Some Guy Who Kills People

Ken Boyd (Kevin Corrigan, Grounded for Life) is a newly released mental patient who works at an ice cream shoppe by day and dispatches the people that he blames for screwing his life up by night. Sheriff Walt (Barry Bostwick, Spin City) is the cop out to get the perp, once he finds out who he is.

This film came as quite a shock. Renting it at Redbox (always a risky gamble) and knowing nothing about it, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that this movie was expertly acted by all involved. Corrigan and Bostwick are both great, as is the eternally beautiful Karen Black as Ken's mother. It's also funny, Bostwick in particularly shines in this aspect. The less said of the plot the better but suffice it to say it could very well be the best horror-comedy of the new millennium.

My Grade: A

You've got all the elements of a 80's slasher here. Comic geek, bullies, mean mom, quirky sheriff. so that's what I was expecting an average slasher to pass a Saturday afternoon. What I got was so much more! Great writing, great character development and great acting! I'm not big on the trivia of movies/acting so the only person I recognized was Barry Bostwick as the quirky sheriff and he played it brilliantly. I also thought the girl who played Amy was quite good and expect to see her getting more work. At first I wasn't too fond of Ken, the lead character, but as the story went on I got to really like him which I think says great things about both the writing and the guys acting. There is a twist at the end and you kind of know there will be but you just don't know which way it's going to twist. I was happy with the ending though, happy with the whole movie in fact. Only thing I would tell people is don't go into it expecting blood and guts, you're not going to get it. Not sure I'd even label it as horror, more of a thriller and a drama, oh and can't forget the comedy. It all ties together well. One of the best I've seen in awhile!

Ken Boyd (Kevin Corrigan), a lonely man fresh out of the loony bin, sets out to kill those he deems responsible for his miserable life.

Since I did not know most of the people attached to this (besides Karen Black and executive producer John Landis), I did not know what to expect. I set my sights low, and came out with quite an impressed mind. This is not your typical slasher. It is oddly endearing and has just enough comedy and plot twists to really keep the audience interested.

Kevin Corrigan is superb, Barry Bostwick even better... but, of course, we must salute Ariel Gade in this breakout performance. She adeptly portrays the precocious 11-year old Amy, and is both likable and a good plot-carrier. Gade, even more than Corrigan, keeps the story going.

I have not yet checked out the special features, but would like to. I think they would greatly enhance my understanding and appreciation for this already pleasantly-surprisingly gem.

You can smell the involvement of John Landis in this production very early on. It hits just the right tone of slapstick horror, comedy and family drama.

Ken Boyd (Kevin Corrigan) has been in a hospital for the treatment of his depression and suicidal tendencies. When he gets out, he acquires a little job working in an ice-cream parlour (the advertising of which provides many chuckles). We get flashbacks of bullies at school torturing him. Then, back in the present, the bullies start to get killed with a modicum of gratuitous violence. Throw into the mix his daughter Amy (Ariel Gade - Dark Water), who has just found out where her dad lives, and you've got the recipe for gory death pie topped with tender fatherliness.

This film has many strengths. It is well made and well written. Most of the funny lines go to the Sheriff and Boyd's mum and there are enough to keep you laughing throughout (your sense of humour needs to be on the black side though). The main strength is the acting and relationship of the father and daughter. Corrigan is fantastic as a man coming from depression into a state where he feels more able to cope with life by the end. Gade is wise beyond her years and the relationship between her and her dad comes across as very real.

One fly in the topical cream is the inclusion of Lucy Davis as a love interest for Boyd. She was in The Office. She's irritating.

If you can stomach a small amount of gore and blood you will be rewarded with a funny and touching experience.

The Dexter series has paved the way nicely for some modern anti-heroes. It's OK to be a serial killer provided the people you kill are not nice people. The worse the crime, the more acceptable (on screen) it is to kill the criminal and the less guilty we can feel about enjoying the spectacle of their death.

So Some Guy Who Kills People rides along on similar rails and gives us someone we can both root for, be afraid of and concerned about all in one highly confusing package.

Kevin Corrigan plays unorthodox Ken Boyd, a depressive cartoonist recently released from the 'loony bin' into a world he doesn't understand. Clearly resident in the kind of small town community where everyone knows everyone else, Boyd lives with his sardonic mother (Karen Black) and works the only job he can get: slopping out ice cream at the local diner.

Ken keeps his head down and his mouth shut, but life has a way of intruding on his self-imposed cocoon in the form of his best friend Irv's unyielding encouragement to get out there and grab the bull by the horns, the attentions of beautiful English girl Stephanie (Lucy Davis) and Ken's long absent daughter of eleven years, Amy. This trio of distractions are merciless in their presence, drawing Ken away from his preferred mode of introspection and silence.

Character development is awesome, with young Ariel Gade hitting just the right level of chatty pre-teen and needy daughter vs vulnerable sweet kid and mini-charmer to win us over rather than put us off. Corrigan is effortlessly charismatic despite his apparent predilection for decapitating his enemies, and his rarity of lines (despite his presence in most scenes). Lucy Davis is a little too attractive and besotted to be believable, particularly as the first time she encounters Ken he is dressed up in a most unbecoming giant ice-cream costume. Davis also has a limited acting range, giving the same performance here as she gave in The Office and other American projects of late.

But Barry Bostwick is simply sublime as the eminently watchable Sheriff Walt Fuller and Karen Black puts in a great performance as the disillusioned chain-smoking mother with only the lowest expectations in her son.

Ultimately a moral warning about the perils of withdrawing and allowing the past to consume the present; thus missing out on the important things (like the parent/child relationship) Some Guy Who Kills People is a thought-provoking, beautifully crafted tale from beginning to end featuring some of the most comically subtle black humour you're ever likely to see on the big screen. You'll laugh, but you'll also hover on the edge of your seat. Mixing comedy with genuine drama is no mean feat and full credit should go to Perez, Levin and their wonderful cast for pulling it off with unparalleled aplomb.