People seem split between extremes here and I suppose that's understandable with a film that's obviously VERY low-budget and trying to make a big statement. Personally, I found the premise and story interesting but, in the end, painfully hard to watch and the implementation was a complete and utter flop.
The first problem, as I see it, is that the film doesn't know what it wants to say. Or maybe it does and it just doesn't know how to say it. Either way, through the whole 90 minutes or so of watching (which felt more like 4 hours, the directing/editing is so tedious), I felt as if there was something really substantial and important there, somewhere. Trouble is, whatever message the film's trying to convey just isn't clear so, once it was over, I felt like I'd wasted my time.
On top of this, none of the characters are interesting. Saeed Jaffrey's character is just some old bloke who spends all his screen time crying - an appalling waste of a great actor - when he should evoke a lot more sympathy. His section at the vet's is very touching but the rest is just "whiny old bloke again". Rik Mayall looks more like a random Londoner filmed sitting at home working out his lottery numbers than a radio presenter (and his supposed 'little boy' looks a good 15 years old, despite acting like a 5-year-old, which makes no sense, either).
Even the killer - the point of the film? - is pointless and vague, with no driving reason for his killing spree (which is perhaps the point, though it's never made). Add to this the fact that, even once the killing spree is ended, the film drags on for another 15 minutes or so (which feels like an hour), STILL without making a point and, well... it would have been nice if the writer had done a little resume of what the message was, so I wouldn't feel so cheated.
Speaking of bad characters, all the other 'individuals' in the film are just cardboard cut-outs of people who don't matter: a couple having an irrelevant baby, an uninteresting cop who dies and we don't care, a Spanish couple who are either there to provide the longest wait for a topless scene ever or as an intended shock which is unclear, not shocking and takes so long coming that I no longer cared... oh, and some other people who I can't even remember who they are, they were so one- dimensional.
All in all, I really wish someone better had gotten hold of the story and avoided making it like a series of unrelated scenes held together with string. Disjointed, unclear, badly acted, badly characterised and eventually unfulfilling. A real pity: it could have been SO much more.
The first problem, as I see it, is that the film doesn't know what it wants to say. Or maybe it does and it just doesn't know how to say it. Either way, through the whole 90 minutes or so of watching (which felt more like 4 hours, the directing/editing is so tedious), I felt as if there was something really substantial and important there, somewhere. Trouble is, whatever message the film's trying to convey just isn't clear so, once it was over, I felt like I'd wasted my time.
On top of this, none of the characters are interesting. Saeed Jaffrey's character is just some old bloke who spends all his screen time crying - an appalling waste of a great actor - when he should evoke a lot more sympathy. His section at the vet's is very touching but the rest is just "whiny old bloke again". Rik Mayall looks more like a random Londoner filmed sitting at home working out his lottery numbers than a radio presenter (and his supposed 'little boy' looks a good 15 years old, despite acting like a 5-year-old, which makes no sense, either).
Even the killer - the point of the film? - is pointless and vague, with no driving reason for his killing spree (which is perhaps the point, though it's never made). Add to this the fact that, even once the killing spree is ended, the film drags on for another 15 minutes or so (which feels like an hour), STILL without making a point and, well... it would have been nice if the writer had done a little resume of what the message was, so I wouldn't feel so cheated.
Speaking of bad characters, all the other 'individuals' in the film are just cardboard cut-outs of people who don't matter: a couple having an irrelevant baby, an uninteresting cop who dies and we don't care, a Spanish couple who are either there to provide the longest wait for a topless scene ever or as an intended shock which is unclear, not shocking and takes so long coming that I no longer cared... oh, and some other people who I can't even remember who they are, they were so one- dimensional.
All in all, I really wish someone better had gotten hold of the story and avoided making it like a series of unrelated scenes held together with string. Disjointed, unclear, badly acted, badly characterised and eventually unfulfilling. A real pity: it could have been SO much more.