A Serial Killer's Guide to Life

I was lucky enough to catch a screening of this at Frightfest this year in London. While it wasn't what I was expecting in terms of what I imagined a festival of that name would deliver, I was very glad to have seen it. Right from the beginning we're given an interesting protagonist (Lou) to follow and shortly after an equally deep and complex supporting character named Val. Both actors do a stellar job of bringing them both to life and are well supported by the rest of the cast. The story itself is an original and interesting one and the director masterfully brings us into the world of the film with some excellent choices in terms of how the story is told. The films dark comedic aspects along with just the right character development and intrigue made this a very enjoyable watch. It doesn't look like it was made with a ton of money and one can see where the corners were cut but it only adds to the brilliance, in my view. The script is tight and does only what it needs to do and never at any point was I bored or felt like I was being hit over the head with the point. It has a very interesting theme (which I won't spoil) that actually speaks for itself with very strong attention to detail, top performances and slick direction. If you appreciate low budget independent films then you'll have no reason for enjoying this one. Quite simply a great piece of work.

The title could have been an interesting one, and the story's pacing and camera language were an indescribable failure.The action scenes are also very simple.

Don't turn it off early as it's worth watching through to the end. Yes, it is a quirky short story that has been stretched to make a film but it's still watchable. Don't read any spoilers before watching or it will be a bit pointless to watch. If you are a life-coach you won't like it! It doesn't have any meaning to take away. Stuff happens.

Had the pleasure of viewing A Serial Killers Guide to Life and Grimmfest this year followed by a Q&A with its director and it's certainly been a film to make a lasting impression.

At first it was near impossible not to see A Serial Killers Guide as the cousin to Sightseers, although the director Staten Cousins-Roe states that Sightseers is not a direct influence. But there's no denying that the films share many similarities with Ben Wheatley's black comedy among them the over bearing mother who pushes our anti-hero to the extreme, the jet black humour even the locations are familiar (although the film was shot around Sussex as opposed to Yorkshire).

But the question is despite the similarities does A Serial Killers Guide stand on it's? And the answer is yes, this is largely down to an excellent cast, leads Katie Brayben as the ditsy and emotionally fragile Lou and Poppy Roe as the cold and unpredictable Val both have such a strong on screen chemistry that I never found the absurdity of the film a distraction but instead a benefit. Val Roe in particular stands out as she is given so much room to be a performer acting with her eyes, mouth, body language and she really seized her chance to show what she can do. The supporting cast are also spot on with reliable character actors such as Sian Clifford, Ben Lloyd Hughes, Tomiwa Edun and the always excellent Sinead Matthews all giving the assured performances we know they are more than capable of doing, even the extras in the laughing therapy scene all did great. This is in no doubt helped by writer and director Staten Cousins Roe being an actor himself.

A Serial Killers Guide to Life may not be anything new but it's a film which stands on it's own two feet and takes you on a bloody journey accompanied by the dysfunctional but always engrossing Lou and Val.

Unlikeable characters that I just couldn't get on board with. It tried to be off beat and witty but it felt like it was trying too hard.