Kill List
Reviews
John Chard
Sometimes God's love can be hard to swallow. A super slice of sub-urban horror crafted by Ben Wheatley, Kill List blends a number of classic British films but still remains very much its own beast. And what a beast it is. Part hit-man thriller and part Wicker Man pagan horror, plot spins hit-man for hire Jay (Neil Maskell) out of his troubled domestic funk, into a world of pain and misery. Taking on a job, he, along with his partner Gal (Michael Smiley), is given a list of names for them to track and terminate. The people and the places they confront are the darkest kind, which brings out Jay's black heart as well. All this while lurking around the edges of the frame is something mysterious, something that will bring Jay to his destiny. There is a rawness to Kill List that strikes hard, a sort of real life documentary feel that marries up with the black material to chill the bones. It's proud of its grimness, even what humour exists within just feels like damaged goods. The sound and camera work gleefully add to the unsettling atmosphere, tactics which help alleviate the feeling that we are once again watching a formulaic British thriller with ideas above its station. But then the curve ball arrives and hits you on the head, bringing dizzy spells and some delirium. Which builds to a finale that will either leave you breathless or angry, but either way Kill List will not be ignored. Impressively performed by the cast, mounted with skill by Wheatley, this is a dark hearted British treasure that hopefully in time will be afforded the praise it deserves. 8/10
tmdb15435519
A bit tough to understand on the first watch, yet gripping and a compelling portrayal of inner demons. But seriously, are the British the only film-makers who can make a decent crime/thriller film??
r96sk
Rubbi... Wait, people love this? Before I started my review, I decided to take a quick look at the Letterboxd reviews. I always play a minigame in my head by attempting to guess the average rating, for example for the last film I watched - <em>'Jack the Giant Slayer'</em> - I called it spot on at 2.4. This I genuinely predicted less than 2.0... it's at 3.5! To tell you I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. There have been films in the past when my thoughts are the opposite (both positively and negatively) to the majority elsewhere, but I think this one takes the crown as the most polarizing so far. I just didn't like this 2011 release at all, there's one good piece of violence involving a hammer and a head (not like that, ichthyologists) but otherwise I found it all super underwhelming. I hadn't heard of <em>'Kill List'</em> prior to watching it, I only decided to do so as I noticed it had Neil Maskell in it and I loved his performance a decade ago in television's <em>'Utopia'</em> - which is of similar ilk to this actually, just as violent but miles, miles greater. Those behind/alongside Maskell didn't get my approval either, with only the aforementioned violence keeping my attention. I could sense a promising concept in there (which I guess many others actually did see, evidently), though this honestly didn't do anything for me all the way through. I sit here flummoxed reading other reviews, even the Wikipedia 'reception' section is all-out gushing about it too. Did Prime Video play me the wrong movie?! Just noticed that this has the same director as 2016's <em>'Free Fire'</em> (which I rated 6/10), which is a good example of what I mentioned earlier in regards to my thoughts sometimes being a noticeable difference to the majority (fairly uncommon, fwiw). Maybe I just don't like Ben Wheatley movies?
Movie Recommendation
Sightseers2012-11-30Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.More...
Down Terrace2010-07-30After serving jail time for a mysterious crime, Bill and Karl get out of jail and become preoccupied with figuring out who turned them in to the police. On top of that, the "family business" is on the rocks, and the motley crew of criminals who operate out of Down Terrace aren't feeling terribly trusting of one another. It might look like an ordinary house, but at Down Terrace, the walls are closing in..More...
Evil Aliens2006-03-10The sensationalist reporter Michelle Fox presents the TV show Weird World, with phony matters about UFOS and aliens. When she hears about Cat, a young woman that claims that have been abducted with her boyfriend and become pregnant by aliens, she convinces her chief to travel with a team to the remote Welsh island of Scalled to interview Cat. She invites the cameraman Ricky Anderson with his sound technician partner; the nerd expert in "ufology" and "ley lines" Gavin Gorman; the actress Candy Vixen and an obscure gay actor to prepare the matter. They get a van and wait for the low tide to reach the island, and when they find evidences that aliens are really landed in the location, the ambitious Michelle decides to film her way to fame and wealth.More...
The Home2017-02-06Set in a small, isolated 19th century Irish home for unwed mothers, a young pregnant woman must fight for her survival as the home falls siege to a group of mysterious invaders.More...
Ill: Final Contagium2019-10-15An anthology film that features four segments. Contagium: The beginning of a global pandemic originated by the macabre experiment of a military scientist. Gully: The calvary of a young man who, as a result of his ambition, is the victim of a painful metamorphosis. The Body: The martyrdom suffered by a woman obsessed with beauty and who resorts to a home cosmetic surgery in order to save money. The Cabin: A post-apocalyptic era in which money becomes the only means that can allow the infected to stay alive.More...
The Playboys1992-04-22A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of a wedlock, and refusing to name the father. She has a rare beauty and every man in town desires her, especially Sergeant Hegarty (Albert Finney). The arrival of a dramatic troupe stirs things up even more, especially when she falls in love with one f the "Playboys", Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn).More...
Blind Sun2016-04-20Greece. A seaside resort struck by a heavy heat wave. Water is scarce and violence is ready to explode. Ashraf, a solitary immigrant, is looking after a villa while its owners are away. On a dusty road crushed by the sun, he is stopped by a police officer for an identity check...More...
Anorexia2010-06-14Marisa suffers from anorexia. But there's something that befuddles the doctors.More...
Rifftrax Live: Reefer Madness2010-08-19In RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness, Mike, Kevin and Bill deliver their trademark form of rapid fire comedy in front of a live audience! Lines could be flubbed! Tomatoes could be thrown! Mountain lion attacks are entirely possible!More...
Essential Killing2010-09-06A Taliban soldier struggles to survive after he escapes his captors and flees into the Polish countryside.More...
The Elevator: Three Minutes Can Change Your Life2015-01-02A disturbing psychological thriller, that engages the audience to the point that it is always caught off guard, thus changing the point of view of the two main performers.More...
Three Outlaw Samurai1964-05-13Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.More...
Phone2002-07-26Soon after getting a new phone, a woman notices strange things starting to happen. When she investigates, she discovers that everyone who has had her phone number before her has died suddenly and mysteriously.More...
Mum & Dad2008-08-22Mum and Dad, and their 'adopted' children, Birdie & Elbie, work at the airport. The family live off whatever they scavenge from cargo holds, offices and hotels - including a steady stream of transient workers who populate the airport's soulless hub. When Lena, a young Polish office cleaner, is befriended by Birdie, she gets drawn into a nightmarish world of torture, murder and perversity.More...
Cold Ground2017-10-201976: Two young journalists leave for the French-Swiss border to investigate a strange case of cattle mutilations and record testimonies for a TV channel. Yet, once they get there, the scientific team they were supposed to meet has gone missing. Escorted by a first-aider, a British biologist and an American forensic investigator, Melissa and David will go looking for the missing team deep into the mountains.More...
La prima pietra2018-12-06There is no descriptionMore...
Money2016-04-06Two wealthy businessmen are about to get away with $5 million in ill-gotten money until their plans are revealed by an uninvited house guest.More...
Rat Man1988-04-20After a model is brutally murdered on a Caribbean island, her sister's investigation uncovers a horrifying rat-like creature.More...
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie2014-07-21Based on the hit web series of the same name, a disgruntled gamer must overcome his fear of the worst video game of all time in order to save his fans. Hilarity ensues as a simple road trip becomes an extravagant pursuit of the unexpected.More...
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey2011-10-21Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.More...
Similar Movies
The Silence of the La...
1991-02-14Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.Barton Fink
1991-08-01A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.The Million Dollar Ho...
2000-02-09A federal agent searches for a potential killer among the bizarre residents of a dilapidated Los Angeles hotel.True Romance
1993-09-09Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.Eyes Wide Shut
1999-07-16After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.To Catch a Thief
1955-08-03An ex-thief is accused of enacting a new crime spree, so to clear his name he sets off to catch the new thief, who’s imitating his signature style.Silent Hill
2006-04-21Rose, a desperate mother takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a desperate search to get her back. She descends into the center of the twisted reality of a town's terrible secret. Pursued by grotesquely deformed creatures and townspeople stuck in permanent purgatory, Rose begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.The Ninth Gate
1999-08-25A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.The Other Lamb
2020-04-03For her entire life, the cult she was born into has been all that teenage Selah has known. Along with a band of similarly cloistered young women she lives seemingly unstuck in time, cut off from modern society in a remote forest commune presided over by a man called Shepherd, a controlling, messiah-like figure with a frightening dark side. But when her insular world is rocked by a series of nightmarish visions and disturbing revelations, Selah begins to question everything about her existence—including her allegiance to the increasingly dangerous Shepherd.Dragged Across Concre...
2019-02-21Two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics becomes the media's cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.Devil in the Dark
2017-03-07When estranged brothers Adam and Clint attempt to reconnect over a week-long hunting trip in remote British Columbia, they find the tables turned by a mysterious presence lurking in the forest. Convinced that they are now besieged by a supernatural presence, the siblings begrudgingly agree on only one thing: they will have to put aside their differences and work together if they plan on making it out these dark woods alive.Fight Club
1999-10-15A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.The Poseidon Adventur...
1972-12-01When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.Secret Beyond the Doo...
1947-12-24After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.Die Hard
1988-07-15NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her offices Christmas Party, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.Next Door
2005-03-11After Ingrid leaves John, he allows himself to be pulled into a mystical and scary world where it is impossible to separate truth from lies.Un Chien Andalou
1929-06-05Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.Lost Highway
1997-01-15A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.Haunting of Mount Ged...
2025-02-06A hike on Mount Gede during school break turns terrifying for two friends when one defies a local superstition — and a vengeful spirit takes hold of her.Wrong Turn 6: Last Re...
2014-08-22A sudden and mysterious inheritance brings Danny and his friends to Hobb Springs, a forgotten resort deep in the West Virginia hills. Hobb Springs is being looked after under the watchful care of Jackson and Sally, a socially awkward couple who introduce Danny to the long lost family he's never known. A clan by the name of Hillicker. But soon Danny learns his relatives have a different way of living, that for generations, the Hillickers have observed ancient traditions rooted in cannibalism and other taboo rituals.