The Killing Gene (2008)

The Killing Gene (2008)
Watched March 27, 2009

SYNOPSIS
A series of deaths are occurring in New York, some with a mysterious equation carved into the victim's body. A couple cops must figure out what's going on and stop the killer with a troubled past.

SHORT REVIEW
Even though it starts off pretty boring and confusing, if you stick through to the end, you'll find a pretty intense crime thriller in "The Killing Gene".

REVIEW
I'm starting to really like Dimension Extreme films. Some of the best films from the last couple years were Dimension Extreme offerings, such as "Black Sheep", "Teeth" and "Inside". While I wouldn't say "The Killing Gene" is on par with those three, it is a pretty good film.

First off, I'd say that "The Killing Gene", also known as "W Delta Z", is more of a crime thriller than a true horror film. Just a quick clarification for those who want a full-on horror movie.

But, crime thriller or not, it's still a very good film. The plot line is intriguing, asking if you would kill someone you love to save yourself from being killed. It kinda makes you think. The killer, who has a troubled past, of course, captures people and tortures them, always giving the option for the torture to stop if they kill the one they love most, i.e. their son, their grandmother or their pregnant wife.

Unfortunately, the first 30-40 minutes really isn't that good. It's pretty confusing, and while it all gets clarified later on, it's really annoying to not really know what's going on. Also, you really don't learn a lot about the film's main characters until later on either, so that's kind of annoying as well.

SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
Also, it's pretty damn obvious who the killer is once that character is revealed. It's actually obvious from the very beginning, as the identity of the killer is pretty prominently given away on the DVD cover. It doesn't take much effort to figure out that the scarred-up, angry-looking chick on the cover is PROBABLY the killer. This wouldn't be a big problem, except the film takes an hour concealing the identity of the killer, and then the film suddenly switches gears into more torture-oriented territory after the identity is revealed. It just seems a little uneven.
END SPOILERS
END SPOILERS
END SPOILERS

Also, the torture scenes you do see are pretty gruesome. Particularly the big final torture scene at the end, which even made me squirm in my seat. Something about nails to the fingernails gets me every time. Viewers uninitiated to gruesome blood and gore will probably find a couple scenes very hard to watch.

Well, you know, I don't have that much to say about "The Killing Gene". The plot line is pretty intriguing, and the film is overall pretty good. I give "The Killing Gene":

4 out of 5 chainsaws (VERY GOOD, SEE IT)