Unsettling. Chilling. Gripping. Packed with adrenaline.

If good horror movies are all of these things, then new film Kill List, from Electric Works occupiers Warp X, looks to be one of the very best of recent years.

In fact, the film, set in Sheffield and funded by the UK Film Council and Film4, has already received rave reviews from critics, with Total Film awarding it five stars and stating “British horror has rarely hit these heights since the mid-‘70s”.

  

Only director Ben Wheatley’s second production, Kill List stars Neil Maskell as Jay, a mentally scarred hitman who is convinced by fellow contract killer Gal (Michael Smiley) to take on a new job. But all is not as it seems, and the film takes Jay, and the audience, on a terrifying ride of paranoia and mystery into the darkness of the Yorkshire countryside.

Kill List has provoked comparisons to classic horror flicks like The Wicker Man, and Wheatley has described taking inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even dreams from his childhood, spent in woods near Billericay.

From the looks of things, those were some pretty scary nightmares. Kill List features brutal assassinations and mesmerisingly strange goings-on, and will “leave your bones rattling”, according to IndieWire.com.

But while Kill List might make you cower behind your cinema seat, it isn’t just a mindless slasher film. It has been praised for its authentic, gritty dialogue, moral ambiguity and superb performances from a strong cast, as well as its use of psychological themes and mood.

Kill List was debuted at the SXSW festival, and was also shown at the 2011 London FrightFest Film Festival. In its annual review of the latter, Total Film awarded the movie with ‘Best Film’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Kill’ distinctions.

One would imagine that, with its hype and rave reviews from critics, more prestigious awards might await Kill List. You can see what you think for yourself in cinemas - the film is out now.

 

More information on Kill List can be found on the film's website, and you can see the official trailer here. WarpX can be contacted at info@warpx.co.uk. A list of the cinemas showing the film is available here.

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