 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Comedy/Horror Director: Luke Ricci |
Many people are fascinated by serial killers, especially what makes them do the things that they do, and oftentimes through these
fascinations bring up the thoughts of whether one could carry out some of the gruesome acts that they undertake. Though some aren’t
proud of the fact of would not like to admit it, everyone has thought about killing someone at some point in their life, even if it is just for a
split second. This of course brings up the hypothetical situation of what would happen in someone were to come into your life and see
a spark of themselves in your eyes and offered to help you recognize the darkness that is inside yourself. Could you do the
unthinkable? With a load of dark humor and a tongue in cheek approach, “How to be a Serial Killer” examines these questions and
more.
While moving through a variety of styles very seamlessly, the films writer and director Luke Ricci brings viewers the story of Bart, played
by Matthew Gray Gubler of Criminal Minds, a shy slacker clerk at a video store who is continually getting pushed around by the stores
clientele. Acting as a knight in shining armor rescuing a damsel in distress, Mike, played by Demeon Clarke, a regular customer and
serial killer swoops in one night to save the store clerk from his tedious work and lack of respect from customers. After taking care of
one of the nasty patrons at the store, Mike promised to show Bart how to empower himself through slaughter and murder.
Those that are thinking that this film is going to be a simple hack and slash film will be sorely disappointed. Although Mike tries
desperately to juggle the life of a motivational murderer with that of a life of a normal person, which is seen as he is one moment killing
a careless dog owner and the next moment he is flirting with his girlfriend Abigail, played by Laure Regan, in the next moment. Bart
attempts to fir into his new life, though he feels a little out of place at first. There is a dynamic between the odd couple of Mike and Bart
which makes for a lot of the film’s most memorable moments. On the outside, Mike is the tried and true leader of the duo, but more
than one time during the film, Bart seems to be the instigator working on preying on Mike’s number of insecurities, especially when it
comes to his girlfriend. At times viewers may find it hard to determine who Bart is more jealous of, Mike or Abigail.
Even though he is a serial killer, Mike lives by a code of ethics for killing, and it is how these rules are presented that sets this film apart
from other films of this type. While this area has been examines to some degree in the film “Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie
Vernon” and the Showtime hit series “Dexter,” “How to be a Serial Killer” is all on its own. With a few infomercial clips scattered
throughout the film with Mike as a hard-selling salesman, character interviews and even a few point of view scenes, the film is filled a lot
of activity. The most interesting of the aforementioned scenes are in interviews with Dr. Goldberg, who is played by George Wyner.
Even though Mike might be very charismatic, he is still a killer and is very obviously insane, yet some of what he says during the film
does make a lot of sense. While it could be very easy to get wrapped up in everything that Mike has to say, Dr. Goldberg serves perfectly
to bring the audience back to the reality of things. He is the voice of reason while every other character in the film is either under Mike’s
spell or completely messed up in the head.
However, at a certain point the film takes a drastic turn and it not only loses the momentum of the film as well as its place. What started
as a light hearted look at a serious matter shifts into something that feels anxious to become what has been set as the genre
standards. Suddenly and without warning the film feels as though the audience is watching an episode of some television crime
drama series. The climax is drawn out, the pacing slows down and in becomes very unclear what the point the film is trying to make
anymore and the movie takes a large tumble. Although the writer/director tries to keep the humor going to the end of the film with the
inclusion of a scared rookie cop, the final act falls very flat.
Other than its subject matter, the film is surprisingly light on the amount of bloodshed seen on the screen. Of course there are a lot of
killings throughout the film, there is even a murder montage at one point, but for the most part viewers will only see the pre-death and
post-death shots of the body. Many films addressing this sort of a subject go a little overboard with the amount of blood and gore they
offer, and it may be refreshing to see something a little more realistic, but this film seemed to have shot a little too far in the other
direction with too little blood and gore.
With the exception of the before mentioned scene that throws off the film a bit, “How to be a Serial Killer is a lot of fun to watch, even after
watching it a couple of times. The performances by each actor are very strong and are very interesting. For anyone that is a fan of the
serial killer genre should definitely check this film out. It is a different look on a subject already covered with a bit of a different twist.
fascinations bring up the thoughts of whether one could carry out some of the gruesome acts that they undertake. Though some aren’t
proud of the fact of would not like to admit it, everyone has thought about killing someone at some point in their life, even if it is just for a
split second. This of course brings up the hypothetical situation of what would happen in someone were to come into your life and see
a spark of themselves in your eyes and offered to help you recognize the darkness that is inside yourself. Could you do the
unthinkable? With a load of dark humor and a tongue in cheek approach, “How to be a Serial Killer” examines these questions and
more.
While moving through a variety of styles very seamlessly, the films writer and director Luke Ricci brings viewers the story of Bart, played
by Matthew Gray Gubler of Criminal Minds, a shy slacker clerk at a video store who is continually getting pushed around by the stores
clientele. Acting as a knight in shining armor rescuing a damsel in distress, Mike, played by Demeon Clarke, a regular customer and
serial killer swoops in one night to save the store clerk from his tedious work and lack of respect from customers. After taking care of
one of the nasty patrons at the store, Mike promised to show Bart how to empower himself through slaughter and murder.
Those that are thinking that this film is going to be a simple hack and slash film will be sorely disappointed. Although Mike tries
desperately to juggle the life of a motivational murderer with that of a life of a normal person, which is seen as he is one moment killing
a careless dog owner and the next moment he is flirting with his girlfriend Abigail, played by Laure Regan, in the next moment. Bart
attempts to fir into his new life, though he feels a little out of place at first. There is a dynamic between the odd couple of Mike and Bart
which makes for a lot of the film’s most memorable moments. On the outside, Mike is the tried and true leader of the duo, but more
than one time during the film, Bart seems to be the instigator working on preying on Mike’s number of insecurities, especially when it
comes to his girlfriend. At times viewers may find it hard to determine who Bart is more jealous of, Mike or Abigail.
Even though he is a serial killer, Mike lives by a code of ethics for killing, and it is how these rules are presented that sets this film apart
from other films of this type. While this area has been examines to some degree in the film “Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie
Vernon” and the Showtime hit series “Dexter,” “How to be a Serial Killer” is all on its own. With a few infomercial clips scattered
throughout the film with Mike as a hard-selling salesman, character interviews and even a few point of view scenes, the film is filled a lot
of activity. The most interesting of the aforementioned scenes are in interviews with Dr. Goldberg, who is played by George Wyner.
Even though Mike might be very charismatic, he is still a killer and is very obviously insane, yet some of what he says during the film
does make a lot of sense. While it could be very easy to get wrapped up in everything that Mike has to say, Dr. Goldberg serves perfectly
to bring the audience back to the reality of things. He is the voice of reason while every other character in the film is either under Mike’s
spell or completely messed up in the head.
However, at a certain point the film takes a drastic turn and it not only loses the momentum of the film as well as its place. What started
as a light hearted look at a serious matter shifts into something that feels anxious to become what has been set as the genre
standards. Suddenly and without warning the film feels as though the audience is watching an episode of some television crime
drama series. The climax is drawn out, the pacing slows down and in becomes very unclear what the point the film is trying to make
anymore and the movie takes a large tumble. Although the writer/director tries to keep the humor going to the end of the film with the
inclusion of a scared rookie cop, the final act falls very flat.
Other than its subject matter, the film is surprisingly light on the amount of bloodshed seen on the screen. Of course there are a lot of
killings throughout the film, there is even a murder montage at one point, but for the most part viewers will only see the pre-death and
post-death shots of the body. Many films addressing this sort of a subject go a little overboard with the amount of blood and gore they
offer, and it may be refreshing to see something a little more realistic, but this film seemed to have shot a little too far in the other
direction with too little blood and gore.
With the exception of the before mentioned scene that throws off the film a bit, “How to be a Serial Killer is a lot of fun to watch, even after
watching it a couple of times. The performances by each actor are very strong and are very interesting. For anyone that is a fan of the
serial killer genre should definitely check this film out. It is a different look on a subject already covered with a bit of a different twist.
