Office Killer (1997)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Cindy Sherman

Writers:

Tom Kalin (writer)
Elise MacAdam (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

3 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Working here can be murder.

Plot:

A mousy office worker accidentally kills one of her coworkers, then proceeds to bump off a few others.

Plot Keywords:

Office | Murder | Office Worker | Loneliness | Magazine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Carol Kane	...	Dorine Douglas
Molly Ringwald	...	Kim Poole
Jeanne Tripplehorn	...	Norah Reed
Barbara Sukowa	...	Virginia Wingate
Michael Imperioli	...	Daniel Birch
David Thornton	...	Gary Michaels
Mike Hodge	...	Mr. Landau
Alice Drummond	...	Carlotta Douglas
Florina Rodov	...	Receptionist
Jason Brill	...	Delivery Man
Eddie Malavarca	...	Brian
Doug Barron	...	Ted
Linda Powell	...	Naomi
Albert Macklin	...	Brad
Michelle Hurst	...	Kate
Paula Cale	...	Paula
Harley Kaplan	...	Steve
Marla Sucharetza	...	Mrs. Gary Michaels
Marceline Hugot	...	Young Carlotta Douglas
Wayne Maxwell	...	Jimmy the Homeless Man
Julia McIlvaine	...	Linda, Girl Scout #1
Cleopatra St. John	...	Girl Scout #2
Danny Morgenstern	...	Ted's Secretary
Timothy Stickney	...	Paramedic #1 (as Timothy D. Stickney)
Christopher Tracy	...	Paramedic #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Affleck	...	Man in Office (scenes deleted)
Rachel Aviva	...	Young Dorine Douglas (uncredited)
John D. Bair	...	Office Delivery Man (uncredited)
Eric Bogosian	...	Peter Douglas (uncredited)
Cindy Sherman	...	Woman Photographer (uncredited)

Directed by
Cindy Sherman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Todd Haynes		additional dialogue (uncredited)
Tom Kalin		writer
Elise MacAdam		writer
Cindy Sherman		story

Produced by
Tom Carouso	....	executive producer
John Hart	....	executive producer
Ted Hope	....	executive producer
Pamela Koffler	....	producer
James Schamus	....	executive producer
Christine Vachon	....	producer

Original Music by
Evan Lurie

Cinematography by
Russell Lee Fine

Film Editing by
Merril Stern

Production Design by
Kevin Thompson

Art Direction by
Ford Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Amy Beth Silver

Costume Design by
Todd Thomas

Makeup Department
Evelyn Ortman	....	hair stylist
Evelyn Ortman	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Blair Breard	....	unit production manager
John J. Leonard	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cindy Craig	....	second assistant director
Jude Gorjanc	....	first assistant director
Victoria Robinson	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Andrea Stanley	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Evan T. Chen	....	assistant sound editor
Ajae Clearway	....	apprentice sound editor
Neil Danziger	....	sound mixer
Mick Gormany	....	sound editor
George A. Lara	....	foley mixer
Adam Lerner	....	apprentice sound editor
Jennifer Martinez	....	boom operator
Sylvia Menno	....	sound editor
David Novack	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eliza Paley	....	sound
Paul P. Soucek	....	co-supervising sound editor
Brian Vancho	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Rob Benevides	....	special effects makeup
Drew Jiritano	....	special effects coordinator
Rodney Sterbenz	....	special effects makeup assistant

Stunts
Victor Chan	....	stunts
John Copeman	....	stunts
David S. Lomax	....	stunts (as David Lomax)
Steve Mack	....	stunts
David Shumbris	....	stunts
Manny Siverio	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Lloyd Handwerker	....	assistant camera
Teri Kennedy	....	second second assistant camera
Philip J. Martinez	....	best boy electric
Kristy Tully	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lisa Dorr	....	wardrobe assistant
Andrea Swistak	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Myron I. Kerstein	....	assistant editor
Jessica Levin	....	assistant editor
Yvette Mattern	....	assistant editor
Hilary Peabody	....	assistant editor (as Hillary Peabody)
Nelson Ryland	....	assistant editor
Damon Skinner	....	assistant editor
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative matcher
Stan Sztaba	....	negative matcher

Music Department
Randall Poster	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Andy Clark	....	location manager
John J. Leonard	....	production coordinator
Sandra Isabelle Muller	....	script supervisor
Christopher Savage	....	production assistant
Gayle Vangrofsky	....	assistant location manager
Marlene McCarty	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Good Fear
• Good Machine
• Kardana-Swinsky Films

Distributors

• Miramax Films (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• New Films International (1998) (non-USA) (all media)
• Ace Pictures (1999) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Palace Films (199?) (Australia) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1998) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Dimension Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Gativideo (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Paris Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Home Entertainment (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Strand Releasing
• Yorin (2003) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)

Other Companies

• Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein  legal services

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

82 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Newark, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Good Fear

Trivia:

According to Christine Vachon, the production company Killer Films gets its name from this film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dorine's cats are scratching under the basement door, you can see that a toy is being waved under the door.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Citizen Kane (1941)

Doesn't Quite Work

The first question that would come to mind would be whether Carol Kane could play a psycho successfully. And after seeing this film, I would have to say I still don't know because the very tame screenplay didn't allow her to be a well developed psychotic, nor did it allow any other sort of development for any other aspect of this film.

The storyline here is very typical. It involves Carol Kane (with very odd penciled in eyebrows) as an awkwardly mousy, hardworking magazine editor in a drab and depressing looking office building where she gets picked on daily. Then, without any time wasted, the inevitable psycho switch gets flipped and she starts killing off her coworkers.

I know that may sound to most like your typical fun slasher, but in fact, it can't even be considered a slasher. Actually, I really don't know what genre to categorize this film in because it dips it's toes in a couple different sub-genres without ever fully concentrating on any one area, therein lying the problem. The resulting film just doesn't quite work. At the start, it seemed to be heading into satire territory with office politics and such, but quickly falls flat because of a major lack of humor. As it went on, it then seemed I was in for a slasher, but all of the murders take place off screen, giving us no chase sequences, creative deaths or gore. Then I expected it to take a turn into suspense, but was left with no tension or any sort of character development whatsoever, so I never cared for anyone or anything enough to ever get involved in the storyline. The writers just didn't seem to know what they really wanted, which kind of left the final product in limbo. And it's pretty disappointing because the photographer turned director, Cindy Sherman, seemed to have talent and would have benefited greatly if it were a straight up thriller.

So what were we meant to feel during this film? It wasn't smart, funny, thrilling or even bloody. Were we supposed to hate and fear Kane? Or were we supposed to root for her? The whole film felt just as awkward as she looked and felt just as drab and boring as the office building looked, which leaves us with no reason to ever want to visit. I would compare this to later films, such as Love Object and the Willard remake, both of which used the same plot techniques, yet executed them in a much more entertaining fashion. Office Killer isn't a terrible film. I give the director and cast credit for trying. But it's just so lifeless that I can't recommend you wasting your time with it.