The Killing Floor (2007/THINKFilm)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C-     Film: C+

 

 

Two things that used to me more common are less so today: ambitious thrillers and lead actors on the rise.  To the surprise of many, Gideon Raff’s The Killing Floor (2007) is an independent feature that manages to deliver both when most major Hollywood productions seem to care less.  The up and coming actor Marc Blucas is a businessman so tied up in his own little world that when he moved to a fancy new apartment, something dark and ugly about its history remains.

 

Not a supernatural thriller, which is one way the big versions of this kind of story cheat, it is instead an ambitious attempt to do a thriller without trying to imitate Hitchcock (though it is not easy to avoid Rear Window in this case) as David (Blucas) starts to get phone calls, sees mysterious strangers and is even told he is not in the place legally.  Then things get darker and darker until he has to start fighting back in a way hew has not had to for a long time.

 

Unfortunately, the screenplay by Ryan Swanson and Raff does not know how to end it or where in the later parts to go with any of this.  Dialogue can be choppy at times and the conclusion is not as satisfying, but Blucas is so good, the film moves better and prove this longtime supporting actor (or one who always plays “the guy” in other films) can carry a film.  Hope this DVD leads to something for him and he finds a script that can carry his talent.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is softer than expected, with a slightly degraded look so odd, we cannot tell if it is from stylizing or just the transfer.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix might have some expanded activity, but it is limited and not able to overcome the on site recording limits and even errors.  Extras include trailers for this and a few other THINKFilm releases.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo