Review by Tristan Bishop
Night time. A young woman pulls up her car and gets out. She walks to her front door, puts the keys in the lock and walks in. A man appears. He stabs her to death.
“My name is Allen”, a voice-over tells us, “And this is what I do.”
It’s an arresting opening to The 7th Day, a new serial killer film from director Jason Koch. This is Jason’s first feature – but, unlike some other first-time film-makers whose work I have had the misfortune to suffer through recently, Koch obviously has a passion for the darker side of cinema, having served time as a special FX artist on films like V/H/S 2 (2013) and Troma’s Return To Nuke ‘Em High Vol 1 (2013). This passion certainly comes across in The 7th Day, as it feels like ‘one for the fans’ rather than an attempt at jumping on a commercial bandwagon.
Allen, our ‘hero’, washes dishes in a local bar, is the owner of a terribly unkempt beard, and, in his spare time, is a murderer, necrophile and cannibal. The film is almost entirely narrated by Allen as he goes about his business, and we soon realise his monologue is an ‘interview’ he is performing in his mind (occasionally we see the imagined reporter – who looks rather like the zombified Dr Freudstein from Fulci’s House By The Cemetery, shoving a microphone into frame). It soon becomes clear that the interview is Allen’s way of processing and excusing his transgressions, and as reality starts to intrude on Allen’s life, his fantasy world starts to fall apart.
If you hadn’t already twigged, The 7th Day is a pretty grim ride – it starts off almost like a black comedy, as Allen’s ‘interview’ is so self-deluding (especially about his relations with women), and the first few murders are pretty bloodless, but soon the camera is dwelling on the finer details of Allen’s hobby, and it becomes more akin to the films of Jorge Buttgereit, who I would hazard a guess is the main influence here. I was also reminded of the razor-sharp Belgium serial killer film Man Bites Dog (1992), although this does not quite hit the same satirical heights as that masterpiece. Koch’s experience as a special FX and make-up man is very much in evidence here, as convincing gore is ladled on, viscera fills the screen, and the film often looks far better than the (presumably) minuscule budget might have you expect.
Unfortunately there are ways that the budget shows – the performances are fairly unconvincing, and Mark S Sanders as Allen doesn’t really have the magnetism required to carry the entire film. However the script occasionally throws up a thought-provoking line, the cinematography by Stephen Rubac is impressive, and Koch is obviously a talented director (although perhaps he should focus on that and get someone else in to edit his next film).
To sum up, this is not a film for everyone – it’s certainly not much ‘fun’, unless feeling slightly queasy is your idea of a Friday night good time, but it’s gruesome, occasionally philosophical about the nature of murder and the media, and it’s only 75 mins long. Jason Koch is definitely a name to keep an eye on, and with a little more money and the right cast and crew he might just come up with something terrific.
Dire Wit Films aim to release The 7th Day on DVD in February 2014.