Review: An Hour To Kill

Director: Aaron K. Carter

Screenplay: Aaron K. Carter

Year: 2018

Synopsis: Two hitmen have an hour before their next gig. During this waiting time, they share some macabre stories to entertain themselves. Who will be capable of telling the most bizarre story?

What better way to pass the time than to tell horror stories? This is right what two hitmen have in mind as they wait for their next gig. They both start sharing macabre stories, which gives place to a sort of horror anthology. Each story has a particular topic and tone, with no relationship between them.

“Valkyrie’s Bunker” is the first story, which is also the weakest. It takes place in California, where a Nazi soldier built a structure, which doesn’t make much sense, but let's ignore it for the moment. Five friends roam close to this place looking for a weed growing patch. As can be expected from a movie that shows five young ladies hiking in clothes more appropriate to be at the beach, they do not find the weed patch, but something worse. This story lacks suspense and coherence and for me, it was the least interesting of the group.

The second story is “Assacre” that, as the title suggests, is the campiest and more fun of the bunch. “Assacre” takes place in a food eating contest, where competitors have q10 minutes to eat the legendary El Jefe burrito. After the event, one of the participants is tricked into trying the world’s hottest pepper, which gives way to an intestinal massacre. In this story, everything is absurd and exaggerated and the plot makes little sense, but if seen with the intention of just enjoying it, is the most fun and at the same time, the most disgusting one.

“Hog Hunters” closes the trio of stories, and this one is simply silly and bizarre. A team of bowling players looks to initiate their newest member in a fun night. They did not have in mind that instead of fun, they will encounter some abominations of nature. Budget limitations are more evident in this story, but it is still fun.

While it seems like there are three stories, there really are four, as the story of their hitmen is also developed. While they tell their tales and the hour for their next job approaches, an old rival reemerges, who is fixed on taking care of the two hitmen and their boss. As ironic as it might seem, this was my favorite part of the movie. The actor that interpret both hitmen have good chemistry and I found their story to be the most interesting one, as well as the plot reveals.

As it often happens in most of these micro-budget movies, you have to ignore a few things to be able to enjoy it. The acting, as expected from this type of movie, sometimes is exaggerated and out of tone with the context. The special effects, for budget reasons, are almost nonexistent and much of the action takes place out of the screen. The stories can result a bit extreme in how absurd they can be, which can be something some viewers will dislike. Still, the development of the stories and how they look on screen is effective and it has several fun moments.