Review of Kill List (2011) by James M — 14 Nov 2011

The Kill List is about two hitmen with no socially redeeming qualities or intelligence and how they get roped in to a lucrative job, because they desperately need the money.

The story is nicely fleshed out; things don't happen too quickly or slowly and we're gradually drawn into the job itself - the kill list. The two main characters are football-hooligan-hard men instead of - I dunno - Bruce Willis or jason Statham-typecasts. They're out of shape, sure, but they're fearless and capable.

The acting is OK, perhaps a little wooden in places and the dialogue sometimes crosses over into geezer territory.

The Kill List isn't a particularly nice film to watch; reassuringly British in a Nil By Mouth/Scum kind-of-way, with a dash of The Wicker Man and a sprinkling of the old Hammer House films, as influences. It's a violent and very brutal film, but it also develops a level of creepiness that begins to lurk as a sub plot to one of the characters and this is truly unnerving. What is interesting is how open-ended its story is; wonderfully vague but enough to ponder on after the film is over. A cynic could be bummed that the sub plot hints at the reasons why these two specific men were chosen and yet it is never returned to or explained. I found the mystery was explained enough that I was content to form my own opinions.

Kill List works - just about. It just doesn't do enough with the material and it had the potential to be a better film.