The Thrill of a Kill

Director - Lars-Erik Lie (Dead Bait)
Starring - Kirsten Jakobsen, Arve Herman, Camilla Vestbo Losvik (Hypnagogia)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Capture. Torture. Kill."
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The world of horror is such a diverse place.  Horror has so much to offer and so many different styles of films for fans to choose from.  We have horror fans that prefer gothic horror.  These are films that rely more on story and imagery like the horror films from the 30s and 40s along with some of the classic Hammer films filling the gap.  We then have those that are fans of horror comedies.  Films like Abbot and Costello Meet the Universal Monsters, anything Troma, the early works of Peter Jackson.  These films have the perfect blend of horror and comedy.  We then have the everyday horror fan.  These people like the main stream horror flicks and most films that are in theaters.  They have no idea there is an indie horror scene and are really missing out.  There is then the fans that are rabid for blood and guts.  They don't care if film has a story that is coherent.  All they want is gore and the more the better.  Recently, Wild Eye sent me the film The Thrill of a Kill to review.  This film is a part of their new Raw label.  This is a Norwegian release and it looked like it would cater to those looking for gore and not story.  Once again, thanks guys for sending this one my way.

         The film follows a young girl who has a bad dream and wakes up late.  She goes downstairs to watch the game with her sisters when her mother verbally attacks her.  The two fight over her not working and she leaves.  She decides to go for a walk in the nearby woods where she crosses a photographer out taking pictures of the mountainous landscape.  They talk for a brief moment and she continues on her way where she is soon knocked unconscious.  She awakens to find herself nude with her clothes nearby.  She gets dressed and continues on her trek when she is knocked out once more.  She soon finds herself at the hands of the photographer and another man, presumably his son, who then tortures her over and over again before sexually abusing her in heinous ways.  

     I have seen so many horror films over the last few years that had little to no story but was full of gore.  These films made no fucking sense and was only made to showcase the practical effects.  I do enjoy gore but it has to pertain to the story.  The Thrill of a Kill is one of those films that tries to be extreme while delivering a very minimal story.  I will give it credit, it does have somewhat of a story to tell.  The acting in this one is painful to watch.  I have reviewed dozens of films that were not filmed in English so reading them became a chore.  However, the acting in these were still fun to watch.  This one felt like the cast was not acting.  The entire cast spoke their dialogue without ever changing their facial expressions.  It literally felt like they were doing a rehearsal with the camera rolling.  The cast definitely shows their inexperience.  The story for this one has some serious potential but is poorly written.  The film has so many side stories that make no fucking sense and go nowhere.  The angle with the little boy and his dad's fishing pole along with the sister who gets molested by the dad were just there to add to the running time.  They did nothing for the story and made no fucking sense.  As for the killing and torture portion of the film.  It would have been a somewhat decent slasher/torture porn flick but the addition of the other side stories took away from the story drastically.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills that are really not that entertaining.  The kills are weak and the practical effects are minimal.  The film's redeeming qualities are the torture scenes.  The torture techniques are very unnerving and draws a lot of emotion out of the viewer.  The acting is still hard to watch but the thought of someone being tortured like this and someone sick enough to think it up is really disturbing.  Overall, The Thrill of a Kill is a rough horror flick that needed to be edited heavily.  The cast needed to work on their performances but the torture scenes are fucking raw.  If you are in the mood for something rough then you may enjoy this one.  Check it out just keep in mind that it is far from perfect.