Review: The Postcard Killings


A grief-stricken New York detective (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) travels to London to unofficially look into the murder and mutilation of his honeymooning daughter (Her severed hands are yet to be located). Before long it becomes apparent that a serial killer is at work all across Europe, posing the brutalised bodies to resemble famous artworks. Cush Jumbo plays a journalist in Sweden who helps Morgan out. Naomi Battrick and Ruairi O’Connor play a likeable young American couple on a European holiday who keep running into the same uncouth-looking, persistent fellow (Dylan Devonald Smith) wherever they go (at one point he introduces the couple to his equally oddball wife). Famke Janssen (a last minute replacement for Connie Nielsen) plays Morgan’s estranged wife and the mother of the deceased, whilst Steven Mackintosh plays a London detective who wants Morgan to bugger off home.

 

It’s pretty obvious early on that this 2020 serial killer film from director Danis Tanovic (“No Man’s Land”, “Triage”) wants to be a mixture between a James Patterson/Alex Cross murder-mystery and a Scandinavian thriller (think “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). So it’s little surprise perhaps that the film is an adaptation of a novel collaboration between Mr. Patterson and Swedish crime author Liza Marklund. What is a bit surprising is that a film with five (!) credited screenwriters has turned out to be pretty decent. It never quite manages to get past a soft recommendation at best, but while there are some annoying flaws it still proves very watchable.

 

With these sorts of serial killer mysteries, the story – and particularly the twists and eventual reveal – are usually crucial. I really liked that what this killer/killers was doing here in addition to being grisly and weird, was pretty original. I won’t deny that some of the film’s numerous twists are a bit predictable, but some are less so, and really interesting. That said, the biggest and best twist is probably one of the earliest ones that the film never manages to top, which is a shame. It’s a doozy, and although I’ve read that some people found it obvious from the beginning, I have to say it was entirely unexpected to me. Other twists are hit and miss, but that one really impressed me. Anyway, for a film that I had pretty low expectations for going in, this one turned out alright I guess.

 

Chief among the assets here are rock-solid performances by a well-cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan and a pretty remarkable Naomi Battrick. Morgan brings a nice latter day Liam Neeson meets Mel Gibson-ish brooding, verging on seething with anger that really works here. I don’t know what he had to do in order to convey grief so heavily and effectively, but he sure does convince as a man whose child has fallen prey to the worst of ‘humanity’. There’s also some nice, wholly unsympathetic work by Denis O’Hare too, as an absolute prick of a father (to put it mildly). Meanwhile, the scenes featuring Battrick, Ruairi O’Connor, and dishevelled-looking Dylan Devonald Smith are alternately unsettling and strangely funny, but very effective. Unfortunately, the other performances here are very underwhelming and at times quite amateurish. Famke Janssen in particular literally phones in a lot of her rather uninspired performance. I also think the director sees himself as a fancy David Fincher visual stylist…and yeah, he’s definitely not. It’s incredibly frustrating to see a filmmaker refusing to get out of the way of the story he’s trying to tell on screen. The screenplay is by Andrew Stern (“Disconnect” with Jason Bateman), Ellen Furman (“The Infiltrator” with Bryan Cranston), Tove Alsterdal, Tena Stivicic (“The World’s Greatest Monster”), and Marklund herself.

 

A wholly watchable, if lumpy murder-mystery/serial killer film with an interesting story and plenty of twists. However, irritating direction and several dud supporting performances hold it back a bit. On the plus side it has top performances by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Naomi Battrick, who help put this one over the line. Worth a look certainly, but it could’ve been even better.

 

Rating: B-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more