The Killing Floor (2007) User Reviews (23)

All Right, But Plot Needs Some Serious Work

[gosolowe · 5/10 · 15 July 2010]

I'm surprised there are so many really good reviews of this movie. It really wasn't THAT great. I viewed it on late night cable and honestly, I'm glad I did, as I don't think it's something I'd want to pay money (other than the cable bill) to see.

I will give it credit in that it is suspenseful and generally entertaining. In fact, it was all good until the end, when we find out what is going on, and when what can only be called giant, gaping plot holes are revealed.

(WARNING: SPOILERS FROM HERE)

For example, we discover in the end that many of characters are in fact desperate NYC actors who were hired by the main character's secretary to psych him out. At first glance, it seems implausible that all these actors are willing to be on-call twenty-four seven and are able to improvise their parts flawlessly for the entire length of the movie without really questioning why they're doing what they are; however, I guess it could happen, so I suppose you could suspend your disbelief.

However, it gets a bit ridiculous at the end of the movie. David Lamont (the main character) and the detective (who isn't actually a detective, but an actor playing one) get into this fist fight as Lamont thinks the detective is the killer and the detective tries to act the part by trying to kill Lamont. For some reason, though, at no point during this 5- 10 min fight scene, does the actor playing the detective stop trying to kill Lamont, even as he is being beaten, battered, and eventually, thrown down a flight of stairs to his death. This one is hard to swallow. I realize the character is suppose to be a desperate out of work actor, but none of the actors I know are so desperate that they would actually risk their lives in a death match and try to commit murder all for that big break. I'm pretty sure in the real world, after the first punch was thrown, any sane individual would say "screw this, I'm going back to waiting tables." The guy has plenty of opportunities to walk away, but even after he is seemingly knocked unconscious, he gets back up and continues to lunge himself at Lamont until his untimely end.

The movie proceeds downhill from there, as Lamont decides instead of calling the police, as any rational person would do, he will take the body to a farm and hack it into pieces to feed to the pigs. However, I'm thinking "isn't this guy suppose to be a mystery novel agent? Surely he must realize that although it may "look" like he is guilty of the murders in the movie, modern forensic science combined with decent detective work could likely implicate the real killer (and that by covering up, he's only making it 100 times worse?)"

All in all, I think I would have actually enjoyed this movie if only it had a plot that was a little bit more feasible. It had all the elements of a good movie - good acting, sets, suspense - in my opinion, however, the unbelievable script, let it down in the end.

Decent beginning, Predictable Ending

[ryan-1237 · 6/10 · 13 July 2008]

The beginning of the film is quite decent with a lot of potential. However the story quickly dissolves into several "suspenseful" misdirections which are mildly entertaining yet predictable.

Marc Blucas plays a young, handsome and rich literary agent. The casting of Blucas for this role was a poor decision. Not because he's not a good actor; he's just not a believable yuppie bookworm. I did like that Blucas' character wasn't afraid of the dark and wasn't jumping at every strange sound or seeing things.

The end is predictable although the writers didn't think so as the ending is supposed to leave you in shock. All it left me was bored and glad to hit the stop button.

I Felt Cheated by the Ending

[mrvirgo · 4/10 · 15 April 2009]

While I can accept the cheap Hollywood horror movie clichés that are rampant in this movie, I can not accept the ending of the movie which, when I had time to think on it, I was not be able to unravel how the perpetrator was able to manage to do what she did. I read what others had said about the end being a surprise. Fine, I was surprised but the more I thought about who the villain was the less and less probable the plot became. She simply could not have manipulated that many factors and gotten away with her crime. The ending, which is supposed to make clear all the plot twists, goes so fast that it didn't allow me to absorb how it was possible for anyone to do what she did. So I concluded that it simply would have been impossible. What a gyp! The only reason I gave this movie a 4 was that it has no pretense of being anything other than a B film and it wasn't totally boring.

Clever and intense thriller

[Gordon-11 · 5 August 2007]

This is a thriller about a successful literary agent getting stalked and threatened with psychological means.

I must say I did not expect this film to be so good. The character development is excellent. Right from the beginning, the main character David is already a character to be disliked, while the secretary Rebecca is a character to be sympathised. The plot is sophisticated and well thought out. The psychological threat is well presented, and furthermore, it is quite believable. I felt so attached to the characters and what was going on, that I felt insecure about sitting at home! Suspense is maintained throughout the film, and it kept me on edge all the time. From the beginning, there are already clues that gives away the twist at the end, but it does not make the film any worse. In short, I think this is a clever and intense thriller, and I would certainly recommend it!

Bland and uninteresting

[krigler · 1/10 · 23 March 2007]

These days good thrillers are increasingly hard to come by. It takes extra effort and a lot of thinking on the writers' part to come up with something original that the audience hasn't seen before countless times. When TV shows like Prison Break tire out the viewers with their seemingly endless double twists and reversals you need to invent something truly clever to justify making a feature film. With "The Killing Floor", the producers obviously just went for the cheap thrills, trusting that there is an endless appetite for the genre. It's hard to imagine anything more boring and uninspiring than this pic. Poor characterization, twists we saw a thousand times, inane dialogue and wooden acting - you name it. If you have seen more than 5 thrillers and you have an IQ higher than an average coffee mug you'll see through the long list of weak red herrings and figure out what's going on quite early on. Everything is set up and foreshadowed with the subtlety of an 18 wheeler, so if you are not half asleep while watching, there will be few surprises along the way. (In fact, I was half asleep and still there were none.) Prepare for pathetic "boo moments", scares characterized by sudden bursts of loud music and very stupid actions by the hero. Many times all he should do is ask a couple of really obvious questions from the other characters to shed light on a particular matter. But here everyone does and says things to suit the storyteller's intentions. I only watched it till the end because I am a true fan of thrillers and I was kind of expecting a massive surprise revelation at the end that would make it worthwhile. No such luck. As I said, if you are conscious enough to hear and grasp the dialogue and your mind is capable of processing the images flickering on the screen, you will know what's going on long before the protagonist. Knowing the Hollywood system, there might have been an interesting idea at the core of this film. If there was, it got lost along the way, and the result is the saddest of all generic misfires: a thriller that fails to thrill.

Great mystery, decent thriller. Much better than expected.

[arc81 · 7/10 · 21 April 2007]

I watched this movie with low expectations. There were no ratings on IMDb, I had never heard of any of the actors, and all the reviews were praising it as if it were the best thing ever made; which led me to believe the only people who reviewed this movie were the ones who were working on it. I was wrong. The movie holds a very steady pace for the most part. Not a whole lot happens during the beginning; they tried to make it into a thriller way too early, and were unsuccessful. But about halfway through, the characters and story really started to shine. Just when you think you know who to point fingers at, you realize you're wrong-- again and again. Towards the end, the thrills just keep on coming until the story finally unfolds. It's enough to keep just about anyone's attention.

The acting, writing and directing were 100x better than I thought they would be, especially considering the obvious low budget. My only real complaint was the acting done by Marc Blucas. He just seemed to be over-doing it a bit. Too articulate and too serious about everything he said. Everyone else did a fine job, though. Especially Shiri Appleby. I really hope someone spots her, I'd love to see her again. Her character was spot-on, her acting was top notch, and she's as pretty as can be.

The Killing Floor is about as close as you can come to the border between B movie and Hollywood thriller... without the multi-million dollar budget.

If any of the cast or crew read this.. great job guys!

Not Nearly as Good as I'd Hoped

[atomic_age57 · 3/10 · 14 January 2008]

Starting out pretty decent, about mid-way through the film starting going downhill, and really fizzled to a bomb at the end. Even with a good creepy tone set early on, the movie just doesn't seem to go anywhere and I eventually found myself just wishing it would end. The lead actor is not very convincing in his role and just seems like he's bored with the script. Unfortunately the other characters are rather one-dimensional as well. We really don't get to know these people enough to care what happens to them, and the predictable plot just doesn't leave much to the imagination. I give it a three out of ten; watch it only if you can't find something better.

A nice pleasant thriller

[asdalovesme · 7/10 · 17 September 2009]

I must say i enjoyed this movie from start to finish! The movies about a guy who moves into a new apartment and starts getting packages suggesting something terrible happened in his apartment, he tries to find out the history of his apartment and ends up going off the rails and getting himself in a very big pickle! the storyline is very gripping and its also accompanied by a nice and clever ending! the actors were well chosen and play there parts well, and the camera work and directing is very good as well!! this movie is a must for any thriller fan or anyone for that matter! its been a great movie to start off the day, i hope the other 5 im gonna watch are as enjoyable as this one was!

Poorly written, poorly acted

[ivan_af · 2/10 · 30 March 2008]

This movie was a disappointment. Characters do not act like normal people and there are too many things that just do not make sense. If you are a fan of horror movies, you are by now used to it and this shouldn't bother you. There are many cheap scares and startling noisy scenes, so if you are watching a movie for that, you will get it. However, if you think this movie will be worth thinking about after you stopped the DVD, sorry, you will be disappointed. Your intelligence is insulted through the whole movie. The main character who is supposed to be a very intelligent person acts throughout a movie like an adolescent who just wrecked his parents' car. He trusts people who any normal individual would distrust and looses all reasoning abilities after about 10 minutes of the movie. The acting was bad even for a low budget movie. Don't waste your time watching this.

Better than Thr3e.

[ilovebuffy_1 · 7/10 · 22 January 2009]

(This is 3 paragraphs to long!) It's not often when you get such a thriller that pulls you in and make's sure you don't fall out and The Killing Floor manages just that. I didn't expect anything to come out of this film just as most would but, surprisingly, it was fairly entreating and good. Yes, a B-Film but, a good one with a good actors. It sticks to it's B-Movie root's and it's a delight the whole time.

If you want a good movie this is for you. This movie is movie is not a horror and if you are looking for one to watch don't watch this, it's not scary and your hopes will only be let done. This is a movie for the thinker, so if your head hurts a lot when you think, you shouldn't be watching this, but, if you're looking for a good movie, I recommend this to you.

The finale twist is absolutely stunning, not only are you not trying to smile at the devious and twisted thing that is going on but, you're wonder how the title character didn't see that coming. All together this movie makes a great thriller. I would recommend this to anyone who like's suspense, and wants something to just sit down to watch for fun, and someone who is in the mood to put a puzzle together.

(But please, don't take my word for it)

Falls a tiny bit short of being good

[MBunge · 4/10 · 10 February 2011]

There are some elements of The Killing Floor that are quite good. There are far more things that are solidly mediocre. Then there's stuff that gets worse and worse the more you think about it. Co-writer/director Gideon Raff competently assembles it all but fails to spice up the mediocre or camouflage the worst, producing a movie that falls just short of being okay.

David Lamont (Marc Blucas) is a literary agent in New York City. He's the sort of guy who lives his life in fast forward, with no time or use for pleasantries unless he's trying to get himself laid. But he's also the sort of guy who'd never think of banging his hot secretary Rebecca (Shiri Appleby) because she's only a secretary.

David has just bought himself a three story penthouse and started to flirt with his beautiful neighbor from downstairs Audrey (Reiko Aylesworth), when weird things start happening. Someone shows up claiming to be the son of the man who used to own David's penthouse, insisting that he's the one who now owns it. An envelope of photos shows up that seem to show murdered bodies in David's home. A video tape arrives that shows the police dealing with a triple homicide in the penthouse, but David can't find any other evidence such a crime took place. Then another video tape shows up, shot by someone who got inside David's penthouse and filmed him while he was sleeping.

All that quite appropriately freaks David out. The only person he can turn to, however, is an oddly apathetic police detective named Martin Soll (John Bedford Lloyd). David slowly loses all semblance of control and begins violently lashing out against the mysterious forces tormenting him, leading to a deadly resolution and the even more perplexing reason for everything that's been happening to him.

The Killing Floor gets off on the wrong foot immediately by establishing David Lamont as dick with no redeeming qualities. But he's not such a colossal dick that you can enjoy seeing terrible stuff happen to him. He's the sort of garden variety dick where you're simply unmoved when you watch him being put through the emotional wringer. That's unfortunate, because Marc Blucas' performance as David is pretty good. He not only perfectly portrays a dick but when the story start to tear David's life apart, Blucas responds with a weave of anger and fear that makes the character seem a lot more realistic and proactive than you usually get in this sort of movie. Aside from staying in the penthouse for too long after the craziness kicks in, Blucas gives David reactions that are much more like what a real person would do in his situation.

The other exceptional thing about The Killing Floor is that it manages to keep you guessing as to what's happening to David and why. Every thriller tries to do this. This movie is one of the few that succeeds. Unfortunately, that leads you to another of the very bad things about this film. It keeps you guessing because the scheme at work is so unrealistic in every practical way that no one could anticipate it. There's also at least one occasion, and maybe more, where it doesn't provide the perceptive viewer with the information they'd need to figure things out. In other words, the movie basically cheats at its mystery.

The other plot machinations, acting and direction are all relatively effective but never noteworthy, except for a stretch toward the end where David has to confront the awful things he has done in the course of the story. Powered again by Blucas' fine work, these scenes are much smarter and more substantive than anything else in the film.

I do have to register one last complaint. There are two sex scenes in this R-rated flick but neither has any genuine nudity. It's all faux nudity where the naughty bits are always kept strategically covered up. I can appreciate that actors and actresses, especially actresses, may not want to disrobe on camera. However, a sex scene in an R-rated movie ought to have actual naked people in it. If you can't pull that off, what's the point in having a PG-13 rated sex scene in an R-rated movie? You might just as well take the high road completely and fade to black.

With a more sympathetic main character, a slightly more believable plot and a good dose of legitimate nudity, The Killing Floor might have been trashy fun. Without those, there isn't enough right with this movie to overcome all the wrong. There's certainly lesser films out there you could have the misfortune of seeing, but there's just as many better films that deserve your attention.

Quite intense, the ending reveals all

[vlad-cocoru · 8/10 · 11 March 2007]

A success and very busy literary agent (David) who has just bought a great penthouse apartment, runs into a strange scenario: someone is stalking him and that really drives him crazy! As the action goes on, he discovers that someone documented his moves quite precisely and that he's rather exposed to the attacker's will.

David is a sporty, strong, determined guy, who unfortunately has to let go his emotional part... In his conception, if you're not straight-forward you can't "make him care". But this determination is his very downfall.

The movie has some interesting twists, the male character is quite dynamic, surprising and rather intelligent. All his interactions are thrilling to watch, so you'll get attracted to the story. All his dialogs with women will at least make you smile.

The actual pulse of this movie is not that high. I sometimes felt that we learn some things that aren't important to the plot. Things get worse as the story advances. Strangely, I think the best part of this movie is the ending. Like in most modern movies, the last 5 minutes reveal everything that you couldn't put together during the story. And get ready for something really surprising.

Another thing to mention in this movie is the soundtrack. Not very spectacular, but perfectly fitting the action.

Gave the movie 8/10 and I definitely consider this one a good way to spend 1h and a half. Try it, it might make you think about people you tend to overlook :)

Mysteries on the floor

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 9 December 2020]

Sense may not be the number one key here ... but what don't you do for some tension and some mystery? The characters are also quite weirdly shown ... mostly to achieve an effect. So suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Never mind the writer (murder he wrote?) and how he reacts to certain things ... you probably will disagree with a lot of his choices.

Maybe even his choice in women ... maybe not. Again there is a possibility for you to concentrate on the good or bad. Up to you to decide which it will be. Story is fine enough

Under estimated movie!

[alexander-marton · 8/10 · 25 March 2007]

Hi there everyone, Just wanted to share some comments about this movie, i think this is a well written and well played movie from everyone involved! I like the scenes, light, manuscript, actors, characters, yeah almost everything. It was a little "amateur" in the beginning but it just became better and better, it gave me this creepy feeling inside. "What if somebody is watching ME right now" so and I always thought that i knew who the killer was, but as closer we've got to the end i was actually confused. But i think this is and will be a underestimated movie, and i would highly recommend it to anyone who are in to the Thriller genre!! If you like the Bourne Identity you'll definitely like this one as well.

Note: This is my first comment made on IMDb, =)

Pleasantly Surprised

[channel_dunlap · 8/10 · 13 March 2007]

Blucas went to the same high school I did, and so, in some rare act of hometown patriotism, I figured I'd check it out. I expected crap, not being a fan of the whole Buffy thing and not really seeing him in anything else. But I was pretty surprised, I really enjoyed the movie. Blucas's acting was quite good, and really shined through during the more intense moments. I had something of an idea of the ending of the movie early on in the film, but the actual ending still held a few surprises.

The rest of the movie was pretty good as well. Nobody really had terrific acting, but nobody did a bad job either. The production could have been a little better, no major flaws to point out, just, you could tell it wasn't a big-budget movie. I'd rank is above a "B" movie, but not by a whole whole lot.

Now that I look, the movie has no listed rating yet, but I think it'll definitely receive and R purely for language. What bothers me about that, and it by no means hurt the movie, but it irked me, was that with all the F-bombs being thrown around, there isn't even an ass through the entire movie (even during the sex scene). Also, aside from a few very mild fights, there really is no blood or gore or anything like that either. If you're going to go for an R rating, why not go all the way? By removing half a dozen curses, they probably could have gotten away with PG-13, but they didn't, so why skimp on all the other R-rated perks? Overall, I would for sure recommend watching it if you get the chance. Pretty decent flick.

Cheers.

Best mystery movie I've ever seen!

[kylen90 · 9/10 · 11 March 2007]

This is probably the best mystery film i have ever seen, it contains everything that you would expect from a mystery/thriller movie, twist and turns but still keeping it to a good level, Acting was very well done and the movie was really a mystery you really had to put it all together to get the big picture, but when it comes to the end everything just disappears and everything changed but in a good way, its really worth seeing the movie to find out the truth at the end! I gave it a 9 because it was a little bit slow in the start, but totally watchable! Good scenes and pretty girls, and it gives you some scares once in a while!

Edge of your seat thriller

[chrichtonsworld · 9/10 · 22 March 2007]

Marc Blucas (best known from Buffy the vampire slayer) acts superbly! Even when it is obvious he is an obnoxious and arrogant man you will sympathize with him. Of course he is helped by the wonderful screenplay. But still it is an excellent performance. The pace of the movie is quite fast. The tension starts early and building up to the climax. When you think you know everything the story immediately goes another direction. The twists and turns are handled with care so that you don't loose the plot. At one occasion the main character is sent a video which he plays to find out really disturbing. Suggesting there are supernatural elements involved. You have to see it to believe it. But it did freak me out a bit. As a fanatic thriller and horror fan this is not easy to do! The particular scene lifts this movie to an ever higher level and me wanting to find out what the hell was going on. (It is a shame that they don't explain how they achieved the effect,but i don't mind since it intensified the viewing experience a lot.) This movie delivers on the thrilling part. A must see!

Fun Movie

[lswanson-4 · 9/10 · 8 June 2007]

My wife and I liked this movie a lot! We are not film snobs but we like finding and watching movies that most people don't know about. She found this one surfing Amazon UK. We ordered it and watched on our Mac. We agreed that it reminded us of a combination of the movies "Deceived" with Goldy Hawn and "The Player" with Tim Robbins. Like those movies "The Killng Floor" had scary moments with out being a slasher film, although was scarier than these other two. It had twists and turns that you may have suspected could happen yet they played out in a way we did not expect. Over all this movie was really fun to watch. If you know New York at all, the scenery was great. We have recommended it to our friends here in Minneapolis, MN.

Bad Funding for a Brilliant Plot?

[AvalonGroupEntertainment · 8/10 · 25 July 2007]

This movie really entertained me and kept me thinking all the way to the end, unfortunately all that let the film down were the obviously tight funds expended to make this film.

I think the lead roles were played well but the policeman really let it down I think.

Otherwise, as I said really good story.

Other than this small but resounding problem I think the film was a really good attempt at the originally story although I think the book would be better.

Love Me

Something for Everyone

[gengar843 · 8/10 · 3 June 2018]

Do you want a twisty mystery that will keep you guessing until the last moment? Do you want to see a stomach-churning "get rid of the bodies" scene? Do you want to watch an arrogant big-shot get his? Do you want to see some erotic moments? If so, this movie is for YOU. David is a writer's agent, driven but not very observant, not until it's too late. He buys this terrific apartment in NYC, but it has a history. It also has people trying to get hold of it, who stalk David. The plot on this is much meatier, but I don't to give too much away. Plot holes? A few. Obvious? You think so, don't you? Acting? A bit over, but I REALLY liked David going over the edge with Audrey. Setting? Good NYC moments, though 2007, so not gritty enough for me. Music? Adequate. Action? A ton. I think you'll really like this one.

It got an nine minus one

[staunton-gary · 8/10 · 29 November 2020]

Yes, the movie was really good and the hour and half didn't seem too long. Once the movie had finished, I found myself pondering upon it and some of the choices that some characters made, this was the reason it lost a star. Certainly would recommend this movie.

This is not Lee Childs Jack Reacher's book one.

[Bernie4444 · 8/10 · 15 March 2024]

A snot literary agent David Lamont (Marc Blucas) is a real snot to everyone; he even snubs his assistant Rebecca Fay (Shiri Appleby) and friends. He tells people point-blank when they are in a slump.

He is, however, nice enough to tell people what is wrong with their stories and how to correct them. But will they listen?

He sees an offer for a large apartment and because he is afraid of small spaces, jumps at the chance to acquire it at any price. Soon he thinks he may have made a mistake as strange things happen there.

I know what you are thinking; it is haunted, or some weird creature is watching him on a baby cam. He also, being a snot, leaps to many conclusions.

Watch at your risk. Feel free to kibitz (he will not hear you.) Draw your conclusions. You may be right. But I doubt it.