PLOT: A graphic novel creator (Jesse Williams) whose work is based on a real-life serial killer faces his worst fears when the subject of his books starts killing again.
REVIEW: Jay Baruchel's become a really interesting director. His first film, GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS, could have easily been an assembly line sequel. Instead, he took the opportunity to turn it into an experimental mish-mash of influences, with so much chaotic action it felt like SLAP SHOT as directed by George Miller. His follow-up, RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE, is similarly ambitious. It plays very much like a Dario Argento-styled "Giallo" although it has a sense of energy that's more modern than films of that ilk, and not at all what you might expect from its director.
Running a lean eighty-minutes, RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE is based on a one-shot graphic novel by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti. The narrative economy here seems directly inspired by the lack of exposition you'd see in a comic, where all you need are a few creative panels and not much more. Baruchel does something similar by showing us flashes of his hero's childhood, where it's obvious that Jesse Williams' Todd Walkley has already crossed paths with the real-life inspiration for his comic anti-hero, "Slasherman". Dialogue is often sparse, with long set-pieces done silently, save for the score by Wade MacNeil & Andrew Gordon Macpherson. DP Karim Hussain also gives it a highly stylized, comic-inspired look that's becoming something of a trademark following his work on HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and the upcoming (awesome) POSSESSOR.
It all adds up to a surprisingly cerebral slasher, helped in no small part by Williams in the lead. An atypical hero, this gives him a strong starring turn as the conflicted artist-hero who is trying to work out some long-repressed trauma through his creation, even if he's turned his demons into a kind of cultish anti-hero. The film has something interesting to say about the responsibility of artists, with.a great scene early on having Williams confronted by a radio host who blasts him on-air for making a serial killer into a pop culture icon. It’s nice to have an actor with some real gravitas play the part, as Williams is more of a thinking man’s hero than a typically Hollywood one.
While Williams' movie, Baruchel's supporting cast is solid, including a smallish role for himself as "Slasherman"'s publisher, a guy with far fewer moral qualms than his author, and who's more than happy to milk the property for all its worth. Niamh Wilson is also likable as their assistant Aurora, and Jordana Brewster has a good part as Williams' girlfriend, who's writing a true-crime expose of the killer his comics are based-on.
If I have any issues with RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE it's that the movie is unrelentingly grim as it kicks into high gear, meaning it's not for everyone (sensitive viewers should avoid it) but then again that's the genre. This is a serious slasher flick, not a fun one, and it's also one of the goriest recent horror films on record due to the killer's propensity as turning his victims into grotesque dioramas. The killer himself is given an almost mythic build-up, with Simon Northwood unsettling as "The Man", and it's praiseworthy that RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE is a serious entry into the genre, eschewing the kind of post-modern slasher mentality we usually get in horror. This is one of the few true modern "Giallo" movies that fits nicely into the genre as a legit work, and it's worth checking out, with it available on VOD in Canada now and on Shudder in the U.S starting August 20th.