K-Shop

A horror flick with a message. This is not going to be for everyone but it's the modern version of the Sweeney Todd story except that Sweeney is an immigrant that faces drunk people in his kebab shop he opens with his father. When some drunk are trying to enter the shop and the father got killed Salah (Ziad Abaza) goes berserk. But there's more going on.

Excellent flick, sometimes a bit slow but still delivers on part of story, the score is great and the effects used are stunning. It's not going to satisfy every horror buff but if you can take a horror with a message then this is must see.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

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.

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.

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.

This film was a lot smarter than you would think. Not a typical slasher film at all. It carries important messages about drinking culture, moral depravity, and human nature. For a low budget feature, the special effects and make up were incredibly realistic. Very impressive. The mood is very gritty and it feels like it takes you to a dark intoxicated psychotic underworld, which remains with you even after watching the film. The casting is superb and the talent is great. In particular, the lead role is fantastically played - you wouldn't think he was such a newcomer. I would love to see the director and main actor work together again