Genres

Visitors Review

BA_Harrison 2012-05-26 03:25:29

It's a little bit Se7en; it's a little bit Saw.

Not only does poor old Jean Lerner (Selma Blair) get gang raped, beatenand violated with a broken bottle, but she is also forced to shoot herown mother to end her ordeal and save her own life. The sadistic gangthat subjected her to this horror are apprehended by the police, butare allowed to walk free after vital evidence is accidentally destroyedand it is found that violence was used to obtain a confession.Naturally, Jean is more than a little upset.So when the gang members' loved ones begin to turn up dead, with partof a scientific equation carved into their corpses, detective EddieArgo (Stellan Skarsgård) naturally assumes that Jean is out forrevenge. Which she is. But she is also attempting to ease her ownconscience over killing her mum: by kidnapping each gang member, plustheir nearest and dearest, and then giving each scumbag the option ofsaving their own skin by offing their loved ones, Jean is trying toprove the WAZ equation, which claims that no creature is naturallyaltruistic.As Argo slowly closes in on Lerner, his partner, rookie cop HelenWestcott (Melissa George) begins to suspect that there is much more tothis case than at first meets the eye.A grimy thriller in the vein of Se7en, but one that has an eye firmlyfixed on today's torture-porn audiences, WAZ features plenty ofnastiness, is suitably stylish, and includes the obligatory surpriseending that no self-respecting modern horror/thriller would be seenwithout. But despite having all the right ingredients, the film isn'tas effective as those it seeks to emulate.There are way too many talky scenes that interrupt the flow of thestory and only serve to dissipate the tension; nearly all of thecharacters are unlikeable; the nasty bits leave far too much to theimagination (saves on Make-up FX, I suppose); and the finalé is...well... it's all a bit unbelievable and revolves around the mostunlikely pair of cinematic lovers that I think I have ever seen.If you are about to settle down to watch this film, I would like tosuggest a drinking game that might make things a little moreentertaining: take a drink every time someone gets in or out of a car,or whenever Skarsgård lights up a cigarette, and draws on it with suchintensity that the tobacco can be heard 'crackling' as it burns. Iguarantee you'll be hammered by the end of the film!

JackBravo69 2012-05-25 11:12:27

A Good Surprise

WAZWAZ is an intense, competently made thriller with good acting and awell written script. It has a few flaws where you have to to give it abreak, such as some unrealistic actions by the police or the killerbeing way too competent considering its victim's background and howsuccessfully and easily they are taken but if you can sometimes suspenddisbelieve you'll enjoy this very solid thriller. Gang members arebeing kidnapped and tortured, forced to chose between their pain andlife and their loved one's death. Its a test to see how much they cansuffer before finally killing the person they love the most to make thepain stop. The victims have an equation carved into their flesh, anequation about the "selfish gene". Detective Argos is handling the caseand he soon sees the connection between the victims and a previous casehe also handled but where everything went horribly wrong. Now he has tostop the killing while the truth about what happened is just waiting tocome out. This is a dark movie. Everything about it is seedy, dirty andugly. Its grim and sometimes hard to sit through. Its also violent andgraphic although it never really crosses the line into torture porn.Expect an unpleasant but still very interesting journey with a scriptthat is tight, with good pace, believable dialog and a plot with a fewvery well thought out surprises. Stellan Skarsgård is superb in thelead, believable and charismatic. He carries the movie with no troubleat all. Also keep an eye out for Tom Hardy from Inception fame and soonThe Dark Knight Rises, in a small but very well acted role. MelissaGeorge is forgettable as the lead's partner, feels out of place and iseclipsed by Skarsgård but Selma Blair truly shines in her short screentime. WAZ is not an easy movie but is well worth a view. Its intense,well directed and acted and has a good story. Better than most thatcome out of Hollywood these days. Watch it.

2012-05-20 14:35:29

Payback --and why to love your grandma

This review is from: The Killing Gene (DVD) I saw this film for the second time about two years ago. The first viewing blew my mind. While there is some heavy-handedness in the film, in general this borders on a great thriller. It is one of the best such films I've seen.It has great suspense which builds and builds until the murderer, who becomes known, reveals the motive for a horrific payback for the gang's crimes. The premise of the story is intriguing. Members of a violent (and markedly amoral) gang are being murdered, and the murderer has etched WdeltaZ into the bodies. The "formula" refers to a theory of imprinted human behavior which causes man to exhibit "abnormal" behaviors in intraspecies; these behaviors are humiliation, violence and killing. (See Konrad Lorenz' On Aggression, a layman's book based on his scientific, Nobel-prize winning work. I think this has got to be one of the sources the screenwriter used from his Psychology 101 course!) In the beginning of the film, in an animal experimentation lab, we are given this premise of innate aggression among primates. Two detectives are assigned to the gang deaths, one a seasoned veteran and the other a rookie. The lead detective is haunted by a case of rape and murder which he failed to solve. This failure prompts his intense desire to solve the current crimes. Though Skarsgaard and George are competent in their detective roles, I found the other characters, especially Pierre ( the always remarkable Tom Hardy), more compelling. Selma Blair's is the single truly outstanding performance. SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!In 1961, a study on human behavior known as "The Milgram Experiment" was conducted. It created a firestorm of controversy. The screenwriter was no doubt familiar with this widely publicized experiment, too. The experiment involved two randomly selected people who were told they would be paid for playing roles of teacher and student. The teacher would ask questions, and if the student answered the question incorrectly, the teacher would apply electrical shocks from 15 volts to 450 volts. The administrator and the learner were conductors of the experiment -- only the "teacher" had no knowledge of the real purpose of the study. The "teacher" could not see the "learner," only the electric shock generator. The objective of the experiment was to determine the extent of pain one person would inflict upon another. The researchers wanted to know how long someone would continue to give shocks to another person if they were told to do so even if the shock would seriously hurt him [Stanley Milgram]. As the voltage increased from 15 to 450 volts, 65 percent of the "teachers" applied full voltage three times. (The researchers had expected between 1 to 2 per cent of the "teachers" to inflict the highest pain.) The "learner" played an audio tape of increasingly painful outbursts until the last three charges when the response was silence. Whenever the "teacher" wanted to stop, the administrator said he could not stop,,with increasing pressure of mild statement to stern command, he was ordered to continue to increase the shocks until the study ended. That 65 per cent of the "teachers" obeyed the administrator was an outcome totally unexpected by the administrators. Now why am I going into all this psychological stuff? Because it has everything to do with the storyline especially in the resolution of the conflict. What causes the behavior of the gang members to inflict extreme violence upon others? Is it in our nature -- or in our nurture? What causes the behavior of the victim who delivers the payback for their crimes? Revenge in a hideously cruel punishment -- or in the imitation of the violence inflicted upon the victims? The film provokes some heavy thought, that's for sure.I wrote this review not so much to comment on the story, which I think has been pretty much covered by others here, but to write about the underpinnings of the screenplay. I don't know if the screenwriter is familiar with the behavioral theories above, but I think he must be. I saw clear similarities between the facts and fiction of aggression in human behavior. The conclusion of the film is brutally graphic. I remember thinking, omg, how can one person do that to another?! Isn't the payback a bit of overkill? But, looking at the provocation for the revenge, the same question came to mind. At some points, I felt my stomach tighten. It is not just the physical "Q&A" in the final scenes that appalls us but the terrible consequences meted out for "wrong answers." Rather than endure more physical pain, Pierre, for example, gives up the one person who loves him and whom he loves: his grandmother. What is the film saying when it leaves us feeling that certain punishments, no matter how cruel, are perfectly justified? Brrrrrr. Goosebumps!I really like this movie. I have it in my collection, and after writing this "review," I think I'll watch it again tomorrow!PS: I ought to state that the Milgram Experiment's original purpose was to examine the motivation for war crimes committed by the Nazis during WWII, specifically, the explanation that the torturers were "only following orders."

2012-05-20 08:59:19

edge of your seat thriller

This review is from: The Killing Gene (DVD) When I saw this movie on hbo early one morning awhile back I knew I had to get it. It stars one of my favorite Swedish actors Stellan Skaesgard and it is a must see for any Stellan Skarsgard fan like me.

2012-05-10 17:30:36

killing gene

Another film with Selma Blair. I wasn't expecting her role in this film at all. I thought she would be the next victem but no.Anyway,a killer is kidnapping people and the person they each are close to and let the kidnapped person decide who will die based on how much they really love that person. It's a clever plot. The film was well done and good here and there. The twist at the end will be seeable to some people somewhever during the film. I figured out the truth of the main cop during the film half way though i wasn't really sure honestly. Selma blair played her role good and the film in general was clever.

standeman1984 2012-05-10 08:57:23

Superior to Saw and other so-called torture porn

To begin with, this movie isn't just another torture porn flick thatwe've seen a glut of in recent times (Saw, Hostel and the like).There's actually a decent plot regarding the murderer and theirvictims, something that examines humanity's darker side yet goes beyondthe base sadism displayed in actual torture porn, which this isn't. Themarketing campaign gave it the appearance of such a film and i wasnearly 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 quitegood. And it is, in fact it's very good.There's a rugged brutal efficiency in the way this film goes aboutdelivering the goods. You've got your cops, new and old, with sketchycase files and hints of crookedness, a scientific theory of geneticsbeing exploited by our murderer and a gang of outlaws who are beingtargeted. All of it is carried out with appropriate macabre andoccasional wit and humour, good, edgy hand-held camera techniques,clever acting and a pacey script. I thought it was great on anintelligence level and I squirmed every time there was a 'nail' scene.I was even more surprised to learn afterwards that this was a Britishproduction, was shot in Belfast and used a largely British cast, yethad me fooled as to it's New York setting and convincing accents. Whatmore can i say apart from wow, i love this movie? I also realised afterthat Waz is Saw backwards, and a cynic may say that is opportunisticmarketing, but to them i say, see the movie and tell me it doesn't atleast 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 tome. In Waz, the killer and their motives are integral to theplot,(which surprises before a satisfactory ending)and it's hard not tofind empathy for the killer, something i never got in Saw. The greatscript and acting add depth and character to the story, which hit mewith surprises and left me feeling contemplative, which is unusual forhorror today.Verdict: Come for the torture, stay for the good movie

Michal Poniedzielski 2012-05-02 03:32:24

It's like "Se7en" 'made in China'. But... surprisingly nicely made

David Fincher's "Se7en" was a good piece because of emotions, not theblood. It was a drama in the core and that was it's strength. Here wehave the same attempt, not so well manufactured, but still worthnoticing. First of all we have here quite good screenplay which deals withcharacters and events in a psychologically believable way and has someinteresting scientific backbone. Characters seem real (verystereotypical but real), and plot evolves logically. I wasn't disturbedby any "Yeah, right..." moments. Wasn't then either surprised by anyscene at all, but this is why I give it 5 not 10. (I read here some opinions about similarities of the plot with "Saw"and have to disagree. The difference lays in psychological backgroundof evil which here is much more ... how to say this... real-liferelated. Realism is a good thing in thriller. It distinguish it fromhorror. In my opinion WAZ is more thriller while "Saw" is in fact morehorror - shitty one, by the way).The directing is not bad too - it seems like whole crew was given theidea of what they have to do and generally they done it quite well. Isee decent directing too in a way the violence and blood is shown - thewhole movie is full of it but it is cut in right moments and needlessgore is reduced. So here we are again closer to "Se7en" than "Saw"Then we have Stellan who helps the script being not bad and brings ussome emotions. Melisa George is not so good but no one expected that.Selma Blair delivers some interesting moments of performance, butcounted rather in seconds than minutes. A little surprise is Paul Kayein a small but very intense and worth mentioning role.Third thing is cinematography and lighting. They are done in a muchmuch more intelligent way than in "Saw" yet still being similarlylow-budget solutions (only the precinct - but not the entire film like"Saw" - looks like a film set... I can't help I'm seeing it). Almostwhole movie is filmed "from hand" and this is - as far as I know - theONLY on-set method of rescuing a digitally made film from a"miniDV-wedding-tape" look. Postproduction adds little grain and colorsand some decent editing and final package brings us near to MichaelMann's "Collateral" (which is good). I dare to say that this film couldbe 2 stars better if done on REAL cameras, for REAL money.Summing all up: Let's be honest - it's definitely a cheap thriller. Buthonestly - definitely one of the best in this class.

2012-05-01 12:44:49

I guess I was expecting more.

It's been a while since I've seen a really good serial killer movie on par with SE7EN or Silence of the Lambs. It's a tricky genre to get right, and Killer Gene manages to get it about three-quarters right with interesting characters and an intriguing motivation for the action. But something about the plotting and the artificiality of "science" introduced into the story prevents "Gene" from joining the upper ranks. A diverting enough film, certainly more intelligent and engaging than, say, Untraceable, but in the words of Maxwell Smart, it missed it by "that much."

brian-teles 2012-05-01 15:14:07

WAZ (aka The Killing Gene)

Interesting British-made thriller that borrows heavily (or is thatsteals?) from Se7en and Saw. Melissa George is cop trying to unravel aseries of gruesome murders in New York with her gruff partner, StellanSkarsgard. Somebody is bumping off several of the city's gang bangersand their loved ones and carving an equation onto their stomachs. Theplot covers very familiar ground as the two very different detectivestry to identify the killer. George does her best but her character ispoorly defined - a bit more background should have been shown.Skarsgard is almost laughable in his attempt to be tough and cool, hemerely comes across as being unintelligible. What makes this filmdifferent is the surprisingly good cast (Selma Blair, Tom Hardy, AshleyWalters, Sally Hawkins) who turn up. The final plot twist in the last15 minutes is far-fetched and feels like a sensationalist tabloidheadline. Tries to take a novel approach to the torture-porn genre byraising some interesting Darwinian questions but ultimately fails underits own pretensions. It's not hard to see why this went straight toDVD. Nice try though.

darkslyde 2012-05-01 03:00:44

brutal yet thought-provoking

It seemed to me as though the film is confused whether it is an edgynoir-esquire thriller or 'torture porn' in the vein of Saw. On the onehand the production is excellent with hand-held camera-work and asensitive use of low-key lighting (the film is VERY dark) adding to theubiquitous air of suspense. On the other hand it could be said that thetorture at the end is a bit excessive, crowd-pleasing and/or shattersthe Hitchcockian intensity associated with allowing the audience toconceive the horrors in their own minds (though personally I like a bitof gratuitous violence). At the heart of this film though is a battlebetween love and hatred that gets you thinking. Some on these boardshave said that it has changed their whole view of life and love. Whileit probably hasn't affected me quite so profoundly I would have to saythat everyone should watch this film as it's guaranteed to entertain,engage and inspire, which is what all art should do. Overall a verygood movie: 8/10.

seawalker 2012-04-24 00:53:26

Not bad, just a triumph of style over substance

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 innercity 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 forbeing victimised.Yup. "Seven"-lite. Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, because youhave to take every movie on it's own merits, but disappointing whenwitnessed over and over again."Waz" isn't bad. It is just unoriginal and a triumph of style oversubstance. The city is effectively portrayed as grim, dirty, cold andwet. You wouldn't want to go there on holiday. You wouldn't want tohang 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 youdown. It also has one of the most disturbing filmed sequences of sexualabuse I have ever seen. All insinuated, you don't see a thing, but itis horrible.Melissa George has been better and is frankly wasted as the poutingsidekick, but "Waz" does have a superior cast (Stellan Skarsgård, SelmaBlair, Tom Hardy, etc.) for what is effectively a straightforward genremovie. Some of the questions I had as to why they signed up for thismovie were answered during the denouement, when the motivations behindStellan Skarsgård's actions are revealed and his character developslevels way beyond that of a tormented cop.So, "Waz" was OK. Not bad for a walk on the dark side.

weemonk 2012-04-23 17:02:22

Not really that good..

I give 5 stars as this is one of those films that you can watch andthen throw away. It's not bad but it's not good. I don't think it's thesort of film where you would pull it out of your DVD collection everycouple 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'tmean Cloverfield 'all over the show' sort of filming but rather thefilm 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 theproduction look cheap. If it weren't for the famous faces you'd beforgiven 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 freshlight to the story. The acting was fine and I have no problem with thedirection....I just wasn't drawn into the film in any way. It wasdifficult to hold my interest or really care about the characters onscreen.I don't really give insight into the 'story' of a film when I review asothers do that better but as a film goer I'd say that this is athrow-away film.....the sort you'd rent or watch to pass some time. AsI've said before, it's not a bad film....but it isn't great. Slap bangin the middle

kosmasp 2012-04-20 19:05:48

Surprised

I was surprised when I watched this movie at the Fantasy Film Festivalin Stuttgart/Germany. And I'm surprised that it got a high rating hereat IMDb too. Not because it doesn't deserve it in my eyes (obviously asseen in my rating). I just didn't expect a relatively small movie (evenwith a stellar cast, and yes pun intended) to be noticed that much, butI was wrong.The movie itself is very dark and gritty. It's also not for the fainthearted! There are scenes here, that might make you squeal, if you'renot up for the brutality of what is shown! Allow yourself into thisbrutal and dark world and be amazed by it's "beauty"! That's all I haveto say, about this thriller ...

Robert J. Maxwell 2012-04-20 15:02:14

Who -- or What -- is the Target Audience?

I missed the first twenty minutes or so but I gather that what happensis that another semi-psychotic serial killer is loose in New York City.He -- or in this case, she -- seems to have been made to choose betweenher own life or that of a loved one by some criminal. Now she's out forrevenge on everybody with an unsavory past.I came in at the point at which the killer, Selma Blair, has sometattooed rapist shackled to a chair in one of those empty lofts.Equally bound, but festooned with electrodes, his loving grandmothersits a few feet in front of him. The idea is that Blair will torturethe rapist until he can stand no more pain and can only make it stop byfingering the switch that will electrocute his trembling Granny.The detective on the case, Stellan Skarsgaard, must have done somethingterrible too, because before he knows it, he's tied up in the torturechair and his adoring young pal, a black kid from the streets, is inthe hot seat.I like Stellan Skarsgaard's work a lot. He's a fine actor, in theminimalist tradition of Gary Cooper and Robert Redford, although hisrange is greater than theirs. (He goes ape in "Goya's Ghosts.") He cando villains or avuncular figures. The set point for his facial musclesmight be described best as "resigned." But this movie -- what I saw ofit -- really is an egregious piece of garbage. Skarsgaard isn't bad,and neither is his black street pal. The other players, such as thepolice chief, are barely competent.Selma Blair's performance is critical and doesn't match the creepyrole. She's sullen and slow and a little whiny as she explainspatiently why she's not enjoying the torture she's dishing out. I keptwaiting for something like, "This hurts me more than it does you."She's beautiful, of course, but her voice is filled with glottal stopsand sounds like that of a nice, well-bred young woman from Michigan.But she doesn't torpedo the movie. The script and direction do that.The script gives an enormous amount of screen time to the torturescenes and, man, are they graphic. Blair slumps around in her enervatedway and only seems to come to life when she whangs an iron nail underthe fingernails of a victim, or shatters their tibias with a heavymetal mallet. The strapped-down victim of her attentions is screamingand covered with blood while the person on the receiving end of theelectrodes sweats, shivers, and begs the victim not to give him thejuice. At least one other reviewer has described the torture as notprolonged or gratuitous. I guess it's not "prolonged" because thedirector cuts away at the moment hammer hits nail, but that leaves uswith five minutes of foreplay to enjoy, or four minutes of fiveplay.The excremental script aside, the story presents us with one of thosegrimy urban settings, all ghoulish green, with posters peeling off thesweaty walls and graffiti covering every exposed surface -- as ifthings weren't sufficiently depressing. The camera alternates betweenclose ups of ugly, perspiring faces, often with drool hanging fromtheir lips, and wobbling instantaneous shots of irrelevant objects oractions. I believe this cliché must have begun with MTV years ago, bothhaving appeared at about the same time. I can understand it on MTV.Here's Elton John playing the piano. What is a director to do -- giveus five minutes of just watching Elton John play the piano and sing?No. There must be inserts of his fluttering fingertips, chokers of hisopen mouth, fireworks on display. But, my God, I wish they'd dump thattendency. We're not all fourteen years old. We can concentrate on astatic scene for more than a few seconds.But not even defter camera work would help this movie. What's thetarget audience? Who enjoys seeing people tortured in extended scenes?It was chilling when Michael Madsen described what he was going to doto the captive police officer in "Reservoir Dogs," but all he did wascut off an ear. It was an agonizing scene but the audience did not haveto watch the ear actually being removed, and it didn't last long, andthe point was not only to shock the audience but to paint Madsen as theevil sadist he was.This movie invites all of us to become sadists. Yes, enjoy theforeplay. We know the orgasmic pain is coming so we can afford tolinger over the repeated thrusts of the narrative. Relief is justaround the corner.It stinks. And I despair because we seem to be turning into an entireculture of S&M freaks. Are we really headed towards enshrining tortureas the national pastime? How low can we go? Give me lurid sex any day.This meretricious excreta and all those responsible for it belong inthe dumps or, better yet, some radioactive waste disposal site.When Blair finally slices open the throat of the blubbering Skarsgaard,the sound track echoes with the slink sound of metal against metal.Ugh.

Jonny_Numb 2012-04-18 06:09:56

Transcending Torture

When taking a chance on a sight-unseen, used DVD, my expectations areusually fairly reflective of the few bucks I shell out for it. "TheKilling Gene," while boasting a fine cast, struck me as nothing morethan another blurb-happy, sledgehammer obvious entry in the Dimension'Extreme' line of hit-or-miss horrors. After having watched it, all Ican say is...holy hell. Obviously targeting the audiences that made"Saw" and "Hostel" the New Torture Vanguard (one of the box blurbsdirectly references the former, not without accuracy), "The KillingGene"--despite some transparently derivative elements pulled from thegenre--comes very close to trouncing its competition. Remember thatmoment near the end of "Saw" when Cary Elwes does the unthinkable withthe titular tool? Well, imagine that degree of gritty intensitystretched out over the course of 102 nerve-shredding minutes, and youhave a good idea of what to expect here. Stellan Skarsgard (bearing anuncanny resemblance to Donald Pleasence) plays a homicide detectiveinvestigating a string of torture-murders with novice cop MelissaGeorge; suspicions are running that the killer is targeting a group ofvile gang members out of revenge for an equally hideous crime (which Iwon't reveal here; it's a truly horrifying scene). Clive Bradley'sscript doesn't use the torture angle as a mere marketable throwaway,nor does it treat the characters as meat for the machine; there is asurprising amount of development here, to the point where oursympathies and doubts become one and the same. From a visualstandpoint, director Tom Shankland ("The Children") uses jerky digitalvideo and claustrophobic close-ups to convey a sense of urgency withina decaying urban nightmare from which all hope has been drained (thiscould very well be the most squalid metropolis since David Fincher's"Se7en"). As an unapologetic, unashamed horror fan, I often find myselfsitting through garbage that isn't worth the DVD it's pressed on, whichmakes something like "The Killing Gene" all the more refreshing. Yes,there are some parts you'll feel as though you've seen before; butdamned if the overall experience doesn't leave you shaken andadequately disturbed afterward. (It also bears noting that this R-ratedfilm contains some of the most unglamorous, boundary-pushing violencein recent memory.)

movieman_kev 2012-04-17 22:35:04

so much more than merely a 'saw ripoff'

Stellan Skarsgård, of 'Good Will Hunting', offers up a good low-keyperformance as Eddie, a cop is trying to stop a revenge killer fromoffing more people. Melisa Goerge is also on hand as Eddie's partner,Helen, but her performance left a bit to be desired in my opinion(although she's easy on the eyes) Selma Blair is pretty damn good inthe film and she & Stellan keep it an interesting watch throughout. Ican see why people would assume that this movie is 'just another Sawrip-off' & while it does have moments of pretty bad torture like theaforementioned film, it's so much more than that ans it's really moreakin to a "Death Wish" film told from a different perspective. Add acertain twist late in the film that I truly did not see coming(althrough clues are there) and I have to say that I thought this to beone of the better straight to DVD (in America) releases of 2008.My Grade: B- Dimension DVD Extras: Three featurettes ( 'in depth chat with thedirector', 'Torture' & a making-of); 3 deleted scenes; a trailer forthis film; and trailers for "Automaton Transfusion", "Storm Warning","Diary of the Dead", & "Welcome to the Jungle"

nabil_habibi 2012-04-17 14:51:19

Very poor attempt at Saw/Se7en mixed movie..

This is by far the worst thriller movie I watched in the last 5 years..And I've seen The Strangers! The acting done by the 2 lead charactersis horrible and you don't feel connected to them during the entiremovie.The gangsters hardly feel like gangsters until you find out the truthabout them that they raped the the movie's serial killer but it's neverexplained why they did it.However I have to say that the torturing scene by the end is painful towatch so in that case this movie did something good.I would avoid this movie if I were you because it will be 100 minutesthat you'll never get back

2012-04-16 22:28:59

If it interests you, then YES see it

This review is from: The Killing Gene (DVD) ... a typical movie that carries two things:the facade that it is a gratuitous gore fest with little explanation _- to -the lesson learned. If you learn it. It really depends on whether you 'get it'.In the end, he gets it, she is witnessing the first one to 'get it' and is willing to change her research based on the first anomaly that presents itself. I thought it ended well -- a good ending.

dickcheneyissatan 2012-04-08 09:07:46

well-made, intelligent detective/suspense movie

For fans of the detective and suspense genres, this is a worthwhilepick. One could legitimately criticize the art direction as beingderivative of "Se7en" or "Saw," but why bother? The writing, thedirection, and particularly the acting are so far superior to the vastmajority of the horror/thriller/suspense movies that are churned out bythe hundreds these days that you'd be denying yourself the chance tosee an intelligent, thought-provoking, not unbelievable, suspensefulfilm if you passed on it for that reason.It is, psychologically, dark; and there are a few scenes of torture -but they aren't gratuitous and they aren't gratuitously gory. They areessential to advancing the plot and developing the characters; and mostof the violence is implied, not shown. If you're looking for tortureporn, you'll be disappointed.The plot twists are interesting, atypical, and believable, and themovie has something significant and thought-provoking to say about thehuman condition. The characters (with the exception of MelissaGeorge's) are written with moral complexity, and all of the acting(including Ms. George's) is top-notch.It's a shame this didn't get a theatrical release in the U.S. Judgingfrom the disappointment of torture-porn fans, my guess is that it wasnot well-marketed.

2012-04-08 02:42:39

Being Generous With the 3rd Star

This review is from: The Killing Gene (DVD) The movie does make you think a little. There were some twists that I didn't see coming. The script could have been better though. There were just so many holes. For example, early in the movie, so I am not giving anything away, a thug gets released from the killer. The killer doesn't hide from the victims, so this thug knows who the killer is. Instead of going to get revenge with his gang, he just hangs himself. That didn't make sense to me.The acting was so-so by everyone in the film. Nobody's performance stands out to me.I only got it because Tom Hardy was in it, but I found he didn't have a very decent role.