w Delta z

I went to one of the first official screenings of this film last night at the frightfest in London, West End. It was brilliant! I wouldn't suggest that I was sceptical, but more open minded and intrigued to discover exactly what this movie was going to be like. I had heard mixed reviews about pre-completed screenings and at the end of the day, didn't want to waste my Sunday evening.

I am pleased to say that 'WaZ' is a perfect mixture of raw grit, commercial trends and generic cliché's. I am not always a fan of modern day camera work and cinematography, yet this film comfortably took it to the limit and told a great story in an innovative way. Well done to Mr Shankland and fellow cast and crew, as this film will (in my mind) no doubt keep thriller fans on the edge of their seats when spending the close approaching weekend evenings at the flicks.

Interesting British-made thriller that borrows heavily (or is that steals?) from Se7en and Saw. Melissa George is cop trying to unravel a series of gruesome murders in New York with her gruff partner, Stellan Skarsgard. Somebody is bumping off several of the city's gang bangers and their loved ones and carving an equation onto their stomachs. The plot covers very familiar ground as the two very different detectives try to identify the killer. George does her best but her character is poorly defined - a bit more background should have been shown. Skarsgard is almost laughable in his attempt to be tough and cool, he merely comes across as being unintelligible. What makes this film different is the surprisingly good cast (Selma Blair, Tom Hardy, Ashley Walters, Sally Hawkins) who turn up. The final plot twist in the last 15 minutes is far-fetched and feels like a sensationalist tabloid headline. Tries to take a novel approach to the torture-porn genre by raising some interesting Darwinian questions but ultimately fails under its own pretensions. It's not hard to see why this went straight to DVD. Nice try though.

To begin with, this movie isn't just another torture porn flick that we've seen a glut of in recent times (Saw, Hostel and the like). There's actually a decent plot regarding the murderer and their victims, something that examines humanity's darker side yet goes beyond the base sadism displayed in actual torture porn, which this isn't. The marketing campaign gave it the appearance of such a film and i was nearly put off, however my optimism got the better of me as I confess, I am a huge horror fan and there were glimpses that it could be quite good. And it is, in fact it's very good.

There's a rugged brutal efficiency in the way this film goes about delivering the goods. You've got your cops, new and old, with sketchy case files and hints of crookedness, a scientific theory of genetics being exploited by our murderer and a gang of outlaws who are being targeted. All of it is carried out with appropriate macabre and occasional wit and humour, good, edgy hand-held camera techniques, clever acting and a pacey script. I thought it was great on an intelligence level and I squirmed every time there was a 'nail' scene.

I was even more surprised to learn afterwards that this was a British production, was shot in Belfast and used a largely British cast, yet had me fooled as to it's New York setting and convincing accents. What more can i say apart from wow, i love this movie? I also realised after that Waz is Saw backwards, and a cynic may say that is opportunistic marketing, but to them i say, see the movie and tell me it doesn't at least give Saw a run for it's money, if not kick it's stupid face off. Saw's ideas were good, but their killer seemed a flimsy afterthought to me. In Waz, the killer and their motives are integral to the plot,(which surprises before a satisfactory ending)and it's hard not to find empathy for the killer, something i never got in Saw. The great script and acting add depth and character to the story, which hit me with surprises and left me feeling contemplative, which is unusual for horror today.

Verdict: Come for the torture, stay for the good movie

I give 5 stars as this is one of those films that you can watch and then throw away. It's not bad but it's not good. I don't think it's the sort of film where you would pull it out of your DVD collection every couple of months to watch.

I'm not sure what type of 'film' was used but the director went for (what looked like to me) HD hand-held cams. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean Cloverfield 'all over the show' sort of filming but rather the film print it's self. I suppose this gives the film it's 'gritty' look, which I can appreciate sometimes but for this movie it just made the production look cheap. If it weren't for the famous faces you'd be forgiven for thinking you may be watching a lower budget movie.

As for the film itself....we've seen such ideas already done with 'Saw' and 'untraceable'. There's no real new context here to give a fresh light to the story. The acting was fine and I have no problem with the direction....I just wasn't drawn into the film in any way. It was difficult to hold my interest or really care about the characters on screen.

I don't really give insight into the 'story' of a film when I review as others do that better but as a film goer I'd say that this is a throw-away film.....the sort you'd rent or watch to pass some time. As I've said before, it's not a bad film....but it isn't great. Slap bang in the middle

Being a Horror freak, I usually give a chance to pretty much any Horror sub-genre and type. The Killing Gene is one of these Thrillers that I personally don't really consider Horror, as it's not scary or frightening in any way. It does revolve around some pretty terrible things, but I personally like films that are scarier.

Having said that, I think The Killing Gene was a very nice thriller. Stellan Skarsgård, unlike his role in Thor (and The Avengers) was dark and charismatic, and Melissa George was as great as always. The story idea was nice and original, and made it a little hard to pick sides. The twist towards the end did manage to surprise me, and the ending itself was a very nice closure. Notice most of the times I used an adjective, it was "nice". Not more, nor less.

As for criticism? The twist was very original, but I was kinda hoping for something a little deeper and more complicated. All in all, I'd say The Killing Gene was a gloomy combination of Saw, The Bone Collector and Kindergarten Cop.

I personally enjoyed it as a thriller, not as Horror. If you're thriller fans, you probably will enjoy it too.