Kill List

 (902)
6.41 h 35 min2011X-RayNR
When a hitman comes out of retirement, he's drawn into a dark and evil underworld.
Directors
Ben Wheatley
Starring
Neil MaskellMyAnna BuringMichael Smiley
Genres
SuspenseHorrorAction
Subtitles
English [CC]
Audio languages
English
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Supporting actors
Harry Simpson
Producers
Claire Jones
Studio
AMC Plus Horror
Content advisory
Substance usealcohol usefoul languagesexual contentviolence
Purchase rights
Stream instantly Details
Format
Prime Video (streaming online video)
Devices
Available to watch on supported devices

Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars

902 global ratings

  1. 48% of reviews have 5 stars
  2. 23% of reviews have 4 stars
  3. 13% of reviews have 3 stars
  4. 8% of reviews have 2 stars
  5. 8% of reviews have 1 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

AReviewed in the United States on October 22, 2016
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly Excellent
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SPOILERS (I'll try to make most of them vague.)
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This is a fairly straightforward occult movie, much like those that were so popular during the 70s. In fact, it's so like the 70s that at one point I thought there was going to be a key party.

But the movie goes dark very quickly and gets darker and darker from there. What seems like
SPOILER (Skip down to the asterisk if you don't want to know)-----

a fairly typical squabble between husband and wife Jay and Shel over strained family finances turns out to be a set up to get Jay back into the murder for hire business with his best friend Gal, something Jay does not want to do anymore. The movie sets the viewers up as well with the dinner party and immediate aftermath, but the groundwork gets laid even earlier with a particularly lighthearted moment that is given a very David Lynch-like cinematic touch.

*END SPOILER (from here, the spoilers will be far less explicit).

While, ultimately, I really liked the movie, both as a reasonably well-constructed scary story and as a metaphor for a family disintegrating under financial stress and the spouses' differing life goals, there were problems with it that I had trouble getting past. The pacing is somewhat inconsistent, and, maybe it was the video stream, but the sound design seemed really bad. But other than that (and my own personal aversion to some rather graphic torture), I thought this was an excellent film: the story is deep, the acting was excellent, and the film never oversold itself OR pulled its punches.

Recommend.
17 people found this helpful
Crazy SvenReviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Grindhouse Film for the Intelligentcia
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KILL LIST may be misleading title for a film with many more nuances than the average ultra-violent movie. This tense, gripping, UK indie work combines elements of "Eyes Wide Shut", "Reservoir Dogs" and "Wicker Man" but maintains its own standalone ethereal quality and creativity. “Kill List” is not for the faint of heart by any means, but it’s the best action film I have seen in quite some time. The violence is shocking, however, it somehow does not seem "gratuitous" in spite of the realism. You be the judge. The voice track is a little soft and the accents can be hard to understand, so you might want to turn the captions on.
17 people found this helpful
Mark C. JonesReviewed in the United States on November 26, 2018
3.0 out of 5 stars
Raw And Crude, Occasionally Effective
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This movie features a raw visual style that resembles live videocam footage. The editing is quick and choppy with lots of short takes--the editing rhythms are awkward and resemble jump cuts. The actors all seem like amateurs who probably have full-time day jobs. Much of the story and script seem like they're either unfinished or improvised. The end credits actually confirm that the players did improvise some of the dialogue. The violence is brutal, swift, and shocking--though with little gore and blood.

All that being said, the movie has its moments. It builds well towards its twist ending and it's the best kind of twist because once you know the ending, it actually enhances your enjoyment of the movie. But even at its short running time, the movie is still much too long. Director Ben Wheatley fills the gaps with spats between the husband and wife couple and silly rough-housing between the two male assassins. Unless you like this kind of kitchen-sink realism, you can pass this one by.
8 people found this helpful
lcReviewed in the United States on August 14, 2021
1.0 out of 5 stars
Worst movie in ages…
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Woke up mad this morning because I wasted an evening watching this horrendous, awkward, contrived, lower than low budget film with no plot and an ending that in no way pulls the crazed dark threads of the story together. Gory, gross, bloody, and did I mention no plot? Do yourself a huge favor and avoid this giant piece of you-know-what. You’d have a more memorable time studying the wallpaper, walking through poison ivy, or plucking thorny roses with your bare hands and then cleaning them with alcohol-based hand sanitizer. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
3 people found this helpful
John's Horror CornerReviewed in the United States on May 4, 2022
4.0 out of 5 stars
A most grounded British pseudo-folk horror.
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This film is not your fun popcorn Friday night thriller, though a thriller it is. Rather this is your higher-brow, hush and pay close attention thinker, as you’ll constantly find your curiosity tickled as you wonder what is really going on. A bit intense, graphic gore at a few brief times, and harrowingly grounded.

Having fallen on tough financial times, Jay (Neil Maskell; The Mummy, Peaky Blinders, Doghouse) and Shel (MyAnna Buring; The Descent, The Witcher) suffer a strained marriage as their fights become more frequent over Jay’s long absence from gainful employment. Still, Jay and Shel clearly care for each other and their son very dearly. When they have their friends Gal (Michael Smiley; Freefire, Gunpowder Milkshake, The Hallow, The Nun) and Fiona (Emma Fryer; In the Dark) over for dinner, a tempting work opportunity is presented—Jay and Gal are hitmen, and the work opportunity is a series of three hits.

This film takes its time introducing us to Jay and Gal, this mysterious triple-or-nothing job, and their inner workings. As their ‘work’ is underway, there’s something strange about their first target, and something equally strange about Fiona’s behavior around Jay and Shel’s house. The greater plot is an enigma, and I’m expecting some deep cuts to be revealed. The story seems rather straightforward—a little too straightforward. We know something is afoot, we just don’t know what. As the story proceeds, Jay begins to lose it. And a hitman on the job losing it is, well, very unnerving.

We enjoy some brutal knee, hand and skull mutilation; exposed entrails; and numerous flesh wounds. The scenes are just plain mean, yet very grounded and unsensationalized at the same time. Keeping things more tempered, the atmosphere is very dry. Dry delivery, unpredictably manic behavior, and an ominous job all leave me begging to know what’s behind the proverbial door.

The plot ever thickens, but slowly, ultimately arriving to a conclusion that I find bizarre and inexplicable. Not sure I was happy with where it ended up—I was quite impressed with some aspects of it, but not others. I wanted to know more, but we all know that knowing more rarely produces a satisfying answer. And I’m sorry to say that upon “sight” of the finale, I immediately predicted the ending twist. By some freak movie-going experiences, I’ve essentially seen this exact twist more than once before (in another folk horror film for at least one such incident). Although, that’s not to say this wasn’t an engaging film, or that the big twist shouldn’t be shocking and disturbing to most viewers.

Director and co-writer Ben Wheatley (Freefire, The ABCs of Death U is for Unearthed) did a great job delivering patient, grounded horror in a package that felt largely original—a very difficult conquest in the horror genre
BaudelaireReviewed in the United States on February 10, 2020
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great setup, very disappointing ending
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There were so many good things about this movie that the ending was a deep disappointment. The film is done in a realist, almost documentary style, with deliberately choppy editing and a minimum of scripted dialogue (the credits list the actors' improvisations as writing credit). The result is that we're watching what feels like a real family drama, complete with an awkward and tense dinner party between the two lead characters and their two friends.

In essence, the hot-tempered protagonist is a contract killer who's screwed up in Kiev about eight months back and is in free-fall. After eight months of no income, his wife is ready to walk out with their young son, but pulls strings to get him an offer of another hit with his friend Gal. If you can imagine Ringo Starr as a contract hitman, the easygoing Gal is pretty close.

A series of hits builds up to the ending, about which I'll try to be decently vague. Potential spoilers apply, so please avoid this review past this point.

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The kills build up to the final hit in the woods targeting an MP. Stuff happens, and the protagonist is faced with a showdown with an unseen assailant. The unseen assailant turns out to have significance in a number of ways.

The problem with the ending is that this moment was absolutely not prepared for. Characters' earlier motives, which tended to be very clear and distinct for the most part, are completely muddled here, and you're left asking yourself, "Why would X do Y when X was just taking action to *prevent* or *oppose* Y?" "How in the world were Those Folks able to get Y in the position they're in when it was pretty clear that Y wasn't an easy target?" "What is the meaning of X's unusual reaction to Y event, when by all common sense and the movie's own logic, X should have a completely different reaction?"

It's very frustrating. Final surprise twists in movies can be great, and I'm fine with some (limited) degree of motivations not always lining up perfectly with the Surprise Actual Goals in the end. Wicker Man (the original, not the 2006 howler with Nic Cage) is a case in point: Why would the villagers try to dissuade That One Person from leaving, or try to encourage That One Person to do That One Thing that would disqualify them from The Big Moment? But ultimately, that's smaller potatoes and the ending is satisfying and clear.

Here, it really wasn't. It's unfortunate, because most of the movie was grittily realistic, honest, and unscriptedly real in a way that folk horror/found footage films can really bring out, and you genuinely got a sense of these two men's characters and friendship. To have the ending drop the ball like that is truly regrettable, and the work deserved better.
2 people found this helpful
RhayzzaReviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cult of Groot
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Aside from the sound being a bit too low (I actually have this movie someone sent to me eons ago, and the sound was so off that I had no idea there was a song in the movie), I really enjoyed this movie and even with my poor sound, I've watched it a lot of times. SO happy I finally got to watch it with closed captions/subtitles, because now I actually understand a bit more. All the Thank Yooze now make a wee bit more sense. Not that there's tons of sense in this flick, mind you.

I like mindless on occasion, and I love a good torture scene done well...so the graphics are quite good as well. Acting was great, on top of it all.

Ari Aster might have gotten some inspiration here for his Hereditary movie: Which I absolutely love.

PS: I like the movie better without the song in it. Made it a much more eerie scene with Fiona in the bathroom.
One person found this helpful
ArloReviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommend
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This movie has one of the most disturbing endings I've ever seen. Honestly, the realistic scenes of violence alone are some of the most disturbing I've seen (particularly the hammer scene). This movie goes in a direction that you won't expect and will leave you feeling unsettled and wanting to talk about it for days. The pacing might be off-putting for some, but for anyone willing to watch a genuinely tense film, please give this a try.
13 people found this helpful
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