Customer Reviews

Kill Theory

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

.....that I liked this movie but I did and it was fun while I watched it but sort of evaporates after it's over. It's like Saw but with college kids. The story is a theory of a madman that a group of people when trapped and given an ultimatum that only one of the group will live to be set free and the friends will have to kill each other. And they do, including one guy who's head is pulverized to a bloody pulp by a shovel.

Naturally the friends are in a house miles from the closest town, land-lines and cell-phones don't work but the movie has some clever twists including the friends growing paranoia towards the next one and a few are dispatched by the madman when they attempt to escape. The movie entertains and has some gross but not over-the-top gross kills and is worth a rental-and for someone named Jason out there in Amazonland there are some howlers including Hollywood style shemanigans with a 9MM handgun.

As a gun-owner I know that certain safety rules apply when holding a pistol but there are some hi-jinks with the loaded gun that in the real world would lead to certain injury or death to one of them, and holding the gun with your finger on the trigger while pointing it at an adversary is a Hollywood and tv fiction. You only point a gun at something you intend to destroy. Don't mean to preach but it irks me when I see this.

I saw this movie like 4 months ago caught me by suprise it was included in the horrorfest. It kinda reminds you of saw with the whole what would you do to survive thing but it is easily seperated. I think its one of the best at horrorfest hands down its even so good I think it would have survived a wide theater release. Perfect date movie if your girl likes to be scared.

If you like the SAW movies then this should be right up your ally.

Spoilers
Spoilers

The movie is about a man who had to kill two of his friends during a rock climbing expidition. He made the choice to kill them both to save himself. years later he is released from his psychiatric hospital, and goes on a murderous binge to prove that everyone would have made the same choice as him, that is to live instead of die. He does this by trapping a group of college kids inside of a mountain getaway 50 miles from no where. All the students have around six hours to kill each other, only 1 will survive, if more than one survives then they all will die.

The movie does have some intense moments, but really the whole movie tries to be like saw, but never truly pulls it off, and everything that happens you pretty much know is going to happen, from beginning to end, nothing was ever really a moment of hanging suspense, or any diabolical mechanisms to kill each other through any kind of non-normal means other than knives and guns. All in all a pretty uneventfull movie and easily forgettable.

I was a bit doubtful about this movie. I purchased it on a whim, because I enjoy horror movies and the plot seemed interesting. However, upon reading some of the reviews I regretted my decision. To my surprise, I enjoyed most of the movie.

THE AWESOME
The setting was a perfect choice, as were the props.
THE GOOD
The actors were fairly talented, most of them with experience in other shows and movies. I was also surprised by how attractive they were. The plot was also decent, and I was honestly surprised by who the survivor was, and how they became so.
THE BAD
Those that haven't read the synopsis would probably find it somewhat confusing. Since I did, I understand the beginning pretty well, but my family found it a bit confusing.

There wasn't anything too horrible, or I'm sure that I would've rated lower. The reason that I gave it a 4 was because while there was no one thing that was super horrible, there were a few things that added up. For example, I felt that considering that the climax, and much of the story was strong, the ending seemed to lack the closure that any ending should have.

Overall, I give this movie a grade of a B+/A- (88-90%). Any horror movie fans would enjoy this movie.

Think ..What if they remade "The Thing" and it were a slasher film and not about an alien.
Kill Theory was an effective slasher film with a good story,You already know who the killer is and why they're doing it, so no twist ending, or is there?
A guy has to cut three of his friends off a rope while climbing mountains in order to save himself.His attorney makes a plea deal and he has to take it "to his dismay"..After being in an institution for three years he is released .To prove a point that anyone would do the same "kill in order to stay alive" he devises an experiment in which a houseful of college grads can only have one survivor by 6 am or they all die. It's very claustrophobic and tense,and somewhat like "The Thing" who can they trust,who has the inner beast? The fact that there are three couples in the house only makes it more complicated and interesting.
Agnes Bruckner who is somewhat of a scream queen is very good in her role but the stand out is Daniel Franzese who plays the fat insecure single guy.The power struggles and switching of alliances is fun to watch so are the gore effects that are good and realistic.
So far one of my favorites from this years 8 ,but then again I'm a slasher lover.

It begins with a vanload of college kids driving down a lone road in the middle of the woods. They all begin that way, don't they? But wait, it gets even better. They arrive at a summer lake house, which just happens to be located at least fifty miles from the nearest police or fire station, and they immediately find all the booze. After a night of drinking and partying and more drinking, most of them go off and have sex. The only exception is the one guy whose lack of experience in the girlfriend department is in direct proportion to his extra weight. He's left to play video games all by himself, the poor guy. What's worse, he has to watch as two of his friends get hot and heavy directly outside his window.

Anyway, at around three in the morning, an unseen madman descends on the house and forces the kids to participate in a social experiment. The hypothesis: One of them is capable of killing everyone else in order to survive. If more than one is left alive by 6:00 am, the madman makes it clear that everyone will die.

The college kids aren't allowed to leave the house, and anyone that tries will either be killed on the spot or fall victim to a booby trap. They all must take part in this. As the three hours pass, paranoia, distrust, and resentment grow amongst the college kids. Old wounds open. Feelings, both good and bad (mostly bad), arise. Some think they have made alliances, but in reality, they all have to fend for themselves. Why are they being put through this? What lesson is this madman trying to teach? Why is he teaching it?

I thought the idea of subjecting people to dangerous mind games had been exhausted with the "Saw" films, but I guess I was wrong. In all likelihood, "Kill Theory" will appease many horror audiences, seeing as it gives them everything they want. Young victims. Topless girls. Bad dialogue. A lot of swearing. A plot that pretends to make a point but is really just a vehicle for gory death scenes. If this is your cup of tea, fine, but I seriously doubt there's anything in this movie you can't get from other slashers. I take that back; this movie does not supply the madman with a mask. For the most part, he remains off screen and lets the college kids do most of the dirty work.

Anyone can make a case for how movies like this are ugly, cruel, and mindless, but the real problem here is that "Kill Theory" just isn't trying very hard. There isn't much originality in its story, its characters, or its structure, inspired by every slasher film made between 1980 and now, many of which were rehashes from the word go. There's not a single likeable or interesting person amongst the eight college kids - not even Freddy, the overweight guy (Daniel Franzese), introduced as the pathetic nice guy but in due time devolves into the wigged out lunatic that cries a lot. From the filmmaker's point of view, he's just a figure of fun, made to be laughed at more than sympathized with. I can't say I appreciate that. Even with the occasional corny joke, this really isn't a funny film.

What saves "Kill Theory" from utter pointlessness is its development of the killer, who isn't really seen but is sometimes heard. He's played by Kevin Gage as a cross between Jigsaw, Ghost Face, and the late Don LaFontaine, otherwise known as the guy who used to narrate all the movie trailers. Just wait until you hear him deliver the line, "Deep down, we're all killers." I leave it to you to discover what drives his character. I will say that it was revealed rather cleverly, in a way that proves horror movie plot twists still have their place.

But on the whole, this is a cliché, tiresome film, made worse by a story we can't actively engage in. How can we when the whole thing is so preposterous? More to the point, how can we when there isn't a character we can actually invest in? Franzese, Teddy Dunn, Ryanne Duzich, Patrick Fleuger, Steffi Wickens, Taryn Manning, Theo Rossi, and Agnes Bruckner show spirit in trying to make something of the screenplay, but it doesn't count for much since director Chris Moore and writer Kelly C. Palmer had to make something of the roles first. They perform as best they can, which is admirable but also futile; their characters are required to do no more or less than die on cue, and that hardly requires any range.

I've admitted numerous times that I've grown tired of the slasher genre, so I guess my not liking "Kill Theory" was inevitable. If you're not like me, however, then chances are you will enjoy it. As I said, it gives you everything you could possibly want. This definitely includes the horrifying discovery that not only are cell phones useless in the woods, but also that the phone line in the house has been severed. Funny - I would have thought the filmmakers would go one step further and have the whole thing take place in the middle of a rainstorm. If you're going to rely on clichés, you might as well go all the way.

This is the first of 2010 After Dark Horrorfest films that I watched. I can say this, it's already better than most of the entries in the last three combined (not ALL, but most). The setup is achingly familiar - group of young adults head off to a remote house in the woods to party for graduation. Killer stalks them one by one . . . etc

But, there is a variation on the theme here. Instead of the slasher doing all the slashing, he sets it up for our characters to do the slashing for him. After killing one of them, he leaves instructions with the rest that the same fate awaits ALL of them, unless by 6am, all but one of them have killed each other. If one person walks out of the house, that person survives. But if they don't kill each other, HE will kill them all.

The imaginative premise, preposterous as it is, serves to lift the film out of the usual teen slasher genre. Matched with decent performances, quality camera and editing work, and an unfolding screenplay that allows the characters to make smart or at least reasonable choices - this movie gets the 4th annual Horrorfest off to a decent start.

The film features a decent amount of blood, including a pretty nasty bludgeoning death - but most of the gore comes from stabbings and shootings - nothing too extreme in the blood-and-guts department.

Of course, it's not all perfection - the opening act drags as we meet the characters and learn what their little hang-ups are. The decision to hide the killer's face had me prepared for some major twist in the end, which never came, leaving me puzzled as to why they hid his identity - perhaps they thought it would make him creepier? Of course, you have the one gratuitous boob shoot early on, for no other reason than to be there. And as I said, the entire plot is fairly convoluted - it basically requires that we believe this man would go to such extremes simply to "make a point" about human nature, all because he's upset he had to plead guilty to murder when he cut his climbing partners from a fraying rope a decade ago. The setup of the wicked challenge lends the film a SAW feel, without all the nasty traps. As such, even in its imaginativeness, it is derivative.

In the end, it's no classic, but it certainly stands a cut above the norm for the Afterdark series - I was engaged by it enough to want to finish it, even if I'll never bother to watch it again.

I'm actually kind of surprised by all the positive reviews that Kill Theory has garnered. This was one of the main attractions for me when first checking out this year's After Dark Horrorfest lineup, and the end result is basically a cross between Saw and slasher conventions. A group of college grads (among them horror vet hottie Agnes Bruckner and Sons of Anarchy's Theo Rossi) become the targets of a killer (Kevin Gage) who proceeds to turn them all against each other in an effort to survive until just one is left standing. In between all that is some atrocious acting and average makeup effects, but what saves Kill Theory from being complete horror rubbish are the decent amount of twists towards the end of the film. Those alone make Kill Theory worth a look, but all in all, you're not really missing much here.

Skimming through the free on-demand movies, I came across this one and it caught my interest. "Kill Theory" is an intriguing movie that blends the elements of '80s slasher films such as "Friday the 13th" with the suspense/tension/torture-film elements of "Saw" and a dark, nightmarish setting that rounds it all off. This movie has a lot going for it: a clever and twisted villain, great atmosphere, and it certainly goes hard with the gore (the scene where that one jerk got bludgeoned in the skull with a shovel says it all!)

One thing that did bother me was that, despite reviving the whole college-kids-on-vacation theme being a positive, it felt kind of rushed because it was almost forced right into from the beginning. It was like the movie-makers were saying "Okay, here's a half-dozen characters, instantly connect with them." It also got a little tedious in parts, however it still has quite a few moments of suspense that round it all off.

All in all, this was an interesting, suspenseful and gory movie that I think deserves more recognition, if only for the fact that it's not a Z-grade remake of a horror classic. Check it out if you get the chance! Thanks for the time, and peace.

From past experience, most After Dark Horrorfest selections have something to recommend them, and I think they do a great service of bringing worthwhile low budget films some public attention. In this case it is the basic plot idea that recommends this film. Unfortunately, the script and its execution (especially the dialogue) leaves too much to be desired. Having the germ of a good idea isn't enough, unfortunately. And to give you an idea of where this director is coming from: in the deleted scene he actually suggests it was foolish to film the scene during daylight because nothing scary happens in films in daylight. REALLY? Just last night I watched Hitchcock's The Birds, so I'll mention that. Otherwise I'd be left with many thousands of other examples to draw upon of what a real director can do when confronted with the idea of making something scary happen during daylight. And, FYI, no, the surprise revelation at the end of the film wasn't the least bit shocking and may as well been left out.