The Killer Featured, Reviews Film Threat
IN THEATER AND VOD! The Bell Keeper started out as one of those C-grade slasher movies that was mocked by the excellent The Cabin in the Woods (2012). A group of young, attractive people, all classic characters, are filming a documentary about spooky places in the United States. They arrive at Bell Lake, where rumor has it that the murderer will appear if the old bell rings at midnight. Of course, they ring the bell and we can guess what happens next or maybe not. After a brutal opening scene, The Bell Keeper takes its time to build up its story and plot elements. The first act is long and seems to take up almost half of the movie. As usual, the boxes are checked. The documentary crew gets tips at a dingy gas station, walks past a woman who will clearly be the final girl, makes jokes about genitals and virginity, and more. Just as I was starting to wonder if The Bell Keeper had anything new to add, the script by Joe Davison and Luke Genton dropped a curveball on the audience midway through. An axe-wielding assassin – humorously named Hank (Randy Couture) – arrives after the bell rings, but his target takes a new turn. I won’t reveal how, but The Bell Keeper becomes less like a slasher and more like a different kind of horror film after this point.
Will Fincher be the first top director to have a hit film on streaming? Can he nudge the silver screen into a century-old oxbow and start a flood of made-for-TV movies? Or will it be the warmed-through B reel of streaming cinema today? Can you actually make movies on streaming, and is Fincher the guy to do it? The Killer is based on the French comic Le Tueur. They made a few of them, and I don’t know how their story maps onto this film. It has a tight script from Andrew Kevin Walker that jams along to Melville’s Le Samourai though.
Fassbender plays a top-flight hitman, and his portrayal dominates the film. He has so much cool voiceover it’s sometimes like a BBC nature documentary about Fassbender narrated by Fassbender. He also fulfils a rigorous physical role, on point to every demand from the comedy and action. Fincher handles his lead’s greatest strengths with the surest of grips. It’s a perfect combination of star and director. I have definitely developed a lasting appetite for the character. There is a sequel baiting fungibility to his components that brazenly invites comparison to Bond the second the opening bars of the credits begin to blast. His steely eyes are constantly on lookout. He assembles weapons, crafts disguises, hunts, engineers traps. But where Bond has The Crown, there is no such sanction here. We definitely watch him kill the innocent and generally exist beyond the pale.