K-Shop

K-Shop makes some good points about lad (and ladette) culture and racial bigotry but the protagonist is just too moody to sympathise with and the film takes such a long time to say anything. A vague almost romance with a hotel manageress goes nowhere and the drug dealing subplot is underwritten and shoehorned in. Had potential.. never reaches it though. Oh and also features some nasty body dismemberment porn! Not quite sure if this was a slasher horror, a thriller or a social commentary. Might have been all three but wasn't good at any one of them.

All round, decent. Mostly good writing, good cast and interesting story, the only thing that let's it's down is Ziad Abaza. He is objectively a good actor, he just lacks any emotion to anything he does, it always feels as though he is reading lines. Because of that we are left to feel the emotions of the supporting cast who do a great jobby wobby.

Ps:Is Madonna still sexy?

K-Shop brought back some memories. I used to have a summer job working in a restaurant in a seaside resort. We had to deal with drunken revellers at weekends, a few would get abusive. Although we did not mince them up and serve them up as the kebab special as they do here.

Salah is a student who helps out in his dad's kebab shop in a seaside town. When his father is killed by some yobs, Salah snaps when he is later confronted by an abuser. To get rid off the body he puts them through a mincer and serves them to obnoxious customers. Pretty soon Salah gets a taste of murder and in his sights is a nightclub owner who peddles drugs into the community.

K-Shop is a dark comic horror film about broken Britain which goes on a binge at the weekends. It aspires to be a modern version of Sweeney Todd but the film is too long and the main character is too subdued. Although conflicted with the crimes he commits, we also sense Salah was already damaged as he and his dad fled a war torn middle eastern country, presumably Iraq.

Salah,a student & refugee, inherits a seaside kebab shop when his father dies during an altercation with some drunken yobs. Subjected to constant verbal (much of it racist) and physical abuse Salah ends up killing a violent customer and disposing of his body in his kebabs. He goes on to repeat this several times over. This could have been a simple kill 'em and eat 'em gore movie, it certainly wouldn't be the first. However K-Shop addresses issues such as racism, violence, alcohol abuse & greed (the ambitious & ruthless local night club owner). The movie uses real footage of drunken people fighting, being sick, exposing themselves, having sex, etc, all in public. Sadly an all too familiar sight in towns & cities across Britain come the weekends. Watching the fictional Salah bloodily butcher his victims may prove too much for some viewers but it's the real anti social behaviour caused by alcohol that is truly shocking.

Awesome film. Captures the dark side of UK booze culture in a very entertaining way. Love the plot, love the gore, love the characters! The camera work captures the depravity that exists in UK nightlife in a way that is all too real for any of us who have been in a kebab shop past 11pm on a weekend. The creators have not held back on the realism of the most horrid scenes. Weak stomachs beware, there is no holding back! The characters are well thought out. Sadly, we have all met people who fit the bill, the cast does them all great justice. The realness of these horrible people is scarily accurate and really sucks you into the dark side of UK nightlife. Strongly recommend.