Some Guy Who Kills People, 2011.
Directed by Jack Perez.
Starring Kevin Corrigan, Barry Bostwick, Karen Black, Arield Gade, Leo Fitzpatrick, Eric Price and Lucy Davis.
SYNOPSIS:
Following his release from psychiatric care, a 34 year old loner attempts to rebuild his life. When members of his old school basketball team start winding up dead, suspicion eventually falls upon him.
Horror comedy can be a notoriously difficult trick to pull off. When done with wit and finesse (Shaun of the Dead, An American Werewolf in London) and the right balance between laughs and scares, the geek friendly genre splicing can be a real winner.
John Landis, executive producer on Some Guy Who Kills People, is one of the past masters of this thorny craft, so who better – whether through labour or by example – to imbue this enjoyable flick with something of his trademark style.
Focusing on disturbed loner Ken (Kevin Corrigan; Pineapple Express, Superbad) and his attempts to reacclimatise himself into society after years of psychiatric care- triggered by horrific bullying from the school basketball team- the film is an enjoyable slice of hokum. When said obnoxious jocks start getting wiped out in ever more inventive ways (as is traditional in slasher movies) the film looks set to be a fairly standard, albeit funny, revenge tale. It turns out to be more than that, and is all the better for it.
Featuring a warm and amusing performance from Lucy Davis (from TV’s The Office) as the emotionally wounded Stephanie and the fantastic genre favourite Karen Black (Family Plot, House of 1000 Corpses) as Ken’s bitter mother, Some Guy… will surprise a few people with its well paced action and tight script. The small town cops led by Sherriff Fuller (Barry Bostwick; The Rocky Horror Picture Show), full of bad puns and gags, keep the comedy pitch black.
Littered with amusingly deadpan lines, such as the Sherriff’s “we’re going to tear his skin off and make him wear his own skin”, the film benefits from a decent script and actors displaying enough verve to pull it off (the lines that is!)
Davis, in particular, brings a very English, wry, sardonic humour and awkwardness to proceedings, while Black and Corrigan explore an almost Psycho-like mother-son relationship. Occasionally the scenes featuring Ken and his long lost 11 year old daughter drag a little, but for the most part Some Guy… is well paced, well judged and good fun.
In a further fan-boy and girl friendly twist there is a great defence of horror and violent comic books served up, lauding them as a means to offset frustration and aggression. The 21st Century censors and anti-horror guardians of moral taste would do well to take note!
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk is a freelance journalist and film writer.
