawlessly filmed (by Laurie Rose (The ABCs of Death (2012))), packing a minimalistic score (by Jim Williams (A Field in England (2013))) and a strong visual style. The ending of this unusual thriller/horror-drama is really scary and nightmarish.
Kill List raises many questions that are not clearly answered. It can be interpreted as the total rejection of vigilantism and violence in general, - even though the film itself is very violent.
Wheatley's Kill List, which he co-wrote with Amy Jump (Sightseers (2012)), has already established itself as a modern occult horror classic with both terrifying horror and a symbolic smacking of home-come soldiers, who are shown as more violent psychopaths than brave, returning patriots. The film has a wild 3rd act. It is a wild film. - And I'm simply wild about it!

Related posts:
 

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 


Watch the unnerving trailer for the film here

Cost: 0.8 mil. $
Box office: 0.4 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Kill List made nearly all of its earnings in the UK, and, sadly, was not pungently released elsewhere, despite great reviews. Wheatley is busy at the moment making the higher-budgeted action feature High-Rise (2015).]

What do you think of Kill List?
Seen Wheatley's other films?
If so how was/were it/they?

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