It’s my Spring Break right now, so I have time to do, well, other things. Some of those things include a shingles inoculation, and that’s not all that fun. But it also means I can get to the movies in the middle of the week, something that is a wee bit helpful considering Easter weekend requires a lot of travel and seeing family. As such, I made sure to get out to last weekend’s new release They Will Kill You. I remember seeing the trailer before a movie a couple months ago, but then I couldn’t find the trailer on YouTube when I got home. How odd.
Well, I’ve seen it, and let me just say, if you plan to go, go in as cold as possible.
OK, I’ll say a little about the plot, but I’ll limit what I have to say from the first trailer. Asia Reeves (Zazie Beetz) takes a job as a live-in maid for an old hotel. During her first night, she finds herself locked in. The hotel is full of cultists, devil worshipers all, and they will kill her given the chance. However, Asia has something going for her, something the cultists don’t know: she learned how to fight while in prison. The cultists have numbers, but they don’t have skills, and there is at least one man (Paterson Joseph) there who might be inclined to help her. Can she get out alive.
Yeah, that is literally all I feel safe saying. Why is Asia here? What does she want? What do the cultists want? Well, I don’t think I should say. There are some nice roles for Patricia Arquette (though her Irish accent is questionable), Heather Graham, and Harry Potter veteran Tom Felton. The tone is comedic more than scary, and I had fun. Again, that’s all I feel safe saying about the plot.
However, I can somewhat describe the tone. It’s a cross between pulpy and slapstick body horror. It’s like if Quentin Tarantino directed an Evil Dead movie, though co-writer/director isn’t in the same echelon of talent as either Tarantino or Sam Raimi. There were moments that were badass, and there were moments that made me laugh out loud. There some really good sight gags, most of which involve body horror. And again, that’s all I feel safe talking about.
Anyway, I had a good time. It’s not one of the all-time greats, but it was fun. I think it would have worn out its welcome if it ran much longer, but at a little over 90 minutes, it’s about right. And quite frankly, the shingles shot seems to be making me feel a little run-down. I needed the fun.
Grade: B-
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