 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: 68 Kill • Year: 2017 • Country: USA • Director: Trent Haaga • Main cast: Matthew Gray Gubler, AnnaLynne McCord, Alisha Boe • Runtime: 93 minutes • Production company: Snowfort Pictures, AMP International • TRAILER
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First of all, I must emphasize my admiration for filmmaker Trent Haaga, the director of this movie 68 Kill. He is one of those mega hard working people in the genres of horror, being in uncountable productions since the very early 2000’s. He has written titles like Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000), Hell Asylum (2002), Deadgirl (2008), or the amazing Cheap Thrills (2013), produced another handful including Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil (2002), Dead & Rotting (2002), The Ghouls (2003) or Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! (2006), and acting in over 50 titles. Without forgetting being one of the main heads behind the instant cult favorite video game The Evil Within (2014). Still, 68 Kill is merely his second movie as a director, after his debut with Chop (2011). With a presentation card like this, it is mandatory that if an event like Sitges Film Festival program a movie by Trent Haaga, we horror lovers must religiously attend to the screening.
And what did we find there? Well, I must say I was quite disappointed by the final result. The story is interesting, with a good set of plot twists that for some instants fooled the very demanding horror audience. The technical work, especially with the images, colors, makeup effects and locations, was above most of the b-movies and straight to video releases we are used to. But, sadly, the list of good things barely ends here. The movie is clearly directed by a fan of the genre, that is undoubtful, but it gets stuck in a series of mechanic cliches and tricks that won’t impress anyone. The narration is also very erratic, killing the high intensity of some of the scenes with downfalls that killed the mood of the spectator. And what to mention about the performance of Matthew Gray Gubler, the main star of the movie? Oh, man, is that the worst acting performance I have seen this year? He was awful, really! Poor man, I hope he is not reading this. But I just couldn’t stand him! Okay, I must admit his job walking the thin line between action and comedy perhaps wasn’t the easiest of the tasks. But still, for me, by far, his performance was the worst of the movie and maybe even of the whole Sitges Festival 2017.
On the other side, the female stars were more than correct, bringing intensity and credibility to the film. AnnaLynne McCord was superb as the fucking insane stripper turned into thief and murderer. And Sheila Vand, who after her roles in this film, XX (2017), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) or Camino (2015) I hope she gets more credit and chances to exploit her potential, also brought an intense and devilish performance.
68 Kill is not a bad movie, it is entertaining and has a good set of surprises and moments of fun. But I couldn’t help but have the feeling something much better could have flourished from there. If the movie falls into my hands again, I would gladly watch it. So I guess that’s a good point, right?
RATE: 5/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5189894
