Thrillkill

Let me preface my review by saying that I really liked this 1984 crime/suspense film.

The plot which leaves everyone wondering what will become of the five (5) million dollars that the young but dead (too soon) computer game programmer Carly Kendall (Diana Reis) has absconded with and put in a safe place that her criminal accomplices can't get their greedy little hands on. Carly realizes that there will be a lot of people after her and after her stolen five (5) million dollars so as any good computer programmer would do, Carly backed up her illicit computer files with one single clue that her dipsy airline stewardess sister Bobbie Kendall (Gina Massey) will need to figure out even though Bobbie initially has no clue that her big (and much smarter) sister has stolen and then hidden the five (5) million dollars into her latest computer game creation, THRILLKILL.

One of the baddest and sexiest hired guns chasing the money and by default Bobbie is the tough as nails Adrian (Laura Robinson). There are a few twists and turns that keep this somewhat outdated crime/suspense film even interesting by todays standards. I always reminisce when I see someone typing on a keyboard and watching each letter appear on a green screen dot...by dot...by dot....by dot matrix.

This is worth a watch and it will take you back to the 1980's early computer games and cinematography without any of that annoying CGI which is so prevalent in todays ho hum films.

I give it a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

A skillful software designer for a video game manufacturer, Carly Kendall (Diana Reis), has become engaged in an illicit scheme whereby she hacks into large corporate banking accounts, skimming monies from them and transferring the amounts into a "dummy" account shared by her with her white collar confederates in crime, only to find that their monetary ambitions equal a potentially perilous future for all those involved. When Carly decides to keep all of the illegally gained proceeds, 3.5 million dollars, for herself, and abscond with it to Brazil, her fellow grifters are quite naturally displeased with her treachery, to the point of wishing her to be dead, and since she has encoded the hiding place of the stolen cash within the software of her most recent video game creation, Thrillkill, "The Game That Plays You", Carly and her somewhat bewildered sister Bobbie (Gina Massey), whom she has supposedly taken into her confidence, find themselves menaced by the other conspirators who are frantically searching for the hidden loot and becoming quite homicidal during the course of their quest. Eventually, the final survivors from the greedy group of miscreants assemble at "the convention center" (performed by the Ontario Science Center, in Toronto) to skirmish with each other in efforts to pare down the number of plotters, thereby increasing profits for any survivors. This film is noteworthy in one regard, that the nine principal characters are all consistent liars, and none seems to flirt with much more than a semblance of honour or loyalty, although the script does not allow for any sort of character development, but rather provides essentially one episode of taut suspense following closely upon another, generally abetted by a partially electronic score. The work's director, Anthony Kramreither, sensibly allows cinematographer John Clement to develop these scenes, as his compositions are inspiring throughout the production. It should be mentioned that several of the cast are able to occasionally vary their facial expressions, proving to be the gamest of efforts when considering a sapless screenplay. Editing by Nick Rotundo and the director helps to provide a briskly paced, albeit less than memorable, affair.

It really pains me, where you see a movie cover, and you're really misled, and really let down. Much was the case with ThrillKill. A lot of nothing happening, little blood, and basically the jerk around. There's hardly anything redeeming here. A shame as there was a good story, not the one I expected, which was a negative for me, but they could of really built upon it, where it's just a mess and lazily approached. Some of the performances are amateurish, stoic. At least, Massey who's really good, brings a lot of energy to the role, as an unwitting victim, caught in a situation, involving her dead sister, who wasn't the bookish, Miss Goody two shoes, you initially think. She was ripping off a lot of money, from her shady computer gaming company, and the bad guys will go to many lengths to retrieve their funds. Massey kind of falls in love with a stud, hot cop, who's not all he seems. For most of the duration, this film is a by the numbers bore, and largely disappointing, which warranted a lot of annoyance from me. If the movie and premise, was much better applied and tightly scripted, it would of been much more engaging, but as it is, this will hardly warrant a re watch, if only for hot Massey.

The story is quite boring. A bunch of people are after money. Big deal, woopdy doo. Like that hasn't been the plot of a million movies...

There is 3 million dollars floating around somewhere that this videogame designed by Carly has secretly made. It started "dummy accounts" and shaved off some of the profit from some big corporations and ended up making 3 million. Kind of like the scheme in Office Space.

This time, there are violent mafia-type people looking for the money. Carly's sister gets unknowingly and unwillingly wrapped up in the situation. Everyone lies to the sister (Bobbie) the whole time to try to get her to tell them where the money is. But she really has no clue where the money is. Yep, it's that boring.

I did like the color and the camera style of the movie. I don't know anything about cinematography, but for some reason, the way they filmed this really stood out. I couldn't tell you why. Everything was very clear and crisp. I liked that. The computer in the movie was pretty ominous, too. Some movies from the 80's try to have computers in them and you just laugh at how dumb and outdated they are. This computer was actually one step up from that.

The only part of the movie I liked was the relationship between Bobbie and Frank. I thought they were kind of cute. And Bobbie did a good job at playing "hard to get" while still maintaining her dignity.

However, I would not recommend watching this movie. Really.

Not very many people have watched this movie honestly, I mean do you ever see in in the rentals at all? (I know I never have) Yes, a "B" movie, who wants to see those these days... everyone would rather go and watch Hilary Duff, I know. I barely ever see anything good on TV anymore. I think that this movie was aight. I don't think I would have ever watched it if I hadn't been related to Colleen Embree (Toni Parish). The plot was alright I suppose. I mean you usually do want a story but it could have been expanded a bit. It seemed so vague on the information.

The ending was really where it started to go wrong though, it was just all too quick and it didn't really make sense. All the action was good but it moved too quickly right back into that whole "everything's gonna be okay" idea. Was is not a little bit too cheesy. I almost want to wonder what happened to everyone else.