The Killing Gene (2007)

I give 5 stars as this is one of those films that you can watch and then throw away. It's not bad but it's not good. I don't think it's the sort of film where you would pull it out of your DVD collection every couple of months to watch.

I'm not sure what type of 'film' was used but the director went for (what looked like to me) HD hand-held cams. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean Cloverfield 'all over the show' sort of filming but rather the film print it's self. I suppose this gives the film it's 'gritty' look, which I can appreciate sometimes but for this movie it just made the production look cheap. If it weren't for the famous faces you'd be forgiven for thinking you may be watching a lower budget movie.

As for the film itself....we've seen such ideas already done with 'Saw' and 'untraceable'. There's no real new context here to give a fresh light to the story. The acting was fine and I have no problem with the direction....I just wasn't drawn into the film in any way. It was difficult to hold my interest or really care about the characters on screen.

I don't really give insight into the 'story' of a film when I review as others do that better but as a film goer I'd say that this is a throw-away film.....the sort you'd rent or watch to pass some time. As I've said before, it's not a bad film....but it isn't great. Slap bang in the middle

Fmovies: I was surprised when I watched this movie at the Fantasy Film Festival in Stuttgart/Germany. And I'm surprised that it got a high rating here at IMDb too. Not because it doesn't deserve it in my eyes (obviously as seen in my rating). I just didn't expect a relatively small movie (even with a stellar cast, and yes pun intended) to be noticed that much, but I was wrong.

The movie itself is very dark and gritty. It's also not for the faint hearted! There are scenes here, that might make you squeal, if you're not up for the brutality of what is shown! Allow yourself into this brutal and dark world and be amazed by it's "beauty"! That's all I have to say, about this thriller ...

A veteran police detective by the name of Eddie Argo (Stellan Skarsgard) investigates the bizarre serial murders in the seedy streets of New York City. Eddie is team with a bright female rookie (Melissa George) to find the murderer. While on the case, they find out the victims were forced to kill themselves or kill a life of a loved one to save themselves. They soon realized, this psychopath (Selma Blair) is out for revenge and she won't stop her carnage until her vengeance is done.

Directed by Tom Shankland made an intelligent, thought-provoking thriller with moments of brutality and effective moments of graphic violence. Skarsgard, George, Ashley Walters as Eddie's informer and Blair gives strong memorable performances. Originally titled "W Delta Z", "The Killing Gene" is a well made film that wasn't well marketed, it went straight to DVD in most countries and released limited to theaters instead. The picture should found an audience on DVD.

The DVD has an dark atmospheric (and grainy) anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD also includes three featurettes, deleted scenes and an trailer. "The Killing Gene" is a harsh, mean-spirited film that is smart and the visual look of the movie is uniquely unsettling (The way this picture should look). A very good film is certainly not for the squeamish and too depressing for some viewers. If you have the stomach for it, this is exceptionally well written by Clive Bradley and it has a couple of unexpected genuine plot twists in the third act. Don't miss it. HD Widescreen. (****/*****).

The Killing Gene fmovies. When taking a chance on a sight-unseen, used DVD, my expectations are usually fairly reflective of the few bucks I shell out for it. "The Killing Gene," while boasting a fine cast, struck me as nothing more than another blurb-happy, sledgehammer obvious entry in the Dimension 'Extreme' line of hit-or-miss horrors. After having watched it, all I can say is...holy hell. Obviously targeting the audiences that made "Saw" and "Hostel" the New Torture Vanguard (one of the box blurbs directly references the former, not without accuracy), "The Killing Gene"--despite some transparently derivative elements pulled from the genre--comes very close to trouncing its competition. Remember that moment near the end of "Saw" when Cary Elwes does the unthinkable with the titular tool? Well, imagine that degree of gritty intensity stretched out over the course of 102 nerve-shredding minutes, and you have a good idea of what to expect here. Stellan Skarsgard (bearing an uncanny resemblance to Donald Pleasence) plays a homicide detective investigating a string of torture-murders with novice cop Melissa George; suspicions are running that the killer is targeting a group of vile gang members out of revenge for an equally hideous crime (which I won't reveal here; it's a truly horrifying scene). Clive Bradley's script doesn't use the torture angle as a mere marketable throwaway, nor does it treat the characters as meat for the machine; there is a surprising amount of development here, to the point where our sympathies and doubts become one and the same. From a visual standpoint, director Tom Shankland ("The Children") uses jerky digital video and claustrophobic close-ups to convey a sense of urgency within a decaying urban nightmare from which all hope has been drained (this could very well be the most squalid metropolis since David Fincher's "Se7en"). As an unapologetic, unashamed horror fan, I often find myself sitting through garbage that isn't worth the DVD it's pressed on, which makes something like "The Killing Gene" all the more refreshing. Yes, there are some parts you'll feel as though you've seen before; but damned if the overall experience doesn't leave you shaken and adequately disturbed afterward. (It also bears noting that this R-rated film contains some of the most unglamorous, boundary-pushing violence in recent memory.)

The most influential American horror movie of the last 20 years is "Seven". This much is undeniable. I really liked "Seven". Great movie. It might be one of my favourites. The only problem is that every inner city set horror thriller made since comes across, to me, as "Seven"-lite.

Which brings me to "Waz".

A city of permanent night. A cop on the edge. A diabolical killer. Inventive, ingenious torture and murder. Victims with a reason for being victimised.

Yup. "Seven"-lite. Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, because you have to take every movie on it's own merits, but disappointing when witnessed over and over again.

"Waz" isn't bad. It is just unoriginal and a triumph of style over substance. The city is effectively portrayed as grim, dirty, cold and wet. You wouldn't want to go there on holiday. You wouldn't want to hang out with any of these people. The tone of the film is unpleasant, seedy and black. To coin a dated phrase, a video nasty. It will get you down. It also has one of the most disturbing filmed sequences of sexual abuse I have ever seen. All insinuated, you don't see a thing, but it is horrible.

Melissa George has been better and is frankly wasted as the pouting sidekick, but "Waz" does have a superior cast (Stellan Skarsgård, Selma Blair, Tom Hardy, etc.) for what is effectively a straightforward genre movie. Some of the questions I had as to why they signed up for this movie were answered during the denouement, when the motivations behind Stellan Skarsgård's actions are revealed and his character develops levels way beyond that of a tormented cop.

So, "Waz" was OK. Not bad for a walk on the dark side.

To begin with, this movie isn't just another torture porn flick that we've seen a glut of in recent times (Saw, Hostel and the like). There's actually a decent plot regarding the murderer and their victims, something that examines humanity's darker side yet goes beyond the base sadism displayed in actual torture porn, which this isn't. The marketing campaign gave it the appearance of such a film and i was nearly put off, however my optimism got the better of me as I confess, I am a huge horror fan and there were glimpses that it could be quite good. And it is, in fact it's very good.

There's a rugged brutal efficiency in the way this film goes about delivering the goods. You've got your cops, new and old, with sketchy case files and hints of crookedness, a scientific theory of genetics being exploited by our murderer and a gang of outlaws who are being targeted. All of it is carried out with appropriate macabre and occasional wit and humour, good, edgy hand-held camera techniques, clever acting and a pacey script. I thought it was great on an intelligence level and I squirmed every time there was a 'nail' scene.

I was even more surprised to learn afterwards that this was a British production, was shot in Belfast and used a largely British cast, yet had me fooled as to it's New York setting and convincing accents. What more can i say apart from wow, i love this movie? I also realised after that Waz is Saw backwards, and a cynic may say that is opportunistic marketing, but to them i say, see the movie and tell me it doesn't at least give Saw a run for it's money, if not kick it's stupid face off. Saw's ideas were good, but their killer seemed a flimsy afterthought to me. In Waz, the killer and their motives are integral to the plot,(which surprises before a satisfactory ending)and it's hard not to find empathy for the killer, something i never got in Saw. The great script and acting add depth and character to the story, which hit me with surprises and left me feeling contemplative, which is unusual for horror today.

Verdict: Come for the torture, stay for the good movie