68 Kill (2017)

I like to often dip into the realm of obscure cinema, because sometimes you can find some real gems that should be better known. On the other hand, you can also find some real turkeys that deserve to be unknown. As it turns out, "68 Kill" is an obscure movie that does have some real strengths... but it also has some severe problems that hold it back significantly. First, the good stuff. I will admit that the premise of the movie is one that is still irresistible after all these years, that being desperate people stealing money but finding a lot of complications afterwards. The execution of this particular telling does make you curious to stay with it just to see how the various conflicts will be resolved. And the direction does really manage to capture a scuzzy world, where things are dirty and people show the dark and cruel side of humanity that is hidden in practically everybody.However, the movie's dark side is ultimately too dark. Every character who has some significant bearing on the plot is pretty repulsive. The lead male character is so stupid that at times he's really hard to take. And the other characters are murderers, thieves, sex addicts, and other undesirable types. The movie really feels bleak and lacking even a shred of humanity to give the audience hope. Also, the screenplay has several significant plot holes, like how some undesirable types were able to get into a motel room and do their dirty business.So as you can see, this movie is really a mixed bag. It will probably divide most viewers - viewers will either really like it, or really hate it. The best thing to do if you are curious about it is to watch it for free while you are in an undemanding mood.

Sophomore director Trent Haaga has cast "Criminal Minds" co-star Matthew Gray Gubler as a character in "68 Kill" like no other he has portrayed. A bloodthirsty, comedy of errors-crime thriller about a harmless milquetoast and the brutal women in his life, this fast-moving, contemporary, 93-minute melodrama boasts three dominatrixes who treat him like their slave. The three desperate dames in Chip's life turn his days upside-down. They take him beyond his worst nightmares, and he is powerless to resist their bellicosity. Occasionally, he fights back. Most of his efforts unravel in utter futility. Gubler delivers a sympathetic performance in this role that allows him to change over the course of the action. He works for a sewage company, and he refuses to stand up for himself in the face of any confrontation. You will laugh until your sides are sore every time he ends up in a predicament with no apparent way out for him. Clearly, Gubler embraced the role because he was willing to behave cluelessly throughout with no qualms about how humiliating he would appear. "Chop" director Trent Haaga's second movie isn't anything major, but it features several exciting moments, interesting characters, and off-beat situations that you won't have trouble getting through an initial viewing. Happily, when the dust of his disasters settle, Chip emerges as a changed man.Our nerdy hero, Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler), has a vicious, joyriding girlfriend, Liza (AnnaLynne McCord of "Transporter 2"), who wants a better life. The first stepping stone to that dream is a scumbag, Ken Mckenzie (David Maldonado of "The 5th Wave"), has $68-thousand in cash in a safe at his place. Chip's crazy girlfriend Liza takes him along on what she calls a quick 'in and out' that turns out to be far more complicated. After Liza kills Ken, Chip and she are shocked to find an innocent bystander in the house, Violet (Alisha Boe of "Paranormal Activity 4"), who can identify them. Quick-thinking Liza has her stuffed the trunk of their red 2004 Mustang and she intends to sell the girl to her perverted brother, Dwayne (a bespectacled Sam Eidson of "The Cain Complex"), as extremely creepy as Liza. Chip discovers Dwayne makes gory snuff films, and Liza admits she sold another girl earlier to Dwayne, who used her for body parts in his home-made video. Chip draws the line at this point, clobbers Liza over the head with a pistol, and vanishes with Violet still in the trunk. Actually, Liza is as angry as she is impressed with Chip's display of machismo. She catches up with him on the highway somewhere in Louisiana and orders him pull over after she brandishes a pistol. The crack on her head that Chip administered when he whipped her with a pistol earlier her topples her. Now, Chip finds himself at the mercy of a second woman, Violet. He had opened the trunk to check on her, and she manages to relieve him of his pistol and turn it on him. After scaring the life out of poor Chip, Violet decides that she could spend the $68-thousand as easily as Liza. Moreover, Violet has fallen on hard times, some of which she can attribute to the unscrupulous Ken who sought to abuse her. When she refused his improper advances, Violet quit. Little did poor Violet realize that Ken was best buds with her landlord. She wound up in the street with nothing, and Ken was her only salvation. She went back to him as a sex slave. Mind you, with Ken out of the way and all that cash, Violet wants to go somewhere and live like a princess. Chip has to gas up the Mustang. He encounters a Goth-looking cashier at a gas station/convenience store, Monica (Sheila Vand of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"), and pays her from the $68-thousand. Monica gets noses and bargains with him to keep her mouth shut for two bills. Violet intervenes, saves Chip from Monica, and they head off to a motel. She claims that she wants sex with someone of her preference rather than vice-versa. Chip awakens the next morning, finds a body hacked up in the body tub. Not only is his Mustang gone, but also thieves have taken his clothes."68 Kill" chronicles the journey of hardship that Chip embarks on involuntarily to becoming a self-sufficient man who isn't prone to his hormonal desires. At the end, he spots a tattooed lady on the side of the highway with smoke pouring out from the hood of her car, a classic example of a damsel-in-distress. She tries to flag our protagonist down, but second thoughts prompt Chip to avoid her and cruise into the sunset. Humor pervades this perverse, profanity-laden exercise, and the surprises never seem like they will stop. The cast acquits itself admirably, but Gubler's pusillanimous hero overshadows them.

'68 KILL': Four Stars (Out of Five)An extremely violent crime thriller about a guy who helps his crazy girlfriend steal a shitload of cash from her wealthy sugar daddy, but things of course don't go as planned. The movie was written and directed by veteran actor/screenwriter turned sophomore filmmaker Trent Haaga, and it's based on the 2013 book (of the same name) by Bryan Smith. It stars Matthew Gray Gubler (of 'CRIMINAL MINDS' fame), AnnaLynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand and Sam Eidson. The film premiered at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival, and it was distributed by IFC Midnight in indie theaters and on VOD. It's also gotten mostly positive reviews from critics so far. I mostly liked it. Chip Taylor (Gubler) is obsessively in love with his girlfriend Liza (McCord), and would do anything for her. So when she asks him to help her rob her sleazy rich sugar daddy, Chip agrees. Chip is reluctant to participate in the crime though, especially when Liza shows him the guns she borrowed for it, and his doubts are confirmed when people start turning up dead. Chip still can't build up the courage to tell his girlfriend no though. I can really relate to the lead character in this film, having been talked into a lot of stupid things by really beautiful women that I like, and I still I can't tell them no either. McCord is awesome as the femme fatale girlfriend in the film too, she's definitely the scene stealer of the movie, and she even reminds me a lot of Charlize Theron in it. Still the film is a bit too ridiculous, gory and disturbing (just to be disturbing). It has elements to it that I really like though, and the lead character is definitely relatable, but as a whole it's definitely a bit of a mixed-bag.

I went into this film not knowing much about it, and by the end I loved the non-stop ride 68 Kill delivered. It was really interesting how the movie reversed a lot of the thriller/horror tropes, where the main character, Matthew Gray Gubler as Chip, is abused and ordered around by all of the strong women in the film. The first woman, AnnaLynne McCord as Liza, is Chip's girlfriend and she has the bright idea to rob her boss/sugar-daddy. The heist seems to go off without a hitch, until Liza murders the husband and wife, much to the surprise of Chip. Here they also meet the second woman, Alisha Boe as Violet, as Liza shoves her into the trunk of their car to sell her to Liza's serial killer brother. Having finally crossed a line Chip couldn't accept, he escapes in the car and begins the journey that would lead to the third and final strong woman, Sheila Vand as Monica. All three of the women are crazy to varying degrees, and the story weaves all three of them in and out of the story with Chip as their target of love, anger, and violence.To avoid any spoilers, I'll avoid talking too much more about the story, but I loved the pacing of it. Where it really only slows down for one section, and that slower part sets up the rest of the film which is balls to the wall crazy in the best way. The acting is all top notch, with the standout definitely being AnnaLynne McCord, her abusive crazy girlfriend character dominated every scene she was in, and I'd love to see her in more movies. Her eyes just looked so crazy, and I really believed her character. There were some things in the middle with the story that I didn't love, including an apparent roofie that's never shown or explained, and other characters impressive and unexplained following abilities. However, everything lead to such an awesome climax, that all of the other lesser parts of the film completely worth it. I also loved how 68 Kill made me laugh out loud uncontrollably multiple times throughout the film. It doesn't necessarily play for the laugh in an obvious way, and the comedy is definitely dark, but I found multiple scenes hilarious.I would definitely recommend this film, as long as you don't mind some violence and gore with your dark comedy thriller. If you'd like to see the video version of my review, you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=ZpKyf33SttM