A Guidebook to Killing Your Ex

Another half-assed Be My Cat wannabe. The concept of someone so distressed by past love's behavior that they are moved to murder, coupled with a cool head teaching the method as we go is inherent hilarity, fraught with it-is-to-laugh. This movie was not much more. It depended on the situation adding little with the visuals, wherein there was at least as much humor to be mined. Add to that the mostly missed script and bam, we have a sitcom. Again.

A loner prepares to stalk and kill his ex-girlfriend and her fiancée.

Poorly conceived found footage drama, which doesn't qualify as horror since it has no moment of transformation from good to bad, reality to fantasy. I did like the idea of the footage being uploaded to the internet, and the guidebook nature of the story is promising - but this really doesn't deliver. Badly written monologues, badly performed, and badly shot.

There is some relief in the realisation that the actor is not the writer/director, and that there were other people involved - otherwise this would be a creepy ego trip for someone inflicting their mental illness on the audience.

Overall: Wish I hadn't.

I was very fortunate to view a screener provided to me by the film's Director, József Gallai. The film is Hungarian Police file footage of John Doe's (Balázs Szitás) 72-hour chronicle of his plans to kill his Ex, which he has been uploading to the Web as an instruction manual for like-minded persons. We follow him as he lays plans, purchases a weapon, sneaks around the Ex's office and inside her and her new boyfriend's apartment at night.

The film was done on a low budget, as most Indie horror films are, and there is not much blood or gore to speak of, but I found myself completely absorbed in the story nonetheless. The horror in the film is the planning and execution of his scheme. There are a few comic relief moments, where I had to laugh out loud at Shawn Michael Clankie, who plays a blogger, V.i.M., as he encourages men to stand up and fight their ex's, yet is constantly interrupted on his mobile by his own Ex. That being said, it was a nervous laughter from me, because I was wondering what John Doe was up to! The film is in English, and any spoken Hungarian is subtitled or explained. My only criticism of the language choice is that the English has a thick Hungarian accent at times, but if one is used to such things (as I am), it's perfectly fine. English closed-caption was also available, so I presume this will also be available upon release, which will help anyone with polyglot issues.

Balázs Szitás is very well suited to this role and portrays John Doe with a maniacal energy and compulsion, which is, in itself, frightening, yet he goes further and even looks the part! I found myself wondering if the local sanitarium hadn't started acting classes and then released one of its patients to star in a film! The man is an outstanding actor.

József Gallai is a Director who is always working and puts his heart and soul into a film. He directed Bodom, which is touted as Hungary's first found-footage horror film, and has many more credits to his list.

The movie begins with a man who's not named, a John Doe (actually there isn't a single named character in the movie), announcing through a video uploaded to the Internet that he intends to murder his ex in 72 hours, and wants to document the whole process for us to learn from it.

Along the way, bits and pieces of information allows us to understand what drove him to such a level of cuckooness.

While not being a big fan of "found footage" movies (Cloverfield being an exception), ipI have to admit it's well used here, and works as a whole. The camera is alwaus carried by the main character, or positioned in a logical way. It feels authentic. The director took care of not filming long shaky motion sickness scenes either, which is a plus.

The movie is crazy and original and, the lead actor certainly knows how to convey unleashed madness. In the middle of the madness and horror, he manages to get a few laughs from us.

For an indie low budget movie, it's really good. I've read some harsh critics on there, and my opinion is that the movie is underrated (below five at this date). People have to set their expectations accordingly to the production values and, judge movies for what they are.

There is a post credit sequence. Don't miss it. You'll need it.

If you're looking for a disturbing film to watch, this is the one. The picture that this movie paints isn't pretty. It's dark with some horrifying moments with some odd comical moments thrown in there. I was captivated by the lunacy of the main character; it's one of those scenarios that's so ugly that you can't turn away. I figure that was the director's objective and he pulled it off in expert fashion. Good film!