Horror films have come and gone in recent years, providing cheap & solid scares - yet very few have achieved a lasting impact within the genre and subverted conventional structure and characterizations. Recently, one film managed to do just that in its sly narrative and ballsy execution of story.
Ben Wheatley's KILL LIST appears, at first glance, to be a by-the-numbers British gangster flick - with its morally-questionable characters and their hesitation over doing "one more job" - but as the story progresses, the dramatic stakes get bigger and the plot murkier and darker. It's not an easy set of choices that married couple Jay (Neil Maskell) and Shel (Myanna Buring) have to make, but their middle-class lifestyle is in turmoil due to their dwindling income and lack of job following their return from tour of duty in Iraq. Desperate, Jay agrees to do a lucrative contract killing job with close friend Gal (Michael Smiley), in which both men must assassinate several people in a 'kill list'. However - what starts as a straightforward hit-man gig unravels into an unsettling descent into a world of monstrosity, as Jay and Gal realize that there is a more depraved undercurrent behind the killings.
The film is a phenomenal exercise in how to disrupt an audience's expectations of plot, and bring the viewer into a ghastly environment that is fairly grounded - and, thus, even more horrifying. Wheatley is also a master when it comes to tone, as he cleverly shifts between moments of dark humor (i.e., Jay's and Gal's tumultuous friendship) and raw, unvarnished terror. On a personal note, the film truly got under my skin when I watched it for the first time back in March - and, on second viewing, the unsettling twists of the story were still equally as chilling as during the first viewing experience.
You can check out the KILL LIST trailer here, and rent it on Netflix (where you can also find Wheatley's previous film DOWN TERRACE, a dark comedy that is equally as twisted). Wheatley's latest, SIGHTSEERS, premiered at Cannes this past May to strong critical acclaim - and will be released theatrically in early 2013.
