Steven (Nicolas Hoult – Nux from Mad Max) is a record exec in 1990’s London. He lives a drug fueled, misanthropic existence, climbing the corporate ladder in the kill or be killed culture of the record label. When his promotion is threatened by one of his colleagues, Steven quite literally chooses the kill option to protect his status. The punchline is, he’s as poor at homicide as he is at his job and in no time loose ends are popping up all over the place.
Kill Your Friends is a pretty enjoyable film with two notable hitches. First, this film has been compared with American Psycho and a number of other films, the reason, I think, is because a number of moments feel directly lifted from other films. There’s so much thematic and literal borrowing that, at times, it feels like collage film. The second, is how esoterically English Kill Your Friends is. I love British cinema and for the first time ever I needed to kick the subtitles on, not from the accents but to try and catch all the obscure references. Even then there are so many in-jokes that only make sense to Londoners who lived there in the 90’s that I had to keep pausing and running to Wikipedia. I don’t think, however, these should be considered deals breakers. This movie has a lot going for it, from solid performances and direction, to some really clever and funny writing. Just be forewarned that you’ll need to pay attention and maybe have Google handy.
The disc also includes cast and crew interviews and trailer.
Streak, a young woman with some mental health issues takes a job as a night security guard in an abandoned apartment complex; it is about the worst job someone in her position could take but she is desperate to keep custody of her daughter. Exacerbating her condition are a sociopathic coworker and the building itself which has the prerequisite dark secret and may be haunted. Within minutes of arriving, Streak starts to see and hear things that may or may not be there.
Even if you ignore the plot holes and plot conveniences, the story is riddled with clichés and worn out scares. I love a good ‘haunting on a dark and stormy night’ film, but The Abandoned just brings nothing new to the table. The disc features deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and the theatrical trailer.
A group of serial killers escape from an insane asylum and take over a haunted house attraction that has been very specifically modeled after their distinct crimes (insane dentist, murderous taxidermist, etc). No one knows they’re not actors so they’re free to butcher teens in front of other teens one Halloween night. You didn’t buy The Funhouse Massacre for its intricate plotting, you want to know if there’s good gore and lots of murder puns. That answer is yes and lots of it, this makes a perfect Friday night splatterfest for the horror fan who’s seen everything else (lots of premarital sex too but I think that would go without saying). There’s even a Robert Englund cameo right up front so you know what you’re getting. The disc also features director’s commentary, Cast Video Diaries, and a theatrical trailer.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.