Two hitmen, waiting for their next mission, decide to tell each other some tales in this anthology from Aaron K. Carter.
Gio and Frankie are hitmen who work for their boss Mr. Kinski. After a botched job, Kinski is not happy. He reveals to Gio that Frankie may be snitching and could be responsible for the botch due to his unprofessionalism and mannerisms. He orders Gio to kill Frankie in an hour. However, Gio decides to not let Frankie know yet and make him think they are going after another target. To kill the boredom of waiting, the duo decides to kill some time by telling each other stories.
The first story involves a group of college women who come across an abandoned bunker that once belonged to the Nazis and when they enter the bunker, a mysterious figure awaits them. The second story involves a competitive eater who is pranked by his friends, but the prank goes dangerously wrong. The third story involves three bowlers’ attempt to haze a replacement member gone seriously awry when they head towards a farm that has a dangerous secret. When the stories are over, will Gio still be able to stay loyal and kill Frankie? Or is something else set to be in store for the pair of hitmen?
Written by the duo of director Carter and Ronnie “P.K.” Jimenez, this is quite an anthology that is a more subtle approach rather than rely on bloodletting and gore, although there are moments where they are a bit squeamish. The main story behind the film, the titular story are both the opening and interludes between the three stories as we get a look at the mismatched partners of assassins in the forms of Angel Guerrero as the more level headed Gio to Frankie Pozos’ outspoken and immature Frankie.
The first story, titled Valkyrie’s Bunker, is somewhat of a typical slasher set piece with five young women doomed to be the victims of the titular psycho in a gas mask. However, unlike most slasher films of this era, there is no nudity or gore, but instead brings a bit of a creep factor with the deaths performed off-screen with the audience hearing the sounds rather than the viewer resorting to viewing the gore. The second story, the funnily-titled Assacre, involves a prank with a hot pepper with disastrous results. This is the one that gets a bit squeamish in its final moments but the build up is quite interesting. As a matter of fact, the final moments start off rather goofy until the cringeworthy moments begin.
The third and final story, Hog Hunters, is a bit disturbing in its own rights. Moments of well, as a character in Clerks II says “interspecies love” in the story’s opening moments prove to be well very gross even though the action is off screen. However, this is a strange story of three redneck bowlers who initiate an African-American to join their team through a very insane version of initiation. However, the hazing goes awry when the very thing they are looking for are worse than they ever imagined. The film then brings the final act of the main story, which adds some twists and turns with an epilogue that somehow and successfully brings the while entire spiel together.
An Hour to Kill is quite an interesting anthology that meshes horror stories, assassin action, and humor without resorting to the nuances of over the top gore and adult themes. It is pretty subtle despite some moments that are cringeworthy, especially in the second and third stories. It is safe to say that this is a good way to “kill” time.
WFG RATING: B-
A Rotten Production film. Director: Aaron K. Carter. Producers: Aaron K. Carter and Jacob Harlow. Writers: Aaron K. Carter and Ronnie “P.K.” Jimenez. Cinematography: Aaron K. Carter. Editing: Jacob Harlow, A. Jerk, Brendan Mitchell, and Charles Shin.
Cast: Angel Guerrero, Frankie Pozos, Mel Novak, Vince Kelvin, Arash Dibizar, Amanda Rau, Jola Cora, Stephanie Strehlow, Alexya Garcia, Kevin C. Beardsley, Brendan Mitchell, Gabriel Mercado, Luna Meow, Brian Reagan, Cal Alexander, Joe McQueen, Michael Camp, Chris Morris, Dante DeNicola, Aaron K. Carter.
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