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{{Short description|1990 film by Maggie Greenwald}}
{{Short description|1990 film by Maggie Greenwald}}
{{For|the 1957 novel by Jim Thompson|The Kill-Off (novel)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}{{For|the 1957 novel by Jim Thompson|The Kill-Off (novel)}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = The Kill-Off
| name = The Kill-Off
Line 8: Line 8:
| director = [[Maggie Greenwald]]
| director = [[Maggie Greenwald]]
| screenplay = Maggie Greenwald
| screenplay = Maggie Greenwald
| based_on = ''[[The Kill-Off (novel)|The Kill-Off]]'' <br> by [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]]
| based_on = {{Based on|''[[The Kill-Off (novel)|The Kill-Off]]''|[[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]]}}
| starring = Cathy Haase<br/>Loretta Gross<br>Andrew Lee Barrett
| starring = Cathy Haase<br/>Loretta Gross<br>Andrew Lee Barrett
| cinematography = [[Declan Quinn]]
| cinematography = [[Declan Quinn]]
| music = [[Evan Lurie]]
| music = [[Evan Lurie]]
| editing = James Y. Kwei
| editing = James Y. Kwei
| studio = Filmworld International Productions<br/>Palace Pictures
| studio = Filmworld International Productions
| distributor = Cabriolet Films
| distributor = Cabriolet Films
| released = {{Film date|1989|9|12|[[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Film Festival]]|1990|2|9|London|1990|10|19|New York City}}
| released = {{Film date|1989|5|17|[[Marché du Film|Cannes Film Market]]|1990|10|19|New York City}}
| runtime = 110 minutes
| runtime = 110 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
}}
}}
'''''The Kill-Off''''' is a 1990 American [[drama film]] written and directed by [[Maggie Greenwald]], based on a 1957 [[The Kill-Off (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]]. It was an independent film, produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by [[Declan Quinn]] in his film debut.<ref>{{IMDb title| id=0097665| title=The Kill-Off}}.</ref>
'''''The Kill-Off''''' is a 1989 American [[Crime film|crime]] [[drama film|drama]] film written and directed by [[Maggie Greenwald]], based on a 1957 [[The Kill-Off (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]]. It was an independent film, produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by [[Declan Quinn]] in his film debut.


==Plot==
==Plot==
The film is set in a small coastal community in [[New Jersey]] where the only action in town is a [[nightclub]] called The Pavilion. The owner, Pete (played by Jackson Sims), can barely make the [[payroll]] so in an effort to bring in more business, he hires a sultry [[striptease|stripper]] named Danny Lee (Cathy Haase).
In a small coastal community in [[New Jersey]], the only action in town is a [[nightclub]] called The Pavilion. The owner, Pete, can barely make the [[payroll]] so in an effort to bring in more business, he hires a sultry [[striptease|stripper]] named Danny Lee.


Danny Lee's act soon turns the head of Ralph, which is not good news for his bed-ridden wife Luanne (Loretta Gross). Luanne's nasty talent is her gift for [[gossip]], and when she begins to suspect that Ralph has [[adultery]] on his mind, she starts spreading more ugly rumors that have just enough basis in fact to stick. Soon things spin out of control and a wave of violence begins.
Danny Lee's act soon turns the head of Ralph, which is not good news for his bed-ridden wife Luanne. Luanne's nasty talent is her gift for [[gossip]], and when she begins to suspect that Ralph has [[adultery]] on his mind, she starts spreading more ugly rumors that have just enough basis in fact to stick. Soon things spin out of control and a wave of violence begins.


==Cast==
==Cast==
Line 40: Line 40:


==Production==
==Production==
''The Kill-Off'' was a part of the so-called [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]] revival in the early 1990s. At that time, the film was one of three Jim Thompson novel adaptations to be made into a film within one year. The others were ''[[The Grifters (film)|The Grifters]]'' and ''[[After Dark, My Sweet]].''
''The Kill-Off'' was a part of the so-called [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]] revival in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1997-05-18 |title=Death becomes him |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/death-becomes-him-1262393.html |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> The other Jim Thompson novels to be adapted into films were ''[[The Grifters (film)|The Grifters]]'' and ''[[After Dark, My Sweet]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Kill-Off |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/58568 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=AFI{{!}}Catalog}}</ref>'' ''The Kill Off''<nowiki/>'s US release would arrive in the same year as the aforementioned films.


⚫
Director of photography [[Declan Quinn]] shot the film with low lighting; at times, footage of characters more than a few feet from the camera can be difficult to see. This was done to mirror the stylistic photography of the [[Film noir|film noirs]] of the 1940s and 1950s.
===Film noir look===
⚫
This ''neo-noir'' is very darkly filmed by [[Declan Quinn]] and at times the images shot of anyone more than a few feet from the camera can be difficult to see. As such, it mirrors the stylistic photography of the film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s.


Filming took place over a twenty-one-day schedule in January 1989 on a budget of less than $1 million.<ref name=":0" /> Exterior shots were filmed in the New Jersey seaside town of [[Keansburg, New Jersey|Keansburg]], where the Keansburg Amusement Park can be seen in the background.<ref name=":0" /> Interior scenes were filmed on sets in New York.<ref name=":0" />
===Filming locations===

The filming locations include: The Keansburg Amusement Park, [[Keansburg, New Jersey]]; and other locations in [[New Jersey]].
==Release==
⚫
The producers used the following tagline when marketing the film:
⚫
:''The closer you look, the less you want to know.''

The film premiered at the [[Marché du Film|Cannes Film Market]] on May 17, 1989.<ref name=":0" /> It went on to screen at the Women in Film Festival<ref>{{Cite news |last=Benson |first=Sheila |date=1989-10-18 |title=MOVIE REVIEWS : Women in Film Festival Draws Innovative European Entries |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-18-ca-16-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222015647/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-18-ca-16-story.html |archive-date=2022-12-22}}</ref> and the [[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Festival of Festivals]] that year. Later, it was shown at the 1990 [[Sundance Film Festival]] and Maggie Greenwald was nominated for the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1990-01-28 |title=Festival Made Memorable by Star Visits, Fine Films, Even Mishaps |url=https://www.deseret.com/1990/1/28/18843881/festival-made-memorable-by-star-visits-fine-films-even-mishaps |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref> In the UK, the film opened at the [[Screen on the Hill]] in London on February 9, 1990,<ref name=":1">{{cite magazine |last=Groves |first=Don |date=21 February 1990 |title='Magnolias' not quite blooming; 'Business' booming |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=20}}</ref> grossing $8,775 in its opening week.<ref name=":1" /> The film was given a [[limited theatrical release]] by Cabriolet Films beginning on October 19, 1990 in [[New York City]].<ref name=":0" /> It also opened in [[Los Angeles]] for a week on December 14, 1990 in order to qualify for [[Academy Awards]] consideration.<ref name=":0" />

=== Home media ===
The film was not released onto videocassette in the United States until 1996, when [[Xenon Pictures|Xenon Entertainment]] released it onto VHS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Kill-Off |url=https://vhscollector.com/movie/kill-1 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=VHSCollector.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The kill-off [videorecording] |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/3384680 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Stanford Libraries|year=1996 }}</ref> In 2014, [[Films Around the World]] released the film on a manufactured on demand DVD-R.


==Reception==
==Reception==


===Critical response===
===Critical response===
The film received some good press. Critic [[Peter Travers]], writing for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', called the film, "...a down-and-dirty thriller...". And film critic Marjorie Baumgarten liked the film and the direction of Maggie Greenwald and wrote in the ''[[Austin Chronicle]],'' "[the] protagonists and pernicious moral rot are well-captured in Greenwald's film version of ''The Kill-Off.'' The [[Social environment|milieu]] is compellingly perverse, and Greenwald and the actors get the seedy tone just right."<ref>[http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid:139613 Baumgarten, Marjorie.] ''Austin Chronicle,'' film review, July 12, 1991.</ref>
Critic [[Peter Travers]], writing for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', called the film "a daring, down-and-dirty thriller."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Travers |first=Peter |date=1990-10-19 |title=The Kill-Off |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/the-kill-off-97594/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222013403/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/the-kill-off-97594/ |archive-date=2022-12-22}}</ref> In the ''[[Austin Chronicle]]'', critic Marjorie Baumgarten reviewed the film positively, writing the "protagonists and pernicious moral rot are well-captured in Greenwald's film version of ''The Kill-Off.'' The [[Social environment|milieu]] is compellingly perverse, and Greenwald and the actors get the seedy tone just right."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baumgarten |first=Marjorie |date=July 12, 1991 |title=Movie Review: The Kill-Off |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1991-07-12/139613/ |access-date= |website=Austin Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> Critic Dennis Schwartz felt though the film "wasn’t psychologically deep, nor was it morally arresting", it succeeds at "showing a feeling of deep noir malaise", noting "It’s rare that a woman directs a noir film and especially one as hard-boiled as this one."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Dennis |date=May 5, 2000 |title=The Kill-Off |url=https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/killoff/ |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Dennis Schwartz Reviews |language=en-US}}</ref>


''[[The New York Times]]'' was less impressed with the film. Critic Caryn James wrote, "[Thompson's lurid drama] is tossed away by Ms. Greenwald's flaccid script and scenes so badly paced that the actors seem to be holding their breath between lines, waiting for their next cues"<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E3DF153AF93AA25753C1A966958260 James, Caryn]. ''The New York Times,'' "Languid Murder by Phone", October 19, 1990.</ref>
''[[The New York Times]]'' was less impressed with the film. Critic [[Caryn James]] wrote, "[Thompson's lurid drama] is tossed away by Ms. Greenwald's flaccid script and scenes so badly paced that the actors seem to be holding their breath between lines, waiting for their next cues."<ref>{{Cite news |last=James |first=Caryn |date=October 19, 1990 |title=Languid Murder by Phone |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/19/movies/languid-murder-by-phone.html |access-date= |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


===Accolades===
===Accolades===
'''Wins'''
'''Wins'''
* [[Torino Film Festival]]: Jury Special Prize, Maggie Greenwald; 1989.
* [[Torino Film Festival]]: Jury Special Prize, Maggie Greenwald; 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=7° Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani |url=https://www.torinofilmfest.org/en/edition-detail/ |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Torino Film Fest |language=en-US}}</ref>


'''Nominations'''
'''Nominations'''
* [[Deauville Film Festival]], [[France]]: Critics Award, Maggie Greenwald, 1989.
* [[Deauville Film Festival]], [[France]]: Critics Award, Maggie Greenwald, 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Kill-Off - Miscellaneous Notes |url=https://prod-www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/80235/the-kill-off#notes |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=[[Turner Classic Movies|Turner Classic Movie Database]]}}</ref>
* [[Sundance Film Festival]]: Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, Maggie Greenwald; 1990.
* [[Sundance Film Festival]]: Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, Maggie Greenwald; 1990.


== Differences from novel ==
==Distribution==
In the book, the author never reveals the identity of the murderer, in contrast to the film.<ref name=":2" /> The film also spares one of the characters that the book does not, and turns the character into a moral center.
⚫
The producers used the following tagline when marketing the film:
⚫
:''The closer you look, the less you want to know.''

The film premiered at the [[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Festival of Festivals]] on September 12, 1989. Later, it was shown at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] and Maggie Greenwald was awarded the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. The film opened at the [[Screen on the Hill]] in London on February 9, 1990. It grossed $8,775 in its opening week.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=’Magnolias’ not quite blooming; ‘Business’ booming|first=Don|last=Groves|page=20|date=21 February 1990}}</ref> The film opened in a limited release on October 19, 1990 in [[New York City]] but it was never widely shown. The film was not released onto videocassette in the United States until 2001, when Xenon Entertainment released it onto VHS. The film has yet to premiere onto DVD.

==Comparison to novel==
Thompson's noted style was his ironic plots and language, yet Greenwald's film eliminates many of the intertwined plots that run through [[The Kill-Off (novel)|the book]] and contains very little of its dialogue. In addition, the film differs from the book in a few ways. First, the movie shows us who the murderer is where the book leaves that a mystery. Second, the movie also spares one of the characters that the book does not, thus turning the character into a moral center.


==References==
==References==
Line 85: Line 86:


{{DEFAULTSORT:Kill-Off, The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kill-Off, The}}
[[Category:1990 films]]
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:1990 drama films]]
[[Category:1989 crime drama films]]
[[Category:American drama films]]
[[Category:1989 independent films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:Films set in New Jersey]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Jersey]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Maggie Greenwald]]
[[Category:Films based on American crime novels]]
⚫
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films based on Jim Thompson novels]]
[[Category:Films based on Jim Thompson novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Maggie Greenwald]]
⚫
[[Category:Films set in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York (state)]]

Latest revision as of 17:29, 5 June 2023

For the 1957 novel by Jim Thompson, see The Kill-Off (novel).
The Kill-Off
Video Cover
Directed byMaggie Greenwald
Screenplay byMaggie Greenwald
Based onThe Kill-Off
by Jim Thompson
Produced byLydia Dean Pilcher
StarringCathy Haase
Loretta Gross
Andrew Lee Barrett
CinematographyDeclan Quinn
Edited byJames Y. Kwei
Music byEvan Lurie
Production
company
Filmworld International Productions
Distributed byCabriolet Films
Release dates
  • May 17, 1989 (1989-05-17) (Cannes Film Market)
  • October 19, 1990 (1990-10-19) (New York City)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Kill-Off is a 1989 American crime drama film written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, based on a 1957 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. It was an independent film, produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by Declan Quinn in his film debut.

Plot

[edit]

In a small coastal community in New Jersey, the only action in town is a nightclub called The Pavilion. The owner, Pete, can barely make the payroll so in an effort to bring in more business, he hires a sultry stripper named Danny Lee.

Danny Lee's act soon turns the head of Ralph, which is not good news for his bed-ridden wife Luanne. Luanne's nasty talent is her gift for gossip, and when she begins to suspect that Ralph has adultery on his mind, she starts spreading more ugly rumors that have just enough basis in fact to stick. Soon things spin out of control and a wave of violence begins.

Cast

[edit]
  • Loretta Gross as Luan
  • Andrew Lee Barrett as Bobbie Ashton
  • Jackson Sims as Pete Pavlov
  • Steve Monroe as Ralph
  • Cathy Haase as Danny Lee
  • William Russell as Rags
  • Jorja Fox as Myra Pavlov
  • Sean O'Sullivan as The Doctor
  • Ellen Kelly as Lily Williams
  • Ralph Graff as Henry Williams

Production

[edit]

The Kill-Off was a part of the so-called Jim Thompson revival in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[1] The other Jim Thompson novels to be adapted into films were The Grifters and After Dark, My Sweet.[2] The Kill Off's US release would arrive in the same year as the aforementioned films.

Director of photography Declan Quinn shot the film with low lighting; at times, footage of characters more than a few feet from the camera can be difficult to see. This was done to mirror the stylistic photography of the film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s.

Filming took place over a twenty-one-day schedule in January 1989 on a budget of less than $1 million.[2] Exterior shots were filmed in the New Jersey seaside town of Keansburg, where the Keansburg Amusement Park can be seen in the background.[2] Interior scenes were filmed on sets in New York.[2]

Release

[edit]

The producers used the following tagline when marketing the film:

The closer you look, the less you want to know.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Market on May 17, 1989.[2] It went on to screen at the Women in Film Festival[3] and the Toronto Festival of Festivals that year. Later, it was shown at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival and Maggie Greenwald was nominated for the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize.[4] In the UK, the film opened at the Screen on the Hill in London on February 9, 1990,[5] grossing $8,775 in its opening week.[5] The film was given a limited theatrical release by Cabriolet Films beginning on October 19, 1990 in New York City.[2] It also opened in Los Angeles for a week on December 14, 1990 in order to qualify for Academy Awards consideration.[2]

Home media

[edit]

The film was not released onto videocassette in the United States until 1996, when Xenon Entertainment released it onto VHS.[6][7] In 2014, Films Around the World released the film on a manufactured on demand DVD-R.

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

Critic Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, called the film "a daring, down-and-dirty thriller."[8] In the Austin Chronicle, critic Marjorie Baumgarten reviewed the film positively, writing the "protagonists and pernicious moral rot are well-captured in Greenwald's film version of The Kill-Off. The milieu is compellingly perverse, and Greenwald and the actors get the seedy tone just right."[9] Critic Dennis Schwartz felt though the film "wasn’t psychologically deep, nor was it morally arresting", it succeeds at "showing a feeling of deep noir malaise", noting "It’s rare that a woman directs a noir film and especially one as hard-boiled as this one."[10]

The New York Times was less impressed with the film. Critic Caryn James wrote, "[Thompson's lurid drama] is tossed away by Ms. Greenwald's flaccid script and scenes so badly paced that the actors seem to be holding their breath between lines, waiting for their next cues."[11]

Accolades

[edit]

Wins

Nominations

Differences from novel

[edit]

In the book, the author never reveals the identity of the murderer, in contrast to the film.[10] The film also spares one of the characters that the book does not, and turns the character into a moral center.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Death becomes him". The Independent. May 18, 1997. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The Kill-Off". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  3. ^ Benson, Sheila (October 18, 1989). "MOVIE REVIEWS : Women in Film Festival Draws Innovative European Entries". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "Festival Made Memorable by Star Visits, Fine Films, Even Mishaps". Deseret News. January 28, 1990. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Groves, Don (February 21, 1990). "'Magnolias' not quite blooming; 'Business' booming". Variety. p. 20.
  6. ^ "The Kill-Off". VHSCollector.com. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  7. ^ "The kill-off [videorecording]". Stanford Libraries. 1996. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Travers, Peter (October 19, 1990). "The Kill-Off". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  9. ^ Baumgarten, Marjorie (July 12, 1991). "Movie Review: The Kill-Off". Austin Chronicle.
  10. ^ a b Schwartz, Dennis (May 5, 2000). "The Kill-Off". Dennis Schwartz Reviews. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  11. ^ James, Caryn (October 19, 1990). "Languid Murder by Phone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  12. ^ "7° Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani". Torino Film Fest. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  13. ^ "The Kill-Off - Miscellaneous Notes". Turner Classic Movie Database. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
[edit]
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