A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life review: A shy and inhibited young woman accidentally goes on the road with a serial killer in a film that might be this year’s answer to Prevenge.
Arrow Films
A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life is the debut feature from actor-turned-director Staten Cousins Roe, one that is sure to join the ranks of fellow recent British cult horrors Prevenge and Sightseers. The film captures that same energy, one that hooks the viewer in and keeps them entertained with its witty scripting as well as its compelling story.
Lou (Katie Bramben) is a downtrodden young woman. She still lives at home and looks after her demanding mother. Lou dreams of a better life and happily consumes all the self help advice from life coaches that she can. Her days are spent listening to tapes from her favourite – Chuck Knoah – and attending seminars by self-help gurus. It is at one of these events that she crosses paths with Val (Poppy Roe), an aspiring life coach. After being invited on the road to tour different alternative therapies, Lou decides to follow her tape’s advice and seize adventure. She gets a tad more adventure than she expected though after discovering that Val is also a serial killer.
Much like Prevenge, it is the characters that make A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life so endearing. Lou and Val are a great double act as they are complete opposite personalities. Lou is a shy and polite positive person, whereas Val is loud, rude and has a more realistic outlook on life. Throwing them together on screen means that the viewer gets to see how each woman influences the other. It’s easy to see how Val rubs off on Lou, but Lou also softens Val a little. Their performances are backed-up by some real chemistry between actors Katie Bramben and Poppy Roe, and their whole relationship has a Thelma and Louise style charm to it. Unlike Thelma and Louise however, these women aren’t defined by the men around them; neither woman is in a relationship and the only man they talk about is one that’s on Val’s kill list. It’s not quite a film all about sisterhood – there’s no driving off of a cliff at the end – but it is one that showcases a new brand of girl power.
Arrow Films
Despite it being a film about a serial killing road trip, A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life is far from being as violent as that famous film about serial killer’s on a murder spree, Natural Born Killers. There is plenty of murders, Val kills her way through at least half of the phone book, but it’s handled in a less gratuitous manner, and isn’t afraid to bring in a wry sense of humour. In fact, the whole film has an underlying humorous feel, like the film is always winking at you or has its tongue held firmly in its cheek. This tactic works and is a brilliant example of how comedy and horror can work together.
A big portion of the humour comes from the characters who run the alternative therapies that Val and Lou visit. The strangest thing is at least several of them are actual treatments that you can experiment with yourself to enhance your well being. These characters are of course sightly over the top in their performance and deliveries, but there is enough truth for the audience to recognise that it generates the odd giggle or two.
Thelma and Louise meets Natural Born Killers, A Serial Killer’s Guide is set to become a British cult classic.
A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life is out now on iTunes and Digital HD.
