Tonight’s movie is the American independent comedy horror “Some Guy Who Kills People” from 2011. This is directed by Jack Perez, whose previous movie was “Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus”… Well, James Cameron directed “Piranha Part Two: The Spawning”, so we shouldn’t hold that against him. This movie is a lot more grounded. This is penned by comedy writer Ryan A. Levin and stars Kevin Corrigan and Ariel Gade with support from Barry Bostswick, Karen Black, Lucy Davis and Leo Fitzpatrick.
October Review Challenge – Day 15
The story follows Ken Boyd (Corrigan) after his release from a mental institution. He was ut in there because he suicidal and he is a very reclusive introverted character, who spends most of his time drawing. When he was at college he was traumatized by a group of scumbags when they kidnaped him and took turns to subject him to various abuses (the story behind it is revealed late in the movie, so I’m not saying more). Those bullies are now one by one turning up dead and killed in ways that reflect the abuses they inflicted on Ken.
In contrast to these killings, Ken’s life is actually starting to improve. Although painfully introverted and socially awkward he is begins to develop a relationship with his daughter, who only recently found out who he was (Her mother didn’t want her to know, deciding he was crazy). Amy (Gade) is pretty much the perfect daughter, though she has problems in her own life her positive attitude and encouragement to Ken leads to him even going on a date with a girl that seemed interested in him, Stephanie (Davis).
The local Sheriff meanwhile (Bostwick), who dating Ken’s mother (Black) is starting to put things together and closing in on Ken. He’s just not sure if Ken could really do these horrific crimes, though with what he went through, he can certainly see why he would want to.
A Dad Who Connects With His Daughter
Ken is an interesting character. He is quite, reclusive, but does not seem actually evil. He does struggle with being in the outside world and perhaps yearns to be back behind the safe doors of the asylum. Despite that he has genuine affection for Stephanie and especially his daughter. At one point when he realised that Amy has bullies of her own he becomes quite protective of her and seems determined to be a positive influence on her.
Amy meanwhile is the sweetest girl you will probably ever come across in fiction and in some ways that makes her character harder to buy, but it’s so charming it doesn’t really matter. She is just unrelentingly good natured and unlike Ken, very talkative. Her home life though seems to be one of vague neglect (nothing hardcore, but her mother and step father don’t seem particularly engaged with her and there is a clear lack of connection between them). The movie does a good job of showing why Amy and Ken need each other.
Drama, Horror, Comedy.
That’s all the drama elements though, this is meant to be a comedy horror, so how did it fair on those standards? Well, it’s not really a horror to be honest, it just has horror elements. The kills are brutal and the way the bodies are left are creative. But the victims are all scumbags and so there isn’t really a fear factor. As an audience member you want to see them get slaughtered. These events are spaced out and not dwelled on. The movie also has a very predictable swerve, but honestly, didn’t ruin the film and they did a pretty good job of trying to push you away from the swerve… still it was a little too predictable so it’s still a minus.
This isn’t a heavy comedy either. Most of the humour comes from Barry Bostwick as Sheriff Walt Fuller and it’s more goofy than anything but I did find it amusing and since it plays specifically into the characters personality it isn’t too heavy handed, doesn’t disrupt the flow of the film and provides a bit of light relief, usually right after a violent murder. It also works well into the swerve as he turns out to be smarter than you would assume for most of the film.
Assessment
As you can see from the above the movie is more a drama and character study than a horror or comedy, but it’s not totally removed from these things and the way it is put together works quite well. The actors all do admirably, especially 14 year old Ariel Gade, an experienced child actress who actually retired from acting after this movie to focus on her education (Sensible for a child star). If she returns she may have a good career ahead of her.
Overall, I liked this movie. It was better than expected and million miles from the directors previous movie. Despite that, the film didn’t elicit any strong feelings from me. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat. I chuckled a couple of times at the Sheriff but that was it and while I liked Amy, Ken and Sheriff Fuller I the story isn’t one I particularly feel the need to come back to. So while It is definitely a recommended movie, it’s not pushing into the 7-10 territory. This is a strong 6/10.
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