“Killer View” (aka “Snuffed”) – 2009. Dir. Brian James O’Connell

With Noah Key, Martin Moakler, Brahm Gallagher, Maija Polsley and Whitney Powell

“How could I bring a child into this world that has someone like me in it?”

 

    Well hello dear reader(s), it’s been a while since I’ve written anything on here, and while I’ve seen “Your Highness” and “Source Code” and “Thor” (and a plethora of other films) I haven’t had the urge (overkill) to write about them. Nothing about those films really gave me anything exciting to write about, you know what I mean?

    I had the fortunate opportunity to see a film called “Killer View”. I wasn’t sure what to think of this film at first. It has a very crude and graphic opening scene that I wasn’t prepared for. I was taken aback at the realistic nature of the film.

    The film itself is setup as a documentary/found footage film. I’ve always felt that “The Blair Witch Project” was the “Pulp Fiction” of low budget independent horror/thriller films. Take for example the slew of “Paranormal Activity” films, or the recent “Last Exorcism”. The whole “found footage” fad is getting remarkably old, and I roll my eyes when I read about a new film using this template.

    “Killer View” uses this template, and “Killer View” couldn’t have been a more astonishing and bold film if it had a huge budget and bankable actors. The story of “Killer View” is very original and very inventive. A young reporter Martin (Martin Moakler) is following around an active serial killer named “Ben” (Noah Key). But it’s not your normal “found footage” film, and it’s not your cliché ridden serial killer film either.

    The film does a remarkable job of crosscutting between Ben’s interview with Martin, and Ben’s actual footage of his torturing of a couple, and the husband’s mistress April (played by a remarkable Whitney Powell).

    Then the film throws a curveball at us. We find out that one of the reasons Ben videotapes his killings are because he ends up selling these films as snuff films to rich people. And Ben sometimes takes requests from the wealthy elite if it fits his current needs that he needs to fulfill.

    Brian James O’Connell masterfully writes and directs this film that treks in darker and muddy waters than most “serial killer” or thriller films are willing to go. This film is very blunt, and very unapologetic. To me, this film seemed like the perfect fusion of “Henry: A Portrait of a Killer” and Michael Mann’s masterpiece “Manhunter”.

    This film excels upon its low budget and its cast of unknown talent. Noah Key is remarkable as Ben, the killer that almost makes his killings sound plausible. You don’t condone what he does, but you can understand it. The call and cool collectiveness of Ben’s demeanor is met with a very horrific and scary persona when Ben appears on his recordings. Key brings an excellent showboat of a performance as our unapologetic killer Ben.

    Brahm Gallagher and Maija Polsley give an excellent turn as the married couple Ben has set to kill. But as the video of the couple and Ben progress, the couple may not be as innocent as we were lead to believe. The actors do so good of a job in this film, that I found myself thinking from time to time that I was actually watching found footage of a killer’s recording.

    There isn’t one instance in the film where I thought to myself that the actors were overacting, or fake screaming too much. There was none of that. This film feels incredibly authentic. So authentic is fucking scary.

    “Killer View” proves that a film doesn’t need a large budget, or bankable names, or a big studio set to distribute. This is probably one of the best low budget films I have seen in a very, very long time. I’m not sure where you, dear reader(s), would get the opportunity to see this film, but if you can find this film, steal it. That’s how good it is.

Rating: 9/10