There is material for a good movie here: a mysterious and brutal killer, smart and gritty cops in search for the killer, pretty girls, nudity, sex, a story based on religion and the occult, yet somehow it all doesn't work.
The story is told from the perspective of no one. Although at first it looks like we'll follow along with the cops. But as soon as you start getting settled, a scene is inserted that makes no sense, with character we don't know and that are not explained. This occurs a lot. There are a bunch of characters that don't seem to serve any purpose, whose dialogue is cryptic in its banality and leaves you wondering why these scenes are there. We meet cops, lawyers, psychiatrists, PhD students, but don't know exactly what their purpose is in the movie. Out of nowhere, the main cop starts quoting long bible passages and there seems to be a religious matter at issue but that doesn't become all that clear until the very end. And it's actually quite surprising the turn this movie takes from slasher film to fantastic occultism. The acting varies, some actors are good others not.
This movie looks good for the most part. The problem is the direction and/or editing that doesn't create a character for the viewers to identify with and follow or, in the absence of that, a story that is transparent yet leaves enough mystery to keep you engaged. The title "Polycarp" is better than the silly "Kinky Killers," a shame that distributors have to dumb down everything and lie in the process: the DVD cover has nothing to do with the movie.
The story is told from the perspective of no one. Although at first it looks like we'll follow along with the cops. But as soon as you start getting settled, a scene is inserted that makes no sense, with character we don't know and that are not explained. This occurs a lot. There are a bunch of characters that don't seem to serve any purpose, whose dialogue is cryptic in its banality and leaves you wondering why these scenes are there. We meet cops, lawyers, psychiatrists, PhD students, but don't know exactly what their purpose is in the movie. Out of nowhere, the main cop starts quoting long bible passages and there seems to be a religious matter at issue but that doesn't become all that clear until the very end. And it's actually quite surprising the turn this movie takes from slasher film to fantastic occultism. The acting varies, some actors are good others not.
This movie looks good for the most part. The problem is the direction and/or editing that doesn't create a character for the viewers to identify with and follow or, in the absence of that, a story that is transparent yet leaves enough mystery to keep you engaged. The title "Polycarp" is better than the silly "Kinky Killers," a shame that distributors have to dumb down everything and lie in the process: the DVD cover has nothing to do with the movie.