In a town where no one smiles that much and it’s perpetually night, a contract killer, Marshall (James Treven-Brown) finds himself being hunted by one of the world’s finest assassins, Lee-Seng (Rob Young). To top off his already bad day, his boss has been killed leading him to go on the run with said boss’s niece. Sometimes a guy can’t get an even break.
If you’ve seen the trailer, don’t let the modest budget fool you. Whilst not wholly successful, this is a film with big ideas. Contract Killers is a time capsule. A love letter to the mid-nineties action movies, such as The Rock and Face/Off, that won everyone over and kept Nicholas Cage out of the taxman’s pocket. Director Mathew John Pearson heads up a John Wood charged gauntlet of kung fu, gun-porn and blood. ‘Fuck you, and fuck the law!’ Marshall cries without a hint of irony.
What’s perhaps truly surprising is that the whole thing was filmed in Wellington, New Zealand. And whilst the acting is a mixed bag – Marshall’s accent notably slips on one than one occasion – and the story is as slim as a blade of grass, it’s the stunts that will have you sticking around.
For that reason alone, the whole crew should applauded for putting together that evokes a period of action movie history that a lot of us hold dear to our hearts. Gather some likeminded friends round for a beer and reminisce about a time with John Travolta made good films.
Early Bird Film Society 