MOVIE REVIEW: I Am Not a Serial Killer

I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)

Horror, Thriller, Sci-Fi

Directed By: Billy O'Brien

With horror currently owning the box office, the age old debate has once again been brought to the surface of whether or not horror is still thriving. Spoiler: it is, and it has been for years now- you just have to know where to look. While Don't Breathe is sitting at number one at the box office it feels like a good time to remind fans that great horror can be found at anytime streaming on VOD outlets. For example, you can currently go and stream the new horror thriller I Am Not a Serial Killer while it is still playing in a limited theatrical run. I did so and in turn was treated to a weird, original new story told from a point of view we don't get to experience too often. 

John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records) has been recently diagnosed as a sociopath by his therapist, and despite the titles negative connotations, he has owned his new identity. He knows he has issues and that if the perfect sequence of events were to happen he would probably end up killing someone. He doesn't want to hurt anybody, though, in fact, the idea couldn't be less appealing to John, but he knows the potential is there. He follows a strict set of rules to keep himself from getting to that point but when a serial killer pops up in his remote little town his entire world is turned upside down. It's made even worse when he makes a strange discovery about the person performing these heinous acts and he now feels an obligation to do something about it. 

Seeing this story unfold from the point of view of John, a diagnosed sociopath, is what makes this movie so enjoyable to watch. We are seeing an original take on a classic small town murder mystery, told through eyes we rarely get to view anything from. Watching John handle his condition is fascinating enough to carry its own movie and learning how he has crafted his own set of rules, and how each of those rules keeps his bad habits at bay is a just one of many clever angles this movie operates on. 

Take that premise and use it as a baseline to tell a murder mystery and it gives us a take with are unfamiliar with. John's vast knowledge of serial killers and how they work allow him to catch onto the trail of his town's new infamous celebrity fairly easily and what he finds is totally unexpected. You may think you have the movie figured out in the first act but when the twists start coming and the film takes a slight sci-fi turn the outcome of the movie becomes rather unpredictable. 

Despite its cool and original premise, I Am Not a Serial Killer is not without its flaws. Watching John navigate his mental state is fascinating at times and pretty much everything dealing with the killer itself is totally engaging, but the filler in between can be quite clunky. There were a handful of moments where I began to lose interest in what was happening in the scene, or what I was watching didn't play directly into the story and slightly lost my interest. They do their best to create the strange relationship between John and his mother, who is aware of his diagnosis, but it often times comes off as a passing thought. 

The film succeeds with a clever premise and great performances from its leads. Max Records owns his role as the sociopathic John Wayne Cleaver, his unsettling demeanor and way of carrying himself creates the eerie atmosphere that most of the story operates on. The real treat though is Christopher Lloyd, who plays John's creepy old neighbor Crowley. Lloyd turns in one of the best performances we have seen from him ages and it adds a gravitas you wouldn't expect from a flick like this.

This is exactly the type of movie that totally justifies the changing landscape of releasing horror films. Though this is a clever new horror thriller it isn't a movie you necessarily need to see on a big screen. Yes, every movie is enhanced by being seen in a theater but this is also the perfect kind of horror movie to just pop on a Sunday afternoon and be surprised by. It offers us a new point of view in which to view a horror story from, and for that alone, it is worth the price of a rental. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!