The Swill List

I was going to make thise entry about some other recently watched films, and have no fear they will be reviewed today or perhaps tomorrow, however last night I watched a film that was in my personal opinion terrible. Simply bad. It occured to me that going against the general concept of a critic all my reviews up until this point have been fairly posotive and approving. So it is with a strange glee that I now move for the kill on Kill List. But beware I shall be without mercy and without care for revealing the full plot. Spoilers ahead!

The film opens with a gritty hyper real look at a troubled couple suffering from financial difficulties, martial stress, raising a child and lack of work. And thus the film continues though the reason behind the lack of work becomes more complicated and it becomes evident that the man called jay cannot work due to something that happened on his last job. Plot twist one, he is no ordinary man out of work from back problems, he is infact a contract killer. When friends come round for a party the next job is discussed and there is a major argument between the lead couple. We are also introduced to a friend who works with Jay, Gal is a charming and merry Irish man who is also a cold contract killer. At this point Gal's girlfriend goes into a bathroom and scores a symbol upon the back of a mirror, a symbol previously shown in the opening titles. Moving on from this point Jay and Gal, the two Musketeers as they proclaim, go off on their questionable start. But the first kill seems with out reason, they are expected, and the priest thanks them. So begins the intrigue. On to number two, he also thanks them though they are incredibly violent upon discovering he keeps snuff childporn. They also find in a safe a wad of money and a file on them. Jay howevere cares not for the thickening of the plot and goes off on one killing those who made the film in violent self righteousness. So far everything is going ok I guess, they return home for a brief spell as Gal wants to quit, but after Jay's beloved cat is killed and the man who contracted them issues a severe threat it is back to last but not least number three the M.P. This particular minister of parliment is wealthy with a large estate, oh and before I forget he is also linked to some questionable possibly Pagan group that walk through his estate naked save for straw masks carrying torches till they reach a gallows where one of their number willingly hangs herself. Jay cirtainly does not like this and openning fire upon the group whom he percieves as evil leads to a tense chase through some tunnels by mainly naked Pagans with torches who, for no explainable reason, squeal like piggies. From here on the movie turns into a horror of how jay and his family are being hunted by piggy Pagans. There is a little more but I shan't ruin it for you, needless to say the Pagans are lead by those who hired the two men, and their targets where people who wanted to die.

My issues with this film are numerous but I shall make it simple. Firstly the hyper real drama of the families everyday lives and struggles with relationsihps is well done but quite frankly boring, the fact that the guys are hit men is more importantly unbelieveable. Then amongst these extended periods of boring monotony we get more boring points of following victims and them interjections of unnecassary violence. I know they are aiming for gritty realism but I don't need to see a man recieve a hammer to the back of the head. Then when we get to what might be argued the second half with the piggy Pagans it seems the film decides to run away from any credibility it once had, it changes genre and feel and becomes out and out rediculous. The ending though I shan't turely spoil it is an extraordinarily predicatable twist that doesn't even play out well. The characters are unlikable and I had no care for any of them at any point, the story was conveluted and stupid, and the music made to increase tension was poorly placed and at best unnerving because it was annoying. The film seems to have been filmed in a desperate attempt to please critics with its oddities and quick cut film style whilst trying to catch the awe of the veryday audience with shocking tacticks of hyper violence and a last minute adrenaline rush chase. Unfortunately it merely comes across as a dull real life film with outbursts of pointless violence and gore that then becomes a different film. As to reference to the witty title it is pig's swill probably from the squealing Pagans. Also as a point I feel needs to be raised why is it the Pagans always get the shitty end of the stick, most other religions have done attrocities far out of the reaches of a small almost dead religion.