Office Killer (1997)

This movie is strangely entertaining, I don't really know why. The story isn't anything special, it's just the old concept where a harmless person becomes murderous for really vague reasons. Our office killer kills someone by accident, and that somehow makes her start killing people on purpose. Very well, I'll take it. So we get to see her murder a bunch of people, just one after the other, and it's well, there is no right adjective. It's not funny because people are dying gory deaths, it's not shocking because well, look at this thing, but it is pretty good. I believe it's kind of a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing, and I believe it's working. Carol Kane also plays her role very well, helped by the screenplay that's gradually making her character meaner. At one point she encounters some girl scouts selling cookies. What follows is just not cool. Well, maybe a little. I'm also really digging this ending. Either way, this is essentially following a formula, but there's still some creativity involved here and there and I appreciate that.

In the mid-90's, there was this weird trend where 80's New York art stars were all given the chance to direct feature films. The less-than-impressive results: Robert Longo's "Johnny Mnemonic," David Salle's "Search and Destroy," Julian Schnabel's "Basquiat" and finally Cindy Sherman's "Office Killer." That only Schnabel moved on to direct a second feature says a lot about these poor directorial choices. Surprise - just because you can paint a picture or take a photograph doesn't mean you know how to make a movie.That said, "Office Killer" has a unique look to it: Sherman's photographic eye makes for some nice creepy compositions, even if her philosophy about using a camera cinematically is of the bolt-it-to-the-ground-and-maybe-pan-a-little school. And she works well with cinematographer Russell Fine, though the whole film is shot through a murky lens that had this viewer crying out for the occasional bright exterior just to add a little contrast.So what went wrong with "Office Killer"? Well, pretty much what you'd predict would go wrong with a photographer director who had never made a film before: uneven pacing; more attention paid to the setup of a shot than to what's going on in it; a lack of tension; and a cast who, with the exception of the ever-willing Carol Kane, don't seem to know what to do. Aware that they're working for a famous photographer, they quietly obey, even while Sherman clearly has little experience in working with actors. Michael Imperioli and Jeanne Tripplehorn have been far better elsewhere, Barbara Sukowa is flat-out bad, and Molly Ringwald is her usual depthless self. The script is also somewhat leaden, given its dark comic potential."Office Killer" is still a curiosity, interesting mainly for aficionados of Cindy Sherman's work (and you've got to admire those cool opening credits), though horror fans who enjoyed the better-received "May" (which I personally didn't care for) might like this movie's look and mood. As for me, I couldn't shake off the feeling that this is the product of a bunch of chuckling New York hipsters who thought they were doing something "postmodern" and "ironic" but only churned out something uninspired and limp... albeit artsy.

Don't ever fool around with Dorine Douglas! She will make sure you will pay for whatever you do to her!"Office Killer" is a film, judging from most comments submitted to this forum, that deserved better. Cindy Sherman, the director, shows she can deliver a good movie. The film was written by Ms. Sherman and it appears Todd Haynes, a good director himself, helped with the dialog, although he is uncredited.We don't understand, at the beginning, what is Dorine's motivation for doing what she does, but the key to comprehending what's wrong with her is revealed in flashbacks that shows her as a teen ager when some traumatic events occurred involving her parents. Dorine has been dealt a bad blow from life and her reactions, although extreme, seem to be typical of someone that has been deeply scarred.The film works because of the wonderful Carol Kane who does some of the best work of her career. Ms. Kane transforms herself into this weird Dorine, who is the butt of all jokes at the magazine where she works. What triggers her spiral unraveling is the downsizing the company is going through that will render her a part timer, losing, no doubt, a good deal of her earnings.The supporting cast is up to task under Ms. Sherman's direction. Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Barbara Sukowa, Michael Imperioli, David Thornton and Alice Drummond, among others, respond well to the director's instructions.One wishes good luck to Ms. Sherman with future films because she is not afraid, to show it all for the viewer's enjoyment.

Dorine is a real wallflower - a middle-aged, shy, ugly single woman living at home with her mum and working as an editor for a small newspaper, she's a real outsider. After she has killed a colleague by accident in a lonely late night shift, she hides his corpse in her cellar. This "accident" changes her mind, and she starts having fun killing her mobbing colleagues one by one and hiding them all in her dark cellar...Photographer Cindy Sherman's directional debut has a very nice plot idea, but that's all. The direction is too weak and boring, and the actors - Carol Kane as Dorine and Molly Ringwald, Jeanette Tripplehorn and stunning Barbara Sukowa as her colleagues can't bring their roles to life. The acting is often exaggerated, the dialogues are too ridiculous, Kane is screaming much too often, and Evan Lurie's pseudo avantgarde score sounds like a bland, cheap home keyboard recording. It would have been a nice try to produce this kind of home office version of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in a real comedy or horror style, but his movie doesn't know where to go. Too pointless, too boring, and too much over the top unfortunately.