Kill List — Kill List( UHD & Blu Ray)
Kill List is an early 2010 British picture that blends shouty kitchen sink drama, hit man thriller, and folk horror. The film has a wonderful feeling of dread and building unease, with moments of brutal and intense violence. Here from Severin is a dual disc UHD/ Blu Ray release of the film, three commentary tracks, and a decent selection of new/ old extras.
Kill List is from the year 2011- it was directed/co-written by Ben Wheatley, from Billericay, Essex. To date, he has eleven features to his name- these go from dark, at times brutal comedy Sightseers(2012), shoot 'em up action comedy Free Fire(2016), and folk/supernatural horror In The Earth(2016).
Kill List focuses on two hit men, who haven’t worked for eight months or so due to a disastrous job in Kyiv. We have Jay (Neil Maskell) an on the edge family man- who lives with his young son Sam(Harry Simpson) and ex- military Swedish wife Shel(MyAnna Buring). And the always up for a crack Irishman, Gal (Micheal Smiley).
One night, Gal comes around Jay's house for food and a few drinks. He mentions a new job- to take out three separate targets- Jay initially seems not too keen, but as the night goes on, booze is drunk, and Jay explodes, smashes plates & pulls the tablecloth- he agrees to the job.
So they hit the road, first getting details of the three hits- but there’s something wrong from the off- as the guy setting the hit grabs Jay's hand & slashes it, mixing it with his own blood.
As each hit is done, Jay seems to get more and more violent with the carrying out of his job, with one of the most intense attacks featuring a hammer, a knee, a hand, and a head. As they get ready to do their final job, we start to twist into towards folk horror- as they come across a ceremony with lit torches and straw masks.
The film rather effortlessly blends and blurs its genre elements of family drama, hit man thriller and horror. With the feeling of foreboding unease in place from the start, and this just escalates & escalates as Jay starts to well and truly unfold.
Both of our leads are great- really selling their initial camaraderie/ friendship, and as things get progressively nastier and horror fed, their relationship starts to move into more difficult waters.
I saw Kill List just after it came out in the early 2010’s, and today it still maintains its power, with moments of jarring/ shocking violence, and prevailing air of disquiet/ unsettling tension.
This dual-disc release features a new 4k scan. This is full of both clarity and depth, which nicely intensifies the film even more. The blend of dialogue, music, and sound design has also been nicely enhanced with the new scan.
On the extras side, we get six plus hours of things, with a good chunk of this being all new content. So first off, on the new side, we have a commentary track from Co-Writer/Director Ben Wheatley and Severin Films' Mike Hewitt. This is a most fascinating/ entertaining track, revealing lots of facts/ background I wasn’t aware of. It kicks off by discussing the symbol at the start/ end of the film- how it came about, and basically how it’s a form of a curse. They talk about the script, which brought together everything Wheatley was generally scared of. We find out the film was shot over three weeks, with a blend of scripted and improvised acting. They discuss how the film is symmetrical- folding in the middle at the brutal hammer attack. We find out influences for the film, which were the likes of Race With The Devil & The Parallax View. They talk about the appearance of a black cat in the film- its meaning, and the general difficulties of working with animals. Later on, they talk about moments of dark humour in the film. We get a breakdown of how some of the effects were created. They chat about the pictures, the nighttime fire scene, and how it ended up with more than a few firefighters turning up. We find out that the Kyiv job had been fully scripted, and at one point, they were going to use it in an advertising campaign. And of course, much, much more- definitely a must-play track.
Also on the new side, we have: The Hitmen Return (28.57) Interview with Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley. The pair talks about how they got into acting, how they got the role, etc. This is a great interview, and it’d be so brilliant to see these two working together again- maybe a Kill List pre-sequel?!. The Gift Of Sound And Vision ( 15.38) Interview with Director Of Photography Laurie Rose and Sound Recordist Rob Entwistle. Unsettling Soundscapes ( 12.57) Interview with Sound Designer Martin Pavey. Cunning Stunts In The Editing Room ( 17.18) Interview with Editor Robin Hill.
On the archive side, we have two commentary tracks- one with Ben Wheatley and Co-Writer Amy Jump. And one with actors Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring And Michael Smiley. Otherwise, we have: Interviews with Director Ben Wheatley, Producers Claire Jones and Andrew Starke and Actors Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring. Assault On Sun Hill ( 4.20) Ben Wheatley's John Carpenter Homage Filmed For FrightFest 2011 featuring Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring- this is great, as it also throws in zombies as well as the Carpenter stuff. And a trailer.
Hands down, Kill List is one of the great genre blending ‘n’ blurring films of all time. Been equally a powerful kitchen sink drama, a suspenseful/ brutal hitman thriller, and an unsettling folk horror. It’s wonderful to see the film get this excellent treatment from Severin, with its great 4k scan, and the most worthy selection of extras.