W Delta Z (2007)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Tom Shankland

Writer:

Clive Bradley (screenplay)

Release Date:

2007 (Ireland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Would you kill the one you love to save yourself from death?

Plot:

A calculating killer coerces a detective to pay for his previous mistakes.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Slasher | Gay Interest | Policewoman | Torture

Cast

Barbara Adair	...	Alice Jackson
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Eddie Argo
Peter Ballance	...	Trucker (as Peter Balance)
Selma Blair	...	Jean Lerner
Melissa George	...	Helen Westcott
Tom Hardy	...	Pierre Jackson
Sally Hawkins	...	Elly Carpenter
Lauren Hood	...	Sharon Williams
Caroline Lee-Johnson	...	Gillian (as Caroline Lee Johnson)
'Sean' Brian Jordaan	...	Jamal Osman / Khaled Osman (as Brian 'Saen' Jordan)
Paul Kaye	...	Gelb
Sheila Kerr	...	Alison Lerner
Michael Liebman	...	Wesley Smith
Joshua O'Gorman	...	Dominic Carpenter
Alibe Parsons	...	Miss Allaway

Also Known As:

Waz (UK) (informal title) (USA) (working title)
Devil's Algebra (UK) (working title)
The Killing Gene (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence including a rape, gruesome images and pervasive language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Ireland:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:18 | Finland:K-18 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Company:

Vertigo Films

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time we see the police whiteboard it has "W Delta Z" and "W Delta Z = Cov" written on it (even though no corpse has borne the "v" at that point). But in the next shot the board says only "W Delta Z = Co".

Quotes:

Jean Lerner: Just flick the switch. It's what we all do. There is no love.

Movie Connections:

References Day of the Woman (1978)

Not bad, just a triumph of style over substance

The most influential American horror movie of the last 20 years is "Seven". This much is undeniable. I really liked "Seven". Great movie. It might be one of my favourites. The only problem is that every inner city set horror thriller made since comes across, to me, as "Seven"-lite.

Which brings me to "Waz".

A city of permanent night. A cop on the edge. A diabolical killer. Inventive, ingenious torture and murder. Victims with a reason for being victimised.

Yup. "Seven"-lite. Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, because you have to take every movie on it's own merits, but disappointing when witnessed over and over again.

"Waz" isn't bad. It is just unoriginal and a triumph of style over substance. The city is effectively portrayed as grim, dirty, cold and wet. You wouldn't want to go there on holiday. You wouldn't want to hang out with any of these people. The tone of the film is unpleasant, seedy and black. To coin a dated phrase, a video nasty. It will get you down. It also has one of the most disturbing filmed sequences of sexual abuse I have ever seen. All insinuated, you don't see a thing, but it is horrible.

Melissa George has been better and is frankly wasted as the pouting sidekick, but "Waz" does have a superior cast (Stellan Skarsgård, Selma Blair, Tom Hardy, etc.) for what is effectively a straightforward genre movie. Some of the questions I had as to why they signed up for this movie were answered during the denouement, when the motivations behind Stellan Skarsgård's actions are revealed and his character develops levels way beyond that of a tormented cop.

So, "Waz" was OK. Not bad for a walk on the dark side.