Ian McGee
Released in 2017, 68 Kill is not a new movie; however, I had never heard of it and came across it while scrolling through my streaming video list for something to watch. And damn, am I glad I did because this movie was so much fun I couldn’t believe I’d missed it back when it came out.
Directed by Trent Haaga the movie stars Emmy award winner Mathew Gray Gubler, Annalynne McCord and Alisha Boe. Gubler is known for the film “500 Days of Summer”. McCord has featured in many television roles and horror fans might remember her outstanding work in 2012’s “Excision.” Alisha Boe is probably best known for her role in Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why”.
First off, a couple of questions… Do you like blood and gore? Excellent, me too! Do you enjoy movies chock full of action, violence and “mature themes”? So do I! And lastly, do you like all these things mixed with hilarious bits of comedy as well? If so, the 68 Kill is something I definitely think is worth the watch. If not, you probably don’t want to watch it, and you can skip the rest of this article.
The plot of “68 Kill” is relatively straightforward. Chip (Gubler) is a hopelessly romantic nice guy in a toxic relationship with Liza (McCord), a desirable and wild bad-girl type. Liza appreciates how passive Chip is, and Chip is willing to be constantly belittled by Liza because of how stunning and sexually charged she is. Both of them exist in a somewhat dull life of poverty until Liza comes up with a plan to score $68,000 in one night.
Spoiler Alert #1 Liza has a sugar daddy that she regularly sees purely for the financial benefit she gets out of it. Chip is aware of the arrangement but has to accept it if he wants to stay in Liza’s life. Unfortunately, the loud-mouthed sugar daddy makes the fatal mistake of letting Liza know he’s got $68,000 in his possession for the purchase of a mid-life crisis hotrod. Liza immediately decides that she’s going to get her hands on the cash and start living the good life with Chip afterward. Chip reluctantly goes along with Liza for the robbery after being assured the house will be empty.
Spoiler Alert #2 The house isn’t empty, and it turns out Liza is far crazier than Chip could have ever imagined. The robbery turns into a brutal crime scene and introduces our third main character, Violet (Boe). Chip is a bit traumatized and dumbfounded at how quickly it all escalated. But this is only the beginning of a hellacious thrill ride of murder and mayhem that Chip has yet to survive.
Spoiler Alert #3 The rest of the movie includes drugged-out sadists, a serial killer, car-chases torture and a bit of strong sexual content.
I don’t want to spoil too much of the movie here, but suffice it to say that the action, the violence and sheer lunacy only gets more intense as Chip is faced with extreme situations that test what he is truly capable of and what he is ultimately made of as a man.
“68 Kill” was probably not budgeted to be a blockbuster-type production; however, I think the creators of this film did a fantastic job at bringing this hilariously dark comedy/horror to life.
