HIGH-octane crimson-soaked horror-action-comedy They Will Kill You comes off like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 1991 surrealist delight Delicatessen – or even Dario Argento’s horror classic Suspiria – as reimagined by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.
Directed by Kirill Sokolov, this dizzying splatter-fest stars Zazie Beetz as the totally kickass Asia Reaves, a hard-as-nails ex-con, whotakes a job as a housekeeper in a New York City high-rise.
The Virgil is one of the Big Apple’s most exclusive and unusual lodgings, immediately giving off serious Lucio Fulci The Beyond vibes. On her arrival, Asia discovers this is no ordinary residence for wealthy old folk but a luxurious pad for Satanists who like to dabble in all night orgies and human sacrifice to their pig-headed evil overlord.
Guests, and more particularly, the staff, have been disappearing at New York’s answer to The Overlook Hotel for years, which has fuelled the lore of an unhallowed cult operating within its walls for decades. The no nonsense Lilith (Patricia Arquette), the woman in charge of this eccentric hell-house, gives Asia the grand tour before showing her to her lodgings for an early night, before starting work the next day.
With doors creaking, the walls whispering and demonic faces peering out of the darkness, a good night’s sleep is not on the cards, and she’s not long into her forty winks before The Virgil’s deadly secrets come to the fore. The fighting skills Asia has learned in prison stand to her now as she must battle, not only for her very survival, but her soul, and all she holds dear in this world, as she wakes to a nightmare of undead proportions.
With a brilliant supporting cast including Myha’la, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and the aforementioned Patricia Arquette, They Will Kill You is an infectiously entertaining and maniacally-paced comic book caper that is as gleefully diverting as it is downright shallow.
A real guilty pleasure if ever there was one.
(4/5)