A kiss and a promise is another spin on the serial killer genre. It is a very low budget affair held together by some decent acting in particular from Mick Rossi who plays David Beck. Beck and his wife Samantha run a cheap bed and breakfast in a rural town in Ontario. One of their long term guests is an out of work failed writer (Charlie) who is a fantasist and also David Becks lover. This strange menage a trois is reluctantly accepted by Becks wife although she yearns for Charlie to leave. But unbeknown to her the husband is also a serial killer who preys on prostitutes with his modus operandi being strangulation with a belt.Charlie stays until the end but as events unfold it would have been easier for Beck if Charlie had left without fuss much earlier.
Where the film succeeds is in its portrayal of the normality and indeed banality of small town life and yet showing that the normality is just a veneer. One of Becks guests , a divorcée, laments his own lack of family life thinking what he sees in the guest house is a perfect family. The irony is noted. The character of Beck repels and fascinates at the same time. He is tormented by his inner demons always losing control as his perverted appetite must be satiated.
On the downside i found the direction and editing of the movie to be lacklustre and at times amateurish even when factoring in the low budget.Some of the support acting is also a bit ropey but the story and set up was intriguing enough to keep me hooked until the end. For a cut to the chase title this movie was released as "Sex Killer" in Germany.
Where the film succeeds is in its portrayal of the normality and indeed banality of small town life and yet showing that the normality is just a veneer. One of Becks guests , a divorcée, laments his own lack of family life thinking what he sees in the guest house is a perfect family. The irony is noted. The character of Beck repels and fascinates at the same time. He is tormented by his inner demons always losing control as his perverted appetite must be satiated.
On the downside i found the direction and editing of the movie to be lacklustre and at times amateurish even when factoring in the low budget.Some of the support acting is also a bit ropey but the story and set up was intriguing enough to keep me hooked until the end. For a cut to the chase title this movie was released as "Sex Killer" in Germany.