KILL LIST (dir. Ben Wheatley, 2011)
Among the acres of dross produced by the British film industry, most of it worse than anything Hollywood could imagine, a very very occasional gem comes like Naked, Nil By Mouth, Dead Man's Shoes. I enjoyed his earlier film Down Terrace but wasn't prepared for how great this was. It's a kind of paranoid thriller with hyper-realistic dialogue which eventually becomes a full-on horror movie with some extremely gory splatter scenes. My breath was taken away with how great the acting, cinematography and direction was. I don't really want to say anything that could give away how bizarre and wild the plot is, but will mention that I was reminded of Peckinpah and Kubrick for the skills behind the film, and also of some of their specific films (Straw Dogs, Eyes Wide Shut) as well as a Mike Leigh influence in the superb semi-improvised acting by mostly unknowns. All-time mind-blowing plot twists at the end. Cannot recommend highly enough! but it will give anyone a sleepless night.
