I Am Not a Serial Killer

We saw this in the theater yesterday (luckily we have one that shows non-major studio movies). We recognized many places as it was filmed locally.

It has all the elements (drama, comedy,irony, surprise, style) without adding CGI and other effects. In some ways it is a throwback to the sci-fi genre of the 50s and 60s. The plot kept me guessing and changing my mind until the end.

If you have an opportunity, watch this! You will find what quality movies can be. Granted it is not the movie of the year but should be given recognition.

Obsessed with a spate of bloody murders in his hometown, a disturbed teen begins to stalk his elderly neighbour.

Mostly a tale of alienation in a decaying society, but with a light hearted touch. The hero is presented in the unusual scenario of a family that runs the local mortuary, and there's some nice gore on the dissecting table as the vascular pump ticks away in the background. Also sets up a nice sight gag for the credits music at the end.

It's well shot and paced, but only picked up for me at about the half hour mark, when the horror element was introduced. At about 54 mins there is a well thought out and skillful jump scare. But the tone never gets heavy, so this is horror lite. Maybe they should have gone full horror once the ambiguity over the killer's identity was cleared up. Instead we had to wait for some over cooked CGI at the very end.

Lead actor is very good, and the villain too - though some of his lines were obscured by the aged voice. There are too many characters, some of whom seem significant but don't matter to the story or only appear in scenes that could have been cut - mostly the high school stuff. So the screenplay is not the tightest.

Music is interesting, applied with a light touch. A bit of poetry too.

Overall, whimsical horror that needed a heart transplant somewhere along the way.

ps. Interesting to see US-Irish collaboration.

I had never read the book so I can't say a thing about the adaption. But it's a strange flick clocking in over 90 minutes and has a lot of blah blah but also some action here and there.

The problem is the fact that I can't spoil a thing so for the non readers of the book you're in for a strange flick with a weird ending. One you can't see coming. Of course by being a slow flick, it isn't going to be a flick for all horror geeks. It has some excellent effects in the beginning at the morgue and the end is also well done. On part of the horror, it do has a few killings not gory at all but they surely deliver in context of this story.

Even with the word serial killer it isn't a normal serial killer flick. So if you can stand a lot of characterisation and weird things going on then this is going to be your stuff but for gorehounds this doesn't fulfil your wishes.

A flick that stands on his own. But with excellent performances.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

John Wayne Cleaver(Max Records) is a high school student with an unhealthy obsession with serial killers. His small Midwestern town begins to experience a series of brutal murders. John's mother is the town's only mortician and she allows her son to help her with the postmortems. He plays detective and becomes friends with an elderly neighbor, Crowley, played by Christopher Lloyd, in his best role since Back to the Future. Lloyd is funny, sarcastic and he pretty much steals this film. The less written about where his quirky character goes, the better. Lloyd and his young costar, Max Records, have a strange and endearing chemistry which will keep viewers guessing as to how it will all end. The final scene is not what I expected, but I can recommend I am Not a Serial Killer without reservation.

I'll start out by saying I don't watch much horror anymore. A lot of it seems so disturbingly graphic and psychotic that I just can't enjoy the movie. I like character, story and atmospheric stuff presented in a way that isn't all squelch, splatter, saw, cut and pop-up scares.

IANASK delivers good chills, with a hint of 'old-fashioned' horror/psychological drama -to my senses. I enjoyed the characters who felt like real people in a real town. There was good anticipatory tension being built up and I liked the slight 'turn' as we discover the killer is not quite what we thought he was -actually multiple turns as the killer also reveals some complexity that is not the norm in foot-stomping, teeth-gnashing and claw-waving monsterdom. The small town setting was moody and atmospheric with great shots throughout.

Probably some would feel this 'horror-lite'. Maybe it is -and that's okay. It manages to find a balance I found pleasing and I enjoyable.