They Will Kill You

They Will Kill You strikes me as a film that Quentin Tarantino would probably enjoy. And that has nothing to do with the amount of shots that include Zazie Beetz's feet.

Kirill Sokolov's directorial debut feels like a clear homage to the Kill Bill movies - featuring plenty of entertaining action sequences, cartoonish violence, and a whole lot of blood spewing all over the place. Some people may find that homage to be a blatant and ineffective ripoff, but  Sokolov's style and sense of humor really elevates the material here.

In this film, a woman named Asia takes a housekeeping job in a mysterious New York City high-rise, unaware of the building's history of disappearances. She soon realizes, however, that the community is shrouded in mystery and may be under the grip of a Satanic cult.

Now, if you think that synopsis sounds oddly similar to both Ready or Not films, you wouldn't be incorrect. Meaning that, between this and the recent release of Ready or Not 2, the past few weeks have been an oddly good time for Satanists. Or a bad one, depending on how Satanists prefer to be depicted, I guess. I don't know if the Devil would rather have people on Earth who worship him, or souls trapped in hell that he can torture. The rules aren't really clear in either of these films. Though the Devil is way more active in They Will Kill You than he is in Ready or Not. Which is fun.

Speaking of which, the cast members seem to be having a lot fun here; Zazie Beetz is excellent in the lead role, but Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, and Heather Graham all do a great job of rounding out the supporting cast. Sure, we don't really get to learn much about their characters, but we learn enough to stay engaged with the story being told.

The tone of that story may be a little all over the place - shifting back and forth between the horror, comedy, and action genres - but everything comes together to make for an entertaining feature. In my opinion, at least.

So, while most people seem to enjoy the Ready or Not films better, I can't deny that I personally prefer this movie. It's a crazy little film that definitely won't work for everyone, but I like it! The twisted humor, bloody action, and high-octane energy totally works for me.

The movie admittedly gets a little too absurd by the end, and the story wraps up a little too neatly, but that doesn’t detract from how much surprisingly delightful this horror film can be.

Which means that, even with all of it’s flaws,They Will Kill You would still get a recommendation from me.