A Horrible Way to Die

When it comes to the serial killer genre, there’s not much left to say (or show) that will shock an audience. We’ve seen elegant cannibals, ingenious tricksters and mindless hulks who strip your skin and wear it like a cheap suit. Been there, done that. So to squeeze something new out of the conventions, you have to tell the story in a different way. Which is exactly what A Horrible Way To Die does. Shy, skittish and borderline paranoid, Sarah (Amy Seimetz) is struggling through her AA meetings and trying to rebuild her life. From what? We’re not sure yet. But as the film cuts to the escape of famous serial killer Garrick Turrell - whose Facebook friend count is disgustingly high - we begin to get the idea that there’s a history between the two. And that history is going to repeat itself. Shot in the casual docu-style of an Office episode, we follow Sarah on dates with her new boyfriend as she begins to open up again. Meanwhile Garrick is coping with his own sick and twisted addictions as he makes his was cross-country. The film unfolds with no predetermined course, no jump scares, no real idea of where it’s headed, but with a mounting sense of dread that hovers over all the characters like an impending storm. There’s a twist…and it’s a doozy. But the film and the actors have earned your respect long before it comes along. The Blu-ray includes a commentary and behind-the-scenes featurette as extras.