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17 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Disturbingly Wonderful, 20 May 2005 Author: Jim Corveddu (PulpVideo) from United States
The last good film Stuart Gordon made was 1985's "Re- Animator," which I also give a 7 of 10.I mention the former mainly because this film is just as gripping and disturbing. This is not a horror-movie like the former, but it is "horrific" with its peculiar violent realism.Not much by way of character-development for the protagonist, but in this case, the less said about him the better, or we may not come around to be sympathetic with him when it counts. What we do know of the character Sean Crawley is pretty damn ugly, but unknown actor Chris McKenna has a screen presence that makes him somewhat likable, or at least puts us in his corner in the end.This film is not a good choice for mixed company, much less a date, but worth watching when home alone and prepared to be wonderfully disturbed.
12 out of 16 people found the following review useful: VERY interesting movie, 21 November 2005 Author: José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) from Mexico
Stuart Gordon, considered a master of the horror genre thanks to classics like Re-Animator and Dagon, decides to do a different move in this strange trip to human morals."King of the Ants" is about a regular guy, Sean Crawley(newcomer Chris McKenna), a man without any aspiration who just live in his apartment doing the necessary job to live to the next day. In one of his jobs he meets Duke(Gearge Wendt), who introduces Sean to his boss, Ray Matthews(played by Daniel Baldwin). Ray hires Sean as a spy, and orders him to follow Eric Gatlin(Roy Livingstone), an accountant who has been investigating Ray's company. Problems start when Ray, while drunk, orders Sean to kill Eric. And he does it. Things go wrong when Ray decides to make Sean disappear destroying his mind with violent punishment and humiliation.From the point where Sean kills Eric, we go in the same boat with him, as he goes through a downward spiral of human degradation, traveling from guilt, to confusion and finally to his rebirth, in a state where humanity, morals and values are not important anymore. Chris McKenna acting is very important because he manages to be likable even when he is part of gruesome acts, both as victim and/or criminal. He has that look of innocence that hides a dark side and he manages to carry the film.The support cast also includes Kari Wuhrer, as Eric's widow who also becomes a central part of Sean's trip to hell. She gives a fine performance, although it's obvious that Sean is the main character. He is the most developed of all and McKenna's performance is up to the challenge.The film has very disturbing images of violence, and while it may not be as graphic as "Kill Bill" for example, the strength of the violence is in the lack of humanity that the character manifest. He is more than an ant in this world. He is the king.Stuart Gordon has managed to create a film that, while maybe it's not one of his best efforts; it's very well done, has a VERY interesting story to tell, and manages to capture the attention every second of it.8/10
8 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Insignificant Man, Powerful Payback, 28 September 2007 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The handyman Sean Crawler (Chris L. McKenna) meets the electrician Duke Wayne (George Wendt) while painting a house and they drink a couple of beers together and have a small talk. A couple of days later, Duke offers a job to Sean, and they meet the corrupt constructor Ray Matthews (Daniel Baldwyn) in a golf club. Ray proposes Sean to stalk the accountant from the City Hall Eric Gatley (Ron Livingston), who is investigating him, and report every movement of Eric to Ray. While chasing Eric, Sean sees his wife Susan (Kari Wuhrer) and has a crush on her. When Ray offers US$ 13,000.00 to Sean to kill Eric, he accepts, but steals Ray's dossier before leaving the crime scene. However Sean is double-crossed by Ray and is brutally tortured by the real estate mobster and his men in a lonely ranch, but he does not tell where the file is. Sean succeeds in escaping, but severely wounded, he goes to the mission where Susan works and four weeks later he is healed. He tries to start a new life with Susan, but when she finds the documents and the truth about him, he plots a powerful revenge against Ray and his men."The King of the Ants" is a great bizarre thriller, with a good amoral story of manipulation, crime, humiliation and payback supported e by excellent screenplay, direction and performances. The nightmares and daydreams of Sean in the period he is tortured with a club of golf is disturbing, disgusting and nasty in some moments, but absolutely original. It is weird to see the gorgeous and sexy Kari Wuhrer having a penis, but the scene is absolutely inside the context of the mental state of Sean. I liked very much the performances of Kari Wuhrer, Chris L. McKenna, George Wendt and the cynical character of Daniel Baldwyn. Ron Livingston has a minor but effective participation. The horror of this movie is related to the torture and the deaths, and I felt quite disturbed with the stupid torture that Sean is submitted. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Tratamento de Choque" ("Shock Treatment")
6 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Wow! Caught this movie on late nite cable and was blown away, 7 December 2004 Author: muze2222-1 from Tulsa
I caught this movie one night as I was surfing and stopped just long enough to catch this charismatic star in a really underrated little sleeper. The first half of this movie gave me an uneasy feeling; the same feeling I had when I watched "Last House on the Left" for the first time. Watching the lead character beaten mercilessly with a "driver" in a shed until his face is disfigured, generated an enormous amount of pity. I found myself in the awkward position of caring for a hit man who ends up killing several people.That speaks volumes for the charisma and artistry of the actor playing Sean. This is definitely a cut above the average late nite fare; the script takes some amateur turns, but the cast keeps it from becoming camp.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: a great feel bad movie., 17 February 2006 Author: savage2202001 from United States
Wow! Rarely have I seen a film show events this sensational while at the same time feeling this realistic. What would it be like to be a hit-man? Apparently, not very fun. This movie shows the development of Sean Crawley from a directionless nobody to an unfeeling killer, and boy, is that metamorphosis painful. Young Sean Crawley is working as a painter when he meets Wayne Duke, a gregarious "cowboy electrician" (George Wendt, in "I am not Norm" mode) who introduces him to a construction mogul (some Baldwin, not Stephen or Alec, thank god) who offers Sean the opportunity to make some extra cash following a city accountant (the guy from Office Space who was dating the chick from Friends). Things turn dark when the Baldwin offers Sean some real money if he offs the guy. Sean accepts, executes the murder, which is one of the most gut wrenching scenes I have ever seen. You REALLY feel the confusion, apprehension, pain and insanity of killing an innocent stranger (I assume). You also get to see Sean's reaction after the fact, he looks like a young girl who just turned her first trick (once again, I assume. J/K, pimpin ain't easy). Sean tries to get his money afterwards, but Baldwin backs out, and sends Wendt to make sure that Sean makes himself scarce. Sean tries to blackmail Baldwin, and Baldwin's response is dumb enough to seem like a real hoods mind at work. He decides to beat Sean around the head with a golf club until Sean's a vegetable, or at least forgets everything that happens. The next several minutes involve Sean in a shed alternately delirious and hallucinating and getting uglier. This sequence is most disturbing for the resignation of the parties involved. The hoods know their going to beat Sean retarded, and Sean knows he's powerless to do anything, to the point where he even wraps the piece of foam that the hoods have been using to prevent marks and fatal bleeding around his own head. Then Sean snaps. He dispatches Wendt in a very efficient manner, and is rescued by a friend, who, learning more about what is actually going on, ditches Sean. Sean makes his way to a mission where the wife of the accountant he killed works (Kari Wurher, she is nice). She nurses the disfigured him back to health, and even lets him stay at her house (yes, rather awkward) when he can no longer stay at the shelter. A romance eventually blooms, but is short lived, as she soon finds out Sean's background. He kills her (accidentally?), and then goes and kills the bad guys at the ranch where his torture took place. This last scene shows the final stage in Seans metamorphosis, and it is chilling. He kills the thugs in a heartless, inevitable manner. He is fulfilling his purpose, nothing more, nothing less. The existential themes he discusses in this scene are nihlistic and simplistic, but the logic does hold up, unfortunately. Overall, a well made thriller that leaves you feeling uneasy. Sean transforms so naturally. He still has the same personality on the surface that he displayed at the beginning of the film, charming and affable, but what he is capable of is so grisly and remorseless that he becomes a truly terrifying figure. The other characters in the film serve to enable that transformation, and they do so believably. This film is a great character study, and the actor portraying Sean does a great job at seeming like an everyman, so much so that it allows you to examine the films themes on a personal level. This is a thought provoking film, which I would highly recommend. Not for the squeamish, though.
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Lord of the Flies, 9 June 2006 Author: Magdagator from Spain
I couldn't avoid relating it to the most disturbing novel I've ever read: "Lord of the Flies" (William Golding, 1954) I won't go into details, but suffice to say that both this movie and the book deal with the dark side of human nature and both have perturbing effects on our minds and consciences. Those who are familiar with the book will know what I mean.The characters in both the movie and the book live detached from society, their rules and morals: In 'Lord of the Flies' British kids, educated in a private school, are castaways stranded in a wild island. Eventually their civilized coat wears off and their inner savagery shows (safe a few characters who remain civilized). Sean Crawly (Chris McKenna) is a current boy, but he is also a dormant killer. Favourable circumstances(money and impunity) will trigger his wicked self.I've read fuming comments here in the style of "how on earth such normal boy is able to become a killer? This movie is bad!" What turns our stomachs is that his victim is innocent. The scene of the killing is horrifying but what makes it unbearable is that we know that Crawly knows he is killing an honest man. We don't feel so uncomfortable anymore when Crawly takes his revenge.The scene with Sean Crawly and Duke (George Wendt) at the zoo is also significant. Duke explains how humans can be compared with animals. Notice the pun in Sean's surname (Crawly) and how he is compared with a reptile and also with an ant.I find that the title of the movie and Duke's cut-of head may be a conspiratorial wink to 'Lord of the Flies'. Maybe it's a coincidence, but the similarities are too obvious to be ignored.This is a horror film. We may like the plot or not, agree with its development and ending or not, but.. kudos for all the actors and their director. In my opinion their performances are convincing and irreproachable.
9 out of 16 people found the following review useful: This is no 'Them! 2', 5 August 2004 Author: 10ThingsIHateAboutUXtra from Tacoma, WA
Newcomer Chris McKenna gives a daring performance as an average guy named Sean Crawley, who becomes more evil than the villains in the movie and still manages to be likable! While he is working, he meets Duke (played by George Wendt) who offers him a much more exciting job following around a government official and reporting on his actions. Duke's boss, Ray (Daniel Baldwin) meets Sean on a golf course and gives him this assignment. Thankfully, Daniel is more like Alec Baldwin (especially his character in 'The Cooler') than like Stephen Baldwin. Of course, things go wrong and it doesn't help matters when Sean refuses to tell Ray where he hid an incriminating file (which will go straight to the police if he is killed). This leaves Ray with no choice but to imprison Sean in a shack near his hideout in the desert. After attempting to erase Sean's memory (unsuccessfully) several times with a golf club to the head, Sean starts hallucinating; then things get really strange... The title comes from a line where Duke compares Sean to one of the ants in an ant farm, but at the end of the movie Sean says that all humans are ants (and he is obviously 'the king').
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Interesting, but average horror/thriller., 27 February 2009 Author: lastliberal from Florida
This is a hard film to categorize. Thriller? Not really, even though there is a murder, it was more comedy that thriller. Horror? It had some gory parts, but they were not terribly bad.Chris McKenna was just your average loser, and he was used to do a nasty job. Those that used him (George Wendt and Daniel Baldwin) decided to abuse him rather than pay him. Big mistake. Despite some really horrific abuse, he managed to escape and start living a normal life with Kari Wuhrer until his secret gets out and he has to make things right.More like Payback than a horror film, except the hero doesn't get to ride off into the sunset with the girl.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Not One of Gordon's Better Titles, But Enjoyable, 23 November 2008 Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin
A money-loving hit-man is hired by the mob to take out a powerful attorney who is closing in on them. After successfully completing the job, the mob turns their back on him... choosing to prefer him dead over paid. Things take an unusual twist when the hit-man must rely on the attorney's wife to help him recover.This is a hard film to categorize. It has been called "horror" or at least explores "horror themes", but the connection is minimal. Certainly, the director is Stuart Gordon, one of my horror idols. And there is some imagery that is violent and supernaturally disturbing (including a demon woman with male genitalia). But it's more a story of crime, murder and revenge... not necessarily in the horror vein. So, if you're looking for a Gordon horror film, look for "Castle Freak" or another lesser-known film, as this may not satisfy your urges.Other reviews have called "King of the Ants" one of the weaker films in Gordon's career, horror or otherwise. I would tend to agree with this assessment. While the film is enjoyable, the story itself is nothing particularly novel and the deeper themes don't manage to make it very deep -- the "ant" theme, for example, is rather forced in my opinion. George Wendt, who plays the mob boss, gives a strong performance, but it's lost in such a mediocre movie. Sorry, George, I love your work, but this isn't going to help plump your resume or detach you from "Cheers" (though it's far better than the colossal dump that "Bryan Loves You" was).I do not regret watching this film or regret owning it. Upon my second viewing, should one occur, I will check out the commentary and special features, to get a fuller picture of the director's vision. There may be something I missed here. There's something mythological about a killer being aided by his victim's family, though it escapes me at the moment what the exact reference is. (Trained in classical Greek thought and I come up blank... thanks, college.) Stuart Gordon fans, check this out. All others, keep moving. Of the films I've seen this year -- and I see many -- this doesn't make the top ten percent by any means. You'd be better off watching pretty much any other Stuart Gordon creation, including his newest (as of this writing) "Stuck" or any of the classics. Heck, you could watch "re-Animator" for the hundredth time.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Breath Taking movie, 28 April 2005 Author: fxp-1 from Egypt
Well guys, lets make this simple, at start you gonna think it is a low quality and low production movie, then it turns out at the end that its true that is a low production movie, but an excellent one.i don't wanna spoil the movie for you, but all what i am gonna say is, it is worth spending 90 min in front of it, but you need to have some endurance watching the gore in it!Acting is not on top, but it is convincingThe Story is consumed from a lot of other movies, but this one is made a little different, still interesting .The is a new style in directing that movie, some parts caught my attention really, music was great, the ending was typical American movie.Thanks
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