DON’T KILL IT: A Funny & Nostalgic Gore-Fest

Mike Mendez’s film Don’t Kill It is a wonderfully amusing film, following in the tone he set with the surprisingly well-received film, Big Ass Spider. Both Don’t Kill It and Big Ass Spider succeed in their ability to strive for something over-the-top and straight out of ’80s horror, while never taking themselves too seriously. These films both took ridiculous plots coupled with an understanding of film in order to create something crazily amusing, while never falling into the category of so many other poorly made horror films.

Don’t Kill It follows Dolph Lundgren as Jebediah Woodley, a demon hunter, and Kristina Klebe as Evelyn Piece, an FBI agent, as they form a partnership in order to defeat a case of demonic possession in a small Mississippi town.

By treating the ridiculousness of the plot as another joke, Don’t Kill It was able to come across as comedic, yet self-aware. I never once felt it was trying to be a serious horror film falling into the made-for-tv realm. Casting Dolph Lundgren was an inspired choice, bringing forth the gory horror films of the 1980s as well as playing on the tropes found in action films of that decade.

Gore Before Stasis: A Memorable Introduction

In Don’t Kill It, we are brought right into the action. The stasis of our main character comes later, which works well as a way to get the audience engaged in the over-the-top universe this film is set in, before taking the time to introduce its main characters. At first, I thought this was a little strange. Yes, I was captivated right from the first minute, but I soon felt my adrenaline wearing off as it slowed down to introduce the characters who will push forward the rest of the film.

After thinking about it for a while, I began to appreciate this intense opening as a way to set forward the actions of the film. With us knowing more than the main characters, we were able to find even more comedic value in their interactions and doubts surrounding the plot. If this film showed us the main characters talking about this demonic possession without us seeing exactly what that looks like until halfway through the film, the experience would not be as memorable. Seeing someone flip through the air after getting shot really puts forward the gravity of the situation. Just hearing about this from sheriff reports as we are introduced to the partners on the case would have felt cheap and too easy.

I have seen plenty of horror films with a slow-burn until all the horror and gore comes out twenty minutes from the end, and this can work. It can work extremely well, but a film like this, a film that lives off its nostalgia of long past silly gore-fests needed an intense opening which just becomes more intense, until it catapults the audience into weird and wonderful worlds filled with screaming and limbs littering the floor of a church.

The gore in this film is memorable on its own with the use of mostly practical effects, which is not common in modern horror films. Using practical effects helped the film feel familiar and comfortable, like putting a well-loved copy of Evil Dead II on and curling up in a blanket. If you are a fan of practical effects in horror, I think you will enjoy this film as much as I did.

Lighting, Shadows, and Tension

One element of Don’t Kill It which stuck out to me as I was watching and has yet to leave my thoughts was its use of lighting and shadows. Normally, horror films of this style are poorly made, relying solely on their gore and one-liners. During certain scenes of this film, I thought it was seriously beautiful. During scenes outside in the dark, the lighting was so well done. Every character was well lit in ways which felt natural to the environment of that scene. When Jebediah and Evelyn were outside, their facial expressions were clearly visible through lighting mimicking natural moonlight.

This same scene also showed how the film can flit between all-out gore and small tense moments, which provide even more horror than the brawls and buckets of blood. On the other hand, the scenes which were dedicated to having as much spewing blood as possible were also memorable, for different reasons.

Scenes earlier on in the film utilized different color schemes as a way to show the differences between the main characters. When we are introduced to Jebediah he is in a seedy bar, bathed in red light. When we see Evelyn, she is surrounded by neutral colors, showing her residence in what she assumes is the normal reality in which she has grown up. As the film goes on, she becomes more connected with blue and white lights, going directly with the changes and revelations of her character.

Revisited Genre Tropes

Don’t Kill It does hit on many tropes, especially those found in 1980s horror and action films. In one of Jebediah’s first scenes, his character beats up another man, with the result of a woman seeing his worth and sleeping with him. In a 1980s film, the fight would be with the sole purpose of getting with the girl, without any real thought on what she wants.

Instead, the scene in Don’t Kill It comes entirely from Jebediah’s desire to make this other man understand how he is mistreating women. Jebediah starts by explaining consent to this man he sees harassing a woman in a bar. This scene takes an existing trope and twists something old and outdated into something embracing the respectful treatment of woman.

Another trope represented in this is the old one surrounding sharing a hotel room with someone you are forced to work with. Instead of having this scene end in the characters climbing in bed together, it ends with Jebediah realizing the woman he is working with will be the true hero. A trope which can result in stilted and romantic storytelling instead ends with a female character being given more importance than her male counterpart.

Conclusion

Don’t Kill It is an amusing film filled with gore-soaked laughs as well as intimate and tense moments. The film provides a fun ride through the nostalgia of gore-fests and the importance of women saving the world. Don’t Kill It is overly ridiculous at times, but this makes it even more charming, and lets the tense moments stand out against the sea of in-your-face blood and guts.

Do you think practical effects deserve more respect in modern horror films? Are you interested in seeing more films which emulate the horror of the 1980s?

Don’t Kill It was released in theaters and on streaming sites in the US on March 3rd. It will be released on DVD April 4th.