Rating summary

Movie		0.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

68 Kill Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 30, 2018

Shock value is easy, and it seems to work the best when there’s thought put into it, with clever filmmakers managing to create a big screen mess and keep their effort somewhat approachable, either through dark comedy or dimensional characterization. “68 Kill” brings a cannon to a knife fight, with writer/director Trent Haaga trying his best to make the most repellent feature imaginable, focusing on pure ugliness as a way to achieve irreverence, making an exploitation movie for an age when such juvenile aggression is no longer a special event. Adapting a novel by Bryan Smith, Haaga is looking to master an atmosphere that showcases gruesome events and toxic behavior, yet somehow remains humorous enough for the endeavor to qualify as a comedy. “68 Kill” is specialized product for a certain type of genre fan, but boy howdy, does it ever test patience as Haaga stumbles blindly from one scene to the next.

Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler) is a meek man with a job cleaning septic tanks, trying to make a living to support his girlfriend, Liza (AnnaLynne McCord), who maintains a sugar daddy to help make ends meet. Liza is a hothead, unstable but attractive, and Chip is completely in love, but when she proposes the theft of $68,000 from her older provider, the timid soul has trouble going along with the crime. Instead of robbery, Liza escalates the break-in to murder, killing everyone in the house but Violet (Alisha Boe), with the demented mastermind of the crime planning to sell the hostage to her brother, Dwayne (Sam Eidson), for his basement medical experimentation. Horrified by everything, Chip tries to break up with his girlfriend, taking off with her car, soon releasing and lusting after Violet, who wants to claim some of the stolen cash for herself. On the run from Liza and Dwayne, Chip experiences a waking nightmare with every stop his makes, trying to keep Violet alive and remain one step ahead of his pursuers, losing contact with reality to more he’s exposed to unanticipated butchery.

To be fair to “68 Kill,” it doesn’t pretend to be anything but crude, violent entertainment. It’s the way the production delivers such surefire amusement that becomes a problem. Chip and Liza are horrible people right off the bat, sustaining a relationship that’s primarily about routine. He’s a spineless man who loves a problematic woman, the more troubled the better. She’s a psychopath who doesn’t care about anyone but herself, keeping Chip on a leash for the fun of it, eventually making her lover (one of many) her accomplice in the robbery. Maybe there’s a movie in this relationship, which is built on sex and mutual complacency, but the screenplay sheds it in a hurry, speeding to the aftermath of the home invasion, where Liza dices up the residents, takes all the money, and prepares to drop Violet off with her beastly brother, who enjoys dismembering women alive in his basement. Laughing yet?

“68 Kill” (a terrible title) has no sense of humor, just excess. Haaga has no timing, just hostility, dealing with material that’s determined to be offensive for the sheer thrill of it. The bulk of the movie tracks Chip’s escapades after he leaves Liza with a head wound, taking off with the money and hope for safety. However, there’s Violet, who’s meant to tickle his fancy and supply the effort with some sense of heart as she shares her tainted existence with her new love interest, albeit one who chose to ogle her, not save her, when she was marked for termination by Liza. There’s more for Chip out in this ugly world, eventually making his way to a gas station, interacting with clerk Monica (Shelia Vand), who becomes a source of trouble for the panicked character, soon making up part of the “68 Kill” mystery as Chip searches for her the next day. In his way is Amy (Hallie Grace Bradley), a fellow employee who demands oral sex in exchange for information, excited that Chip is servicing her on an especially sweaty day. Laughing yet?

Where Amy leads makes up the suspense of the third act, but “68 Kill” takes forever to get there, forcing viewers to suffer through numbing dialogue exchanges where curse words dominate and improvisations sink like a stone. Performances are abrasive, offered up by cast members who are well out of their range, including McCord, who struggles to project bad penny energy as Liza, going way over the top for a character in need of some subtle signs of appeal. Gubler is tasked with playing an average dope, but he offers one wide-eyed look and sticks with it for 90 minutes, unable to bring anything more to the screen. A set of different leads could’ve felt around for dramatic angles, but Gubler and McCord aren’t polished enough to pull something interesting out of all the noise. Haaga certainly isn’t helping the cause with his dismal humor and addiction to cheap thrills, always urging “68 Kill” to find the most abrasive way in and out of any given scene.

68 Kill Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.38:1 aspect ratio) presentation reaches about as far as the original cinematography goes, with "68 Kill" offering a traditional HD-shot look that delivers sharpness when necessary. Close-ups are especially detailed, delivering a crisp look at facial particulars, which reach some sickly extremes throughout the feature. Sets are also defined, permitting a read of decoration, and gore zone visits are vivid. Colors are handled with care, finding inspiration from bold costuming and sickly store lighting, and blood remains a deep red. Skintones are natural. Delineation is adequate, never slipping into solidification. Mild banding is present during a few sequences.

68 Kill Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix opens with some modest directional movement, promising an active listening event to come, but the rest of "68 Kill" doesn't take full advantage of surround activity, which is only used intermittently. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and communicative, capably handling the range of panic the feature provides, without harsh extremes. Scoring needs are met with satisfactory instrumentation and volume, handling suspense needs. Sound effects register loudly, with snappy gunfire and squishy bodily harm. Atmospherics are effective, active with outdoor chases and echoed interiors.

68 Kill Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:49, HD) is included.

68 Kill Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The grand finale of "68 Kill" goes wild with chopped limbs and screaming close-ups, with Haaga trying to outdo himself as a way to exhaust the viewer, who's been sent through quite a bit as Chip strives to achieve stability while everything spirals out of control around him. Obviously, the production is hoping to acquire a madcap tone, making Chip's snowballing sense of doom playful, even when it deals with macabre ideas for black comedy. The grotesqueness of it all isn't the real problem with the feature The stone silence that greets every joke is the most egregious error the production makes. Haaga has enjoyed a few career highlights (he co-wrote the pleasingly demented "Cheap Thrills"), but his vision is limited to mindless chaos here, and without careful editing, measure performances, and thrilling escalation, "68 Kill" loses all shape and impact. All it does well is numb the senses and inspire an appreciation for the art of the rewrite.