I had tried and failed three times to watch Death List. Each time I just didn't feel in the mood for it. The first fifteen minutes come across as very amateurish and the odd dubbing really didn't put me in the mood for it at all. I finally sat down and got all the way through and after those first few minutes, this really does pick up.
Writer, director, lead, cameraman and everything else Ara Paiaya is a force to be reckoned with. He may not have any money for this film, but he has more heart and passion than an entire franchise full of Hollywood drivel. The fact he got so much done for nothing is amazing. Ara is clearly a talented guy and his martial arts ability is top notch. He uses a style akin to early Jackie Chan films as he incorporates the environment into the fights. Various cars are destroyed during the fight scenes and we even get a great moment with a forklift truck. Ara also did all his stunts and from the bloopers section on the DVD, we can see he really does risk his body for his film.
The film is only just over an hour long, but nothing else is needed. It's lean and fast moving and there's never more than a few minutes without another great fight scene coming along. The film is also filled with humor that worked for me eventually, you just need to let the mood of it sink in a little. It's also got some really bad, and seemingly knowingly so gore. Any time someone has a limb cut off, we see something that's clearly just been bought at Poundland. It kind of works too.
I'm so glad that Ara has gone on to make more films and it seems like the budgets have gone up in recent years too. It's sad this film is so unknown (I'm only the 3rd person to have seen it on Letterboxd at the time of writing) as it's so well done I feel it should have found a cult following. I'll certainly be checking out more of his films in the very near future.
