Cinematic Autopsy: "Some Guy Who Kills People (2011/DVD/Anchor Bay Ent.)" Review

Review: Ever so often I run across a film that takes multiple genres and mixes them together to make a unique and fresh film. In the case of Some Guy Who Kills People you get that type of film. Take dark comedy and mix it with mystery and a touch of horror and you have what this film is made of. Originally this film was supposed to be directed by John Landis and even though he did not direct it or really have anything to do with it I can say that it has a John Landis feel to it or even a Joe Dante feel. The reason I say this is because it reminds me of each of those directors ability to take many genre elements and mix them perfectly.

Some Guy Who Kills People follows Ken Boyd (Kevin Corrigan) who after being released from the state mental hospital he moves back in with his quirky mother (Karen Black) and spends his time fantisizing about killing those who did him wrong many years ago and working at an ice cream parlor. One day Ken reaches his breaking point and decides to hunt down the ones who tortured him and get revenge. Now even though that may seem like a pretty basic and typical plot I can reassure you there is so much more to this film than that. Along the side of the revenge plot Ken also awkwardly starts a relationship and he also meets his daughter for the first time. Some of the strongest points of this film are a combination of great directing, a strong cast, and some very good writing.

The cast that was selected is comprised of the legendary Karen Black (Gypsy 83'/Burnt Offerings) as Ken's mother, the underrated Kevin Corrigan (Grounded For Life) as Ken, Barry Bostwich (Spin City) as the very offbeat Sheriff Walter Fuller, Ariel Gade (Envy) as Ken's lovable daughter, Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead) as Ken's love interest Stephanie, and Leo Fitzpatrick (Bully/Kids) as Ken's best friend. With one hell of a cast like that you seriously can't go wrong. Each person plays their character perfectly and quite believably. From Ken's moments of torment to the Sheriff's odd sense of humor each one of them blend perfectly. Also the transition from dark moments to more light moments flows smoothly. The best way for you to get what I mean by that is to actually go and watch this film.

I can't forget to mention that besides the things I said were the strong points of the film there is also one other thing that made it that much more great. What did this was the use of practical effects when it came to the kills and violence. Total I think there is around 4 kills and each one is done differently. I won't say what they are but they are definitely traditional in nature when it comes to slasher film kills. The shining effect for me was when they had a shot of a severed hand, at first I thought it was computer made but it's actually done practically without any help from computers.